Song Lyric Sunday: Dream – ‘Sugar Magnolia’

“She’s got everything delightful, she’s got everything I need” Here’s a joyous Grateful Dead second-set closer to light up your sunny Sunday and match with Helen’s theme for this week of ‘dream’. The coda, ‘Sunshine Daydream’, was often performed separately from the main body of the song. I would also point out that ‘Sugar Magnolia’…

Song Lyric Sunday: Devil/Demon – ‘Friend Of The Devil’

Thanks to Helen for the heads-up that this edition of Song Lyric Sunday would be the opposite of last week’s ‘Angel’. Not that I needed much notice, as this Grateful Dead classic was the very first thing that came to mind. Ironically, it’s a lot less devilish than my ‘Angel’ offering from last Sunday. In…

Song Lyric Sunday: Earth – ‘We Can Run’

Being neither eco-warrior nor climate-change denier, I have no particular sabre to rattle in coming up with a song to match Helen’s theme of ‘Earth’ for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday. Rather like fellow-contributor Brandejwin, I went for a song from a ‘psychedelic rock’ group formed in 1965 in San Francisco, but in my case…

One-Liner Wednesday: On The Other Hand..

“Too much of anything is just enough”  – Grateful Dead: “I Need A Miracle” In the interests of editorial balance, after last week’s paean to abstemiousness, we present an alternative viewpoint. One that, in all honesty, we find rather more appealing. Albeit vicariously. One-Liner Wednesday 14 February 2018

Song Lyric Sunday: Fire – ‘Fire On The Mountain’

There’s almost an embarrassment of riches when it comes to songs about ‘Fire’, the theme set this week for Helen’s ‘Song Lyric Sunday. And not just any old songs about fire – really good ones. I thought about James Taylor’s ‘Fire and Rain’, but after last week’s rather gloomy offering, I finally decided on something…

Song Lyric Sunday: Gambling – ‘Loser’

Helen is looking for a song about gambling for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday. Although my own gambling habit extends no further than the occasional lucky dip for the Euromillions Lottery (it’s about thirty yrears since I even had a flutter on the Grand National) I knew straight away what my choice was going to…

Song Lyric Sunday: Alcohol – ‘Brown Eyed Women’

“Daddy made whiskey and he made it well. Cost two dollars and it burned like hell” This week’s theme is ‘Alcohol’; I can deal with that. It’s been a month since I last featured a Grateful Dead song, but here’s one that meets the brief. There is a popular misconception about the Grateful Dead, in…

Zoned Out

I don’t know about you, but I find that the older I get, the lower my boredom threshold sinks. And the shorter my attention span becomes…. Sorry, what was I saying? Oh yes: boredom. Perhaps a jaded appetite is simply an inevitable consequence of having been shuffling around this mortal coil for a long time,…

Song Lyric Sunday: Flower – ‘It Must Have Been The Roses’

“All I know, I could not leave her there” It’s been a few weeks since the Grateful Dead featured in Song Lyric Sunday, but this week’s theme of ‘flowers’ provides a good opportunity to redress that. Both words and music of this sweet little song were written by Jerry Garcia’s long-term collaborator, Robert Hunter. Oh…

Song Lyric Sunday: Rain – ‘Looks Like Rain’

‘Rain’ is this week’s theme for Song Lyric Sunday, hosted by Helen at This Thing Called Life One Word At A Time. Ideally, I think she would like something upbeat and fun. Sorry about that. For happy songs about rain, I could steer you towards ‘Singin’ In The Rain’, of course, and ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’…