25 January 2006

Funniest thing I've heard all day

Okay, so I’ve been working now for about 14 hours straight. (that’s a lie. I took two hours off from 5-7) Normally that wouldn’t be so bad, except for what I’m now, at 10 pm, working on. Did you know that people are paid very good money to draw the distinction that a corral is historic while the fence around it is not? So the CONCEPT of the corral is historic but the thing that makes it functional is not. WTF? On top of that, other people (me) are paid less well to turn that information digital and spatial. Awesome.

On the up side, this incredibly boring task has let me quasi-listen to all the awesome music I bought yesterday. What did I buy? Several incredibly cheap CDs, thanks to Amoeba’s “disc surface doesn’t look perfect” clause. The new Ryan Adams is growing on me, as is Son Volt (anyone else think he sounds just like a mid-80s Michael Stipe? I’ve been listening to Okemah but keep getting “Gardening at Night” stuck in my head.) And Gillian Welch’s first album. I figure if this SF enviro-geek thing is going to be my lifestyle I might as well try to get in to the music.

But NONE OF THIS compares to the real winner, John Prine’s John Prine. Not only does it have Paradise, which until now I’d only heard sung by Katy (or myself) and therefore had no idea it was A WALTZ!!!! But it also has the most amazingly premonitive (shut up, it could be a word) song I’ve ever heard. Or just more proof that (1) things never really change and (2) it’s starting to feel a lot like Vietnam. The song is called “Your flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore” and the chorus is:

But your flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore,
They’re already overcrowded from your dirty little war,
And Jesus don’t like killing no matter what the reason’s for,
And your flag decal won’t get you into heaven any more.

And then, of course, it’s JP so there’s a fun little story. This album is from 1971. Yeesh. And I feel the same way now (minus the assumption that heaven and Jesus actually exist). To everything turn, turn, turn.

Alright. These historic hedgerows aren’t going to digitize themselves.

2 comments:

8yearoldsdude said...

Son VOlt actually was an early 80's michael stipe. He was 1/2 of uncle tupelo which was an alt-country band similar to REM back when they were awesome. Poor Jay Ferrar never got the love of Jeff Tweedy did.
(hipsters, don't chime in about the difference between college rock and alt-country, you know what I mean).

john prine is fabulous, but he has about 3600 albums.

are any of your corrals golden?

SG said...

paradise is a great song.