Tag Archives: talkin’ blues

Listen, Talkin' Headline Blues

The Talkin’ Headline Blues #86

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The Talkin' Headline Blues #86

Remember these? Where I grab headlines from CNN.com and make them into a talkin’ blues song?

Haven’t done one since…last October!? So, I figured it’s time to start them up again. Here’s why:

I can only pay attention to the news and events of the day, week, or month like this:

  1. Pick one small segment of news…like SPORTS or CELEBRITIES or POLITICS and really read up on everything to do with that topic each and every day. Lately, I’ve decided that SPORTS is the most entertaining to me and I read articles at this place.
  2. Attempt to take in ALL the news and only really take in the brief summaries heard or headlines read. This gets me in situations where I’ll be at a party or talking to someone and I’ll try to follow along with a current event conversation and I’ll just be lost. Also, I think this means I’m getting old.
  3. Don’t listen to ANY news at all. This is similar to number 2, and a little more relaxing, in a way, but I start to lose a grip on reality.

How do you listen to the news? Any other ways that you can suggest to me?

Maybe you can start listening to the news as a song, huh? I’ll keep on doing these if you keep on listening (and probably I’ll keep doing them even if you don’t, because…I don’t know who you are and because, like I said last night in my post about songwriting, the more you do it, the easier it gets and the more songs you get).

Listen, Talkin' Headline Blues

The Talkin’ Headline Blues #61

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So, some people say that the way you spend the first day of the year is how you’ll spend the rest of the year. I don’t know if I buy that. I wonder, though, if it could be the same for headlines. For news. That whatever news is in the headlines now, at the beginning of the year, will be there throughout the rest of the year in some way or another.

I kinda hope not, though, cause based on the headlines I used for this version of the Talkin’ Headline Blues, we’re in for a pretty bleak and confusing year.

Here’s a recap:

Politicians, death, signs of the Apocalypse, elections, Al Qaeda, the moon, fires, videos, shootouts, murder.

That’s just a little summary, though.

I think the funniest part of this song, or, the funniest headlines that were both in the same “Living & Eatocracy” section on CNN.com were:

Why make resolutions? Failure inspires

and

Making realistic New Year’s resolutions

Which am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to just fail? How can I fail without first attempting something new? Am I supposed to fail at what I’m already doing? Or, is CNN saying that I’m already a failure? Should I make a resolution, but make one that I can realistically fail at? Who is inspired by these failures?

Anyone have some clarity on this?

Anyway…that’s the first Talkin’ Headline for this year.

Chicago Song, Listen

The Talkin’ Tax Blues

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Mass Media Week

Here’s a song about tax I wrote just about exactly 2 years ago. I guess 2 years ago I was really upset about something to do with the city of Chicago and a bunch of talkin’ blues songs came spilling out of me whenever I read or heard about what was going on.

I’ve expanded my boundaries a little bit lately.

Although, I do have a new album of Chicago-inspired songs. I plan to have the songs available for download and purchase, but, apparently, that takes a lot of technical know-how. Anyone ever told you about a FLAC file? Or bit rate? Or pixel laxness?

Anyway, eventually it’ll be up on CDBaby and itunes and all that mess.

For now, though, you can get an album from me out at one of my shows. Next one is this Saturday, 8/14, at Jerry’s in Wicker Park.

But, this song here. I ain’t got much to say about it. I’m not that mad anymore, I guess. It was just something I read in the newspaper again and I wrote this song. Don’t mean nothing. Cause I know there’s a lot of people now-a-days that’s getting all worked up about taxes and government. I ain’t one of them though. I like black coffee. I like to be regulated. I like to be a hypocrite and admit it.

Pay your tax, okay? They support the things that you use in this country.

See ya.

Listen

The Talkin’ Unwritten Blues

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Mass Media Week

This week, apparently, is turnin into talkin’ blues week. I guess it’s pretty easy to write a talkin blues song about what’s happening out in the Entertainment Mass Media World.

Anyway, this is a song I wrote back in the winter of 2008, about February or so. It’s all about the Great Writers Guild of America Strike of 2007-2008. You can read about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007–2008_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike.

It was a pretty ridiculous thing if ya ask me.

Entertainment writers go on strike in 2007, inspiring the Talkin' Unwritten Blues.

So I wrote this song, because I heard all about it all over the news on television and radio and all that. If you missed hearing about it then you were probably locked in a dark box, or out living your own life.

A funny thing happened right after I wrote Talkin’ Unwritten and posted it up on Myspace; the Writers Strike ended. Just like that. I was kinda upset because I couldn’t really sing the song out at all. But I also took credit for ending the strike. So I guess it worked out for everyone.

What do you think, reader of my weblog?