PaperBack Writer

 I loved the song “Long Tall Sally” by Little Richard. It came out when I was about 10 years old. The Beatles did a cover, and it was a big hit, but the Beatles did another song which was inspired by Long Tall Sally and it was the song Paperback Writer. According to the “Beatle Bible, Paperback Writer” was an attempt by McCartney to write a song based on a single chord – possibly influenced by Indian music.

“John and I would like to do songs with just one note like ‘Long Tall Sally’. We got near it in ‘The Word’. Paul McCartney

The same source says that “McCartney wrote ‘Paperback Writer’ after reading a Daily Mail report about an aspiring author, and composed it on the way to Lennon’s house in Weybridge.”

You knew, the minute you got there, cup of tea and you’d sit and write, so it was always good if you had a theme. I’d had a thought for a song and somehow it was to do with the Daily Mail so there might have been an article in the Mail that morning about people writing paperbacks. Penguin paperbacks was what I really thought of the archetypal paperback.

I arrived at Weybridge and told John I had this idea of trying to write off to a publisher to become a paperback writer, and I said, ‘I think it should be written like a letter.’ I took a bit of paper out and I said it should be something like ‘Dear Sir or Madam, as the case may be…’ and I proceeded to write it just like a letter in front of him, occasionally rhyming it. And John, as I recall, just sat there and said, ‘Oh, that’s it,’ ‘Uhuh,’ ‘Yeah.’ I remember him, his amused smile, saying, ‘Yes, that’s it, that’ll do.’ Quite a nice moment: ‘Hmm, I’ve done right! I’ve done well!’ And then we went upstairs and put the melody to it. John and I sat down and finished it all up, but it was tilted towards me, the original idea was mine. I had no music, but it’s just a little bluesy song, not a lot of melody. Then I had the idea to do the harmonies and we arranged that in the studio.

Paperback Writer was written by Lennon-McCartney

Paperback Paperback writer

Paperback writer, paperback writer

Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?

It took me years to write, will you take a look?

It's based on a novel by a man named Lear

And I need a job

So I want to be a paperback writer

Paperback writer

 

It's a dirty story of a dirty man

And his clinging wife doesn't understand

His son is working for the Daily Mail

It's a steady job

But he wants to be a paperback writer

Paperback writer

Paperback writer, paperback writer

 

It's a thousand pages, give or take a few

I'll be writing more in a week or two

I could make it longer if you like the style

I can change it 'round

And I want to be a paperback writer

If you really like it you can have the rights

It could make a million for you overnight

If you must return it you can send it here

But I need a break

And I want to be a paperback writer

Paperback writer

 

Paperback writer, paperback writer

Paperback writer, paperback writer

Paperback writer, paperback writer

Paperback writer, paperback writer

Paperback writer

Closing Time by Leonard Cohen,

When my children were young and we went on road trips, I always had music playing and from time to time my son or my daughter would ask what the song was about. I would reply that the song was a story written by a songwriter who put the story to music. I said it was our job to interpret the story as best we could as the songwriter could not know to be asked.

I was introduced to Cohen’s music in about 2004 and I love the use of metaphors and lyrics that makes listening to his songs a treat. I was listening to his song “Closing Time” the other day and did some research on the lyrics.

According to Ira Nadel’s 1996 Cohen memoir Various Positions, Closing Time took two years to write with Cohen even starting over from scratch on the song as late as March 1992. Cohen explained that it takes him so long to finish songs because “Nothing works. After a while, if you stick with the song long enough it will yield. But long enough is way beyond any reasonable estimation of what you think long enough may be.

Closing Time is certainly an enjoyable listen. The following information about Closing Time is from Song Facts:

It starts off as a euphoric track about a wild party.

The fiddler fiddles something so sublime

All the women tear their blouses off

And the men they dance on the polka-dots

As the song goes on, the scene evolves from the closing of the bar to the concluding of a relationship, to the end of life.

I loved you when our love was blessed

and I love you now there’s nothing left

but sorrow and a sense of overtime

And I missed you since the place got wrecked

and I just don’t care what happens next

Looks like freedom but it feels like death

it’s something in between, I guess

It’s closing time

Cohen based “Closing Time” on a violin sample that came with a Casio keyboard. “When he first started recording it, the sample was slowed down,” engineer Leanne Unger told Uncut magazine. “It was very moody, with six-string bass, very vibey. I loved it.”

The song peaked at #70 in Canada. It was Cohen’s second-biggest hit in his native country after “Hallelujah.”

The music video for Closing Time presented below won the Juno Award for Best Music Video in 1993.

As stated, I think the first verse is about a great party at the bar with a description of the singers partner, the band and the dancers at the party.

Ah we're drinking and we're dancing

And the band is really happening

And the Johnny Walker wisdom running high

And my very sweet companion

She's the angel of compassion

She's rubbing half the world against her thigh

And every drinker every dancer

Lifts a happy face to thank her

The fiddler fiddles something so sublime

All the women tear their blouses off

And the men they dance on the polka-dots

And it's partner found, it's partner lost

And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops

It's closing time

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

Yeah the women tear their blouses off

And the men they dance on the polka-dots

And it's partner found, it's partner lost

And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops

It's closing time

The second verse becomes a bit deeper as the singer throws in references about the game Snakes and Ladders which has many mythical and religious connotations. The most widely known edition of Snakes and Ladders in the United States is Chutes and Ladders from Milton Bradley (which was purchased by the game’s current distributor Hasbro). It is played on a 10×10 board, and players advance their pieces according to a spinner rather than a die. The theme of the board design is playground equipment–children climb ladders to go down chutes. The artwork on the board teaches a morality lesson, the squares on the bottom of the ladders show a child doing a good or sensible deed and at the top of the ladder there is an image of the child enjoying the reward. At the top of the chutes, there are pictures of children engaging in mischievous or foolish behavior and the images on the bottom show the child suffering the consequences.

In Closing Time” Cohen appears to throw in an apt metaphor for this moment (or century) in human history. Even as we leave the stage, it is good to bury our faces in the roses we found there.

Ah we're lonely, we're romantic

And the cider's laced with acid

And the holy spirit's crying, where's the beef?

And the moon is swimming naked

And the summer night is fragrant

With a mighty expectation of relief

So, we struggle and we stagger

Down the snakes and up the ladder

To the tower where the blessed hours chime

And I swear it happened just like this

A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss

The gates of love they budged an inch

I can't say much has happened since

But closing time

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

 

I swear it happened just like this

A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss

The gates of love they budged an inch

I can't say much has happened since

(I can't say much has happened since)

We're closing time

Closing time

The next verse is a lament about lost youth, beauty and love as the singer mourns the loss of his love and her beauty but admits to having a deep sense of loss and despair because he still loves even though the love is lost.

I loved you for your beauty

But that doesn't make a fool of me

You were in it for your beauty too

And I loved you for your body

There's a voice that sounds like god to me

Declaring, (declaring) declaring, declaring that your body's really you

And I loved you when our love was blessed

And I love you now there's nothing left

But sorrow and a sense of overtime

And I missed you since the place got wrecked

And I just don't care what happens next

Looks like freedom but it feels like death

It's something in between, I guess

It's closing time

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

Yeah I missed you since the place got wrecked

By the winds of change and the weeds of sex

Looks like freedom but it feels like death

It's something in between, I guess

It's closing time

The last verse is a recognition by the songwriter that even though there is a lot going on in the bar, it is a meaningless activity that is beyond understanding except by those who are crazy or those who understand the awful truth He also lets us understand that once the lights go on, people will understand, and the party will end. He also admits that he is not attracted to his current partner, but she is filling a need.

Yeah we're drinking and we're dancing

But there's nothing really happening

And the place is dead as heaven on a Saturday night

And my very close companion

Gets me fumbling gets me laughing

She's a hundred but she's wearing

Something tight

And I lift my glass to the awful truth

Which you can't reveal to the ears of youth

Except to say it isn't worth a dime

And the whole damn place goes crazy twice

And it's once for the devil and once for Christ

But the boss don't like these dizzy heights

We're busted in the blinding lights

Of closing time

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

The whole damn place goes crazy twice

And it's once for the devil and once for Christ

But the boss don't like these dizzy heights

We're busted in the blinding lights

(Busted in the blinding lights)

Busted in the blinding lights

Of closing time

Closing time

Oh the women tear their blouses off

And the men they dance on the polka-dots

It's closing time

And it's partner found, it's partner lost

And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops

It's closing time

I swear it happened just like this

A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss

It's closing time (closing time)

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

(Closing time)

The gates of love they budged an inch

I can't say much has happened since

But closing time (closing time, closing time, closing time)

I loved you when our love was blessed

I love you now there's nothing left

But closing time

I miss you since the place got wrecked

By the winds of change and the weeds of sex

 

Jumping Jack Flash

Back in the nineteen sixties when rock and roll were just getting started, there was this little old rock and roll band out of England that got some attention. You may have heard of them. They were called the Rolling Stones. And this little old band had a pretty good hit with the kids called Jumping Jack Flash.

It was a jumping little tune that was probably more popular because it was such good rock and roll than for its message. But if you listen to the words, the singer sings about bad things that happened to him and how he coped with them.

I was born in a crossfire hurricane

And I howled at my ma in the driving rain

But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas

But it's all right. I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash

It's a gas! Gas! Gas

I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag

I was schooled with a strap right across my back

But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas

But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash

It's a gas! Gas! Gas

I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead

I fell down to my feet and I saw they bled

I frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread

Yeah, yeah, yeah

I was crowned with a spike right thru my head

But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas

But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash

It's a gas! Gas! Gas

I read one take on the song that claimed the song was about what had happened to the songwriter as he was growing up. The lyrics could lend themselves to that interpretation, but more searching found a more reasonable explanation. Jack Flash is Jack Dyer, and he was Keith Richards' gardener. Richards explained to Rolling Stone in 2010: "The lyrics came from gray dawn at Redlands. Mick and I had been up all night, it was raining outside, and there was the sound of these boots near the window, belonging to my gardener, Jack Dyer. It woke Mick up. He said, 'What's that?' I said, 'Oh, that's Jack. That's jumping Jack.' I started to work around the phrase on the guitar, which was in open tuning, singing the phrase 'Jumping Jack.' Mick said, 'Flash,' and suddenly we had this phrase with a great rhythm and ring to it. The song also was a transition for the Stones from a blues sound to a rock guitar sound. The songwriter said this song is about "having a hard time and getting out. Just a metaphor for getting out of all the acid things.”

As we move into retirement, we need to embrace life, see difficulty as an opportunity and not let hard times, not the acid times, get us down. This mantra can be a wonderful outlook on life for us as we sort out what it means to be a senior citizen.

To be sure, looking ahead there are some real issues that you will have to face. For many, it may be the loss of a spouse. There may come a time when you have to move from the home you raised your kids in and there is almost certainly be physical decline and eventually death.

Many of us face these daunting challenges and despair. They see that the resources to overcome some of these problems are simply not there. We are facing a Pandemic that can put real dread into your heart. If you give in to that despair, your future may be bleak, to say the least.

It’s a strange formula but despite the situation ahead, if we can learn to not be intimidated by the future, the chances we will cope with it and live a happier life are much better than if we let depression and despair begin to take over.

But we don’t want to just cope with life, do we? This generation has never been one to just cope. We are a generation of winners. We refuse to just cope! We insist that we can WIN. But how do you win against the onset of the future that is unforgiving and unrelenting as well?

You win by not letting it steal your spirit. There is another option besides giving in to desire, losing hope and eventually letting that dark angel come along too soon. Instead, you can tell that dark angel to kiss your big toe (or something else). You are not going to go out gracefully, and you are going to live life to the hilt to the very end!

There is another option than denying that you are older and trying to live like a man or woman 30 years your senior. The alternative is you are going to embrace life and embrace the stage of life you are in. Yes, you are going to celebrate your age, look it in the eye with an impish grin and not let it take away a bit of the spirit and the gusto that you have lived your life from childhood until now.

That is the spirit of Jumping Jack Flash and that isn’t just a song, it’s a description of this generation. We will be the ones who jump all over old age and make it a party. And despite the other problems, it’s not going to be “just ok” to grow older. It’s all right. You might even say its fine. And we don’t mind borrowing a phrase from ourselves 50+ years ago to say - It’s a gas.

Opening the Flood Gate of Communications with the Grandkids

Opening the Flood Gate of Communications with the Grandkids

My grandson will be a teenager in a few years. I remember what it was like to raise teenagers. Teenagers seem to go into a funk at 13 and stay that way until they have kids of their own. Today we are grandparents and we see our daughter struggling with getting the “teenager” treatment, do we have to write off our grandson who used to love to be with us when they came to visit?

Child psychologists know a secret. Teenagers longto communicate what is going on in their lives. The teen years are an explosion of change that is unparalleled in life. If a teenager can find an adult they can talk to, that would help them in getting through these tough teen years.

Sometimes Grandma or Grandpa can become that willing ear and someone who a teenager can talk to about whatever is eating them up inside. All you have to do is open the floodgates of communications and the grandkids will pour their hearts out to you.

Modern teenagers are used to Instagram, Tictoc, email, instant messaging, or text messaging. They don’t know the thrill they can get by just seeing a card or letter from someone they love to come in the good old-fashioned mail.  

If they have a phone, start by sending them a message with a simple theme or just to say you are proud of them or love them. Then, now and then, write them a letter. Don’t make it a long letter and surely not a preachy letter. But make it light and fun. Find out what TV shows and movies they like and watch them. Get to know who the kids like in popular culture. You have the time, so follow the gossip websites so you can write to your grandkids about things they are talking about. 

Since kids like to communicate by computer, you communicate by computer. If you are not computer literate, take some classes and learn how to use email, instant messaging and even text messaging, YouTube, ZOOM or other video conferencing.  

You can find all kinds of silly digital “toys” you can use to lure those kids to talk to you online. Once you have that, you can make contact by computer and become a computer “buddy”. The safety of talking online will let the kids know they can talk to you. Before long, the floodgates will open like never.  And when they are pouring their hearts out to you, you will have done a wonderful thing for those kids. And that’s what being a grandparent is all about.