Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

 Until you've been beside a man You don't know what he wants. You don't know if he cries at night You don't know if he don't. When nothin comes easy Old nightmares are real. Until you've been beside a man You don't know how he feels.

 

Listen, Joe has been training us for all this current bullshit for years.  Don't lose your ground now, people.  "Let fury have the hour, anger can be power D'you know that you can use it?" 

  "I want to tell her that I love her a lot But I gotta get a bellyful of wine...." 

"I think you like to be their simple toy, I think you love to play the clown. I think you are blind to the fact That the hand you hold Is the hand that holds you down...."

"I was wishing for you one Sunday morning, Walkin down the road in some debtor's town. From every church a hymn came blendin' in And everyone of them wantin' to be found...."

"Honey, you know it makes you mad Why is everybody telling everybody what you have done? Baby, I know it makes you sad But when they're handing out the heartaches You know you got to have you some......."

Since I'm probably the biggest and one of the few Wilco fans I know, I shocked even myself when I was on the fence about reading this memoir. As a kid, I could tell you the names of all the guys in every band I loved and probably even where they were from and their birthdays. But as an adult, I've often tried to distance myself from knowing too much about the artists whose work I really enjoy.  And I have been let down a time or two learning things about folks who I thought were pretty awesome.  I guess I shouldn't be so judgmental, but hey......you either like somebody or you don't. All I can say is after finishing this book in less than 2 days right at the busy Christmas season, I would have kicked myself if I missed out on it and then learned later what I missed out on.  Make sense?  Not really? Good. Then I'm writing this like a Jeff Tweedy book. First off, I have to put this out there.....Jeff writes like a real person.  He writes like he is talking...

"You're the boy that talks but says nothin' A big game to the ones that you think'll believe you, But you don't know how to read The look on my face when it says Yeah, I've read that book too......" 

"May I never miss the thrill, Of being near you...." 

"I ain't got a dime but what I got is mine I ain't rich but Lord I'm free...." 

Dreams Oh my life is changing everyday In every possible way And oh my dreams It's never quite as it seems Never quite as it seems I know I felt like this before But now I'm feeling it even more Because it came from you Then I open up and see The person falling here is me A different way to be I want more, impossible to ignore Impossible to ignore And they'll come true Impossible not to do Possible not to do And now I tell you openly You have my heart so don't hurt me You're what I couldn't find A totally amazing mind So understanding and so kind You're everything to me Oh my life is changing everyday In every possible way And oh my dreams It's never quite as it seems 'Cause you're a dream to me Dream to me.....

If you were a child of the 70's and 80's like me, you grew up listening to the music of Dan Fogelberg.  It was everywhere.  This dude was pretty much the patron saint of heartbreak and romance.  But probably one of his saddest songs is one that gets trotted out for the holidays every year, the 1981 classic, Same Old Lang Syne .  Now this song is melancholy.  It's schmaltzy.  And it's not even really about Christmas, but the last lines of it do manage to get me every time: "Just for a moment I was back at school And felt that old familiar pain And, as I turned to make my way back home The snow turned into rain...." So good on you and rest in peace, Dan Fogelberg.  I think you knew what you were doing with that whole singer/songwriter thang. 

"She said, where'd you wanna go? How much you wanna risk? I'm not looking for somebody With some superhuman gifts Some superhero Some fairytale bliss Just something I can turn to Somebody I can miss I want something just like this....."

What I feel, I can't say But my love is there for you, any time of day But if it's not love that you need Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed. Tell me, what is my life without your love Tell me, who am I without you, by my side? (I still remember George every year on the day he left our world. What a soul, what a talent we all had the privilege to hear.)

"Hold me closer tiny dancer Count the headlights on the highway Lay me down in sheets of linen You had a busy day today....."

So today erbody is all over the total solar eclipse. I say big whoop unless you have the right soundtrack to accompany it!  So here is my Total Eclipse Playlist....some almost too obvious and some, not so much.  If you don't get it, I'm just too busy trying to stay out of the path of the sun and the oncoming traffic to try to explain it!  Just put on your ISO-approved glasses, press play and thank me later...... "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler Have to get this one out of the way straight off.  But you might be interested to know that Ms. Tyler will be singing her one hit wonder on a cruise ship on the day of the eclipse .  How bout dah? "Back in Black" by AC/DC "New Moon on Monday" by Duran Duran "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden "Moonlight Drive" by The Doors "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream "Good Day Sunshine" & "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles "King ...

Imagine what your life would have been without it.

"And when i see you happy as a girl that lives in a world of make-believe it makes me pull my hair all out to think i could've let you leave....."

"Let's put our heads together and start a new country up Our father's father's father tried erased the parts he didn't like...."