I realize that my ratio of Random Tens to non-music posts is getting dangerously high, but work has been keeping me busy, and I'm still trying to figure out where blogging fits in my schedule. Blame the Discovery Institute.
"Chimes of Freedom" by The Byrds from the album Mr Tambourine Man (1965, 3:53).
"The Whistling Song" by Meat Puppets from the album Meat Puppets II (1983, 2:57).
"Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits from the album Brothers In Arms (1985, 8:33).
"She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride" by Taj Mahal from the album The Natch'l Blues (1968, 3:29).
"Sweet Side" by Lucinda Williams from the album World Without Tears (2003, 3:36).
"Hotel California" by Eagles from the album Hell Freezes Over (1994, 7:12).
"Aurora Borealis" by Meat Puppets from the album Meat Puppets II (1983, 2:44).
"Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" by Bob Dylan from the album Nashville Skyline (1969, 3:21).
"Look On the Bright Side of Life (All Things Dull and Ugly)" by Monty Python from the album Life of Brian (1979, 3:58).
"Come Together" by The Beatles from the album Abbey Road (1969, 4:20).
This list of random songs is surprisingly Californiacentric. From the Byrds (founded in LA), "Sweet Side," recorded in Silver Lake, CA and on to "Come Together" (written about Ronald Reagan), it ranges across the cultural representations of California. There is the bleak dystopia of "Hotel California," the hopeless optimism of "Look on the Bright Side" and the utopian materialism of "Money for Nothing." These hearken back to the Gold Rush, and to the Okies during the Dust Bowl who went looking for the Sugar Bowl, but found either a closed border, or disease-ridden camps.
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