There was a mighty turnout Saturday Morning for the No Kings rally in Tucson. It was reported that there were between 2200-2500 in attendance and many more for the Motor March later in the day. Alt National Park Service reported a final count of 13.14 million in attendance across 2,300+ No Kings protests nationwide. Way to go, fellow humans!
Since I did not want to drive a car by myself for the Motor March in the afternoon, I drove down Country Club at 2:30 to find a shady spot to stand. The cars were supposedly starting at 3:00 at Reid Park, but as I got to CC and Speedway, it was JAMMED with cars and people already. There were thousands there and parking was a problem so I headed home, especially since it was around 108 degrees or so. But it was a successful event as reported by many friends.
Ten years ago. It was June 16, 2015 that the orange *rump announced his presidential bid. First words out of his mouth were a lie. “Wow. Woah. That is some group of people. Thousands!” Alana Wise for Reuters News said that “There were a few dozen people lining the area leading down to the escalator, and then there were a couple dozen downstairs where the event actually took place.”
We laughed. What a joke. But many Germans laughed at Hitler…what harm could he possibly do?
Segue to…I’m not sure why but I was thinking about the story behind my song Hesitation Bridge over the weekend. When I write lyrics there is often a phrase or a line I’ve overheard or read in a book that leads to the story I write. In this case it was Kazuo Ishiguro’s “An Artist of the Floating World” which I read in 2015, a decade ago. Seems like a lifetime.
From the book: ‘If on a sunny day you climb the steep path leading up from the little wooden bridge still referred to around here as "the Bridge of Hesitation", you will not have to walk far before the roof of my house becomes visible between the tops of two gingko trees. Even if it did not occupy such a commanding position on the hill, the house would still stand out from all others nearby, so that as you come up the path, you may find yourself wondering what sort of wealthy man owns it.’
The gist is that Ono, the wealthy man mentioned above, has to cross the bridge to get home physically, while emotionally he is hesitant, torn between his memories and his future, his ego and the truth. Men, he tells us, hesitated before either going home or crossing the bridge to the city's pleasure district. Therefore, we understand that the bridge is both a site of Ono's own attachment to that old district, and a lost communal symbol of that district, part of the vocabulary of a now-nonexistent subculture. (For the record, Ishiguro is British, born in Japan but moved to England at five years).
Hesitation Bridge is the first track on the CD Dreams Are Strange.
When reading the lyrics, you can also follow along by listening to the song on Bandcamp, free of charge.
Hesitation Bridge
Some folks born to follow
Some folks born to lead
Some folks live on nothin'
While others live on greed
All those things that you call yours
Aren't really yours at all
We're all in this together
With our backs against the wall
It's hard to let your hair down
Cast your doubts over the ridge
Until you've walked a mile
Across the hesitation bridge
The taps are flowing freely
Folks are stamping on the floor
The band is bringing down the house
They're tight and that's for sure
If you really listen
To the beating of your heart
All those preconceptions
Will start to fall apart
It's hard to let your hair down
Cast your doubts over the ridge
Until you've walked a mile
Across the hesitation bridge
No reason to feel guilty
‘bout the choices that you make
Tend to your own business
Give back more than you take
Some folks keep on hating
There’s not much that can be done
Their confusion just keeps getting passed
From father down to son
It's hard to let your hair down
Cast your doubts over the ridge
Until you've walked a mile
Across the hesitation bridge
Gary Mackender: Accordion, Percussion, Vocals
Karl Hoffmann: Bass
Joe Fanning: Mandolin
Chris Giambelluca: Banjo
If you like what you hear on the Dreams Are Strange CD, or any other, streaming it on Pandora radio generates the most money for the artist over other streaming platforms. Of course, buying the digital cut or entire CD is even better, and I actually have many hard copies at home.
"Dreams are Strange is the band’s fifth release, and every Carnivaleros CD is excellent, that much goes without saying, an intoxicating mixture of roots musics of all brands: zydeco, folk, Appalachian, Tex-Mex, swing, and, yep, even waltzes, though Big Louie and the Versailles Court would never recognize the lattermost incarnation here, I’m pretty damn sure. More, each disc is better than what preceded it. That alone should supply the band with ample reason to…cut it the hell out!! This is Earth, we’re allowed only just so much above our station, and then have to shuffle off the coil, so don’t force the envelope! The listener is advised to afterwards listen to The Osmonds, The Archies, or The Bangles as penance for having tasted of Eden and the apple."
- Mark S. Tucker, VERITAS VAMPIRUS, Issue 1,196, April, 2016
And now…
Thanks. I love the way you weave lyrics. C