Because the Night - A Tribute to One Hell of a Girl Goddess

 

"Take me now baby here as I am
Hold me close, try and understand
Desire is hunger is the fire I breathe
Love is a banquet on which we feed
 
Come on now try and understand
The way I feel when I'm in your hands
Take my hand come undercover
They can't hurt you now,
Can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
 
Have I doubt when I'm alone
Love is a ring, the telephone
Love is an angel disguised as lust
Here in our bed until the morning comes
Come on now try and understand
The way I feel under your command
Take my hand as the sun descends
They can't touch you now,
Can't touch you now, can't touch you now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
 
With love we sleep
With doubt the vicious circle
Turns and burns
Without you I cannot live
Forgive, the yearning burning
I believe it's time, too real to feel
So touch me now, touch me now, touch me now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
 
Because tonight there are two lovers
If we believe in the night we trust
Because tonight there are two lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us"

- The lyrics to Because the Night by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith, 1978. Translatable lyrics.

***

Because the Night was Patti Smith's first and last (commercially) Big Hit, but, listening to it today, it seems less like a mere pop tune and more like an ectoplasmic incantation worthy of the Eleusinian Mysteries. And, Patti Smith, like one of the key figures in those Mysteries - Persephone, the girl Goddess, beloved by her mother, betrothed to the King of the Dead - guides us through the Underworld to the Temple of Love; the gateway of immortality. That an almost pagan chant would be popularly embraced - and there have been a number of covers throughout the years as well - is not all that unusual. Love is our primary motivation; Love is our night-blooming flower (Sub Rosa) and that its power unfolds in darkness is a very primal conception. Eros, the God of Love, was born of darkness. We are all born of darkness: the womb, the birth tomb (with its secret passageway outwards).

Patti Smith has always struck me as a kindred spirit. She and I were both born during the last days of December, for one, and, regardless of whether you're astrologically literate or not, I find that people who are born at the turning of the year share specific traits... specifically, we're very often outsiders, and outside of time as well; as if being born on the cusp of a year endowed us with the ability to slip through time's cracks. And we have a strange relationship with death. Once again, we seem to be psychically placed at a portal. Psychologically, on the other hand, we're like Peter Pan; we can't really "grow up." We grow inwards.

(Inset right) is a photograph of Patti by Robert Mapplethorpe which appeared on her 1988 album, Dream of Life.

In any case, I'm guessing that for many an outsider artist, Smith's unexpected emergence into the rock world of the late 1970s was a many-splendored thing. She was the wild child of her time... and she never resorted to playing the gender card. It wasn't as if she couldn't, but, like an androgynous little kid - and we all start out that way - it quite possibly never occurred to her...

Heart Full of Soul

 

 

 

 

Moving backwards again... to the latter half of the 60s. I seem to be mysteriously drawn to that decade these days. There was so much great music; a Big Bang of musical styles and interpretations which immediately branched out into a multitude of directions until the atmosphere was so saturated with new sounds, one got the impression something majorly transformative was about to occur across the field of human endeavor.

That delusion.

 

The music featured in this post emerged in the middle of the decade in the States, having first traveled from the UK; a period known as the British Invasion.

Directly above: The Yardbirds (featuring legendary Jeff Beck).

I've just learned Count Five (above) were actually from California... but they were obviously influenced by the Brits. Incidentally, this song has been covered by numerous bands. Tom Petty's harp in this live Heartbreaker's cover is excellent, but for a spot-on portrayal of psychosis, I recommend The Cramps.

 

More below the jump.

Running Forward

  

 

 “Is there anyone left with any integrity? Anyone at all? I ask myself that on an almost daily basis,” she says, despairingly." 

-  Shirley Manson from a Spin review of Garbage's 7th (2021) release: No Gods No Masters. (Note: Louis Auguste Blanqui, a 17th century socialist and anarchist, coined the phrase “ni dieu ni maître”—neither god nor master—in reference to the "world order" he envisioned. After that, it became a slogan used by different groups and individuals throughout history. See: the Wiki entry. )

Another quote from Manson:

"If they ever kill me for anything that I ever say, just know I lived in truth."

 

   ***

The video above - Garbage's No Horses - borrows from Margaret Atwood's harrowing modern classic: The Handmaid's Tale... a novel I deliberately avoided reading at the time because it represented a dark place I'd already visited in my worse nightmares and had no compulsion to revisit. Moreover, it was loosely based on historical truth... and not a pleasant one!

Basically, in the story, a group of patriarchal, Old Testament religious fanatics take over a country (in this case, America), stripping women of many human rights - reading, writing, owning property, handling money (sound familiar?) - and forcing those few (the Handmaids) who remained fertile - apparently some form environmental pollution caused mass sterility - to bear children for the State.

That story.

Another story:

"At dawn on Friday, 13 October 1307 - a date sometimes incorrectly linked with the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition - King Philip IV ordered de Molay and scores of other French Templars to be simultaneously arrested. The arrest warrant started with the words: Dieu n'est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume ("God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom") Claims were made that during Templar admissions ceremonies, recruits were forced to spit on the Cross, deny Christ, and engage in indecent kissing; brethren were also accused of worshiping idols, and the order was said to have encouraged in homosexual practices. These allegations, though, were highly politicized without any real evidence...

... As for the leaders of the order, the elderly Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who had confessed under torture, retracted his confession. Geoffroi de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy, also retracted his confession and insisted on his innocence. Both men were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics, and they were sentenced to burn alive at the stake in Paris on 18 March 1314. De Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end, asking to be tied in such a way that he could face the Notre Dame Cathedral and hold his hands together in prayer. According to legend, he called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him before God. His actual words were recorded on the parchment as follows:

"Dieu sait qui a tort et a péché. Il va bientot arriver malheur à ceux qui nous ont condamnés à mort"

(God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death). 

Pope Clement died only a month later, and King Philip died in a hunting accident before the end of the year."

- Via the Wiki entry for the Knights Templar.

 

Happy Friday the 13th!

Running Backwards

 

 

A trip through the past with no discernible destination. More below the jump.

Note: the video which originally appeared directly above ("Doo Ron Ron" by the Crystals) was disappeared by YouTube. I've replaced it.

Note 2: The replacement video - Martha & the Vandella's "Dancin' in the Streets" - has met the same (unfortunate) fate. I give up.

The Dope Show

 

 

 

"The drugs they say
To make us feel so hollow
We love in vain
Narcissistic and so shallow
The cops and queers
To swim you have to swallow
Hate today
No love for tomorrow

We're all stars now in the dope show
We're all stars now in the dope show

There's lots of pretty, pretty ones
That want to get you high
But all the pretty, pretty ones
Will leave you low
And blow your mind 

We're all stars now in the dope show
We're all stars now in the dope show

They love you when you're on all the covers
When you're not, then they love another
They love you when you're on all the covers
When you're not, then they love another

The drugs they say
Are made in California
We love your face
We'd really like to sell you
The cops and queers
Make good-looking models
I hate today
Who will I wake up with tomorrow?

There's lots of pretty, pretty ones
That want to get you high
But all the pretty, pretty ones
Will leave you low
And blow your mind

They love you when you're on all the covers
When you're not, then they love another
They love you when you're on all the covers
When you're not, then they love another

There's lots of pretty, pretty ones
That want to get you high
But all the pretty, pretty ones
Will leave you low
And blow your mind
Go blow your mind

We're all stars now in the dope show
We're all stars now in the dope show"

- The Dope Show lyrics © Songs Of Golgotha, Dinger And Ollie Music, Blood Heavy Music
 

***

What's this? Am I back?

Well, tentatively. It goes like this...

Calling Dr. Feelgood

 

 

 

 

Dr. Feelgood (Love is Serious Business)

" I don't want nobody
Always sitting around me and my man
I don't want nobody
Always sitting right there
Looking at me and that man
Be it my mother, my brother or my sister
Would you believe, I'll get up, put on some clothes
Go out and help them find somebody for themselves if I can
Yes I will

Now I don't mind company
Because company's alright with me
Every once in a while
Yes it is
I tell you I don't mind company
Because company's alright with me
Every once in a while
But oh, when me and that man get to loving
I tell you girls
I dig you but I just don't have time
To sit and chit and sit and chit-chat and smile

Don't send me no doctor
Filling me up with all of those pills
I got me a man named Doctor Feelgood
And oh, yeah, that man takes me off all o' my pains and my ills
His name is
Doctor Feelgood in the morning
And taking care of business
Is really this man's game
And after one visit to Doctor Feelgood
You'll understand why Feelgood is his name
Oh, yeah, oh good God of mine
And the man sure makes me feel real... good"
 

-  Aretha Franklin / Ted White (1967)

And counting...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still Counting...

 

 

"Ballad of a Thin Man"

"You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked and you say, "Who is that man?"
You try so hard but you don't understand
Just what you will say when you get home
Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

 

You raise up your head and you ask, "Is this where it is?"
And somebody points to you and says, "It's his"
And you say, "What's mine?" and somebody else says, "Well, what is?"
And you say, "Oh my God, am I here all alone?"
But something is happening and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

 

You hand in your ticket and you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you when he hears you speak
And says, "How does it feel to be such a freak?"
And you say, "Impossible!" as he hands you a bone
And something is happening here but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

 

You have many contacts among the lumberjacks
To get you facts when someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect, anyway they already expect you to all give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations

Ah, you've been with the professors and they've all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have discussed lepers and crooks
You've been through all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
You're very well-read, it's well-known
But something is happening here and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

 

Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you and then he kneels
He crosses himself and then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice, he asks you how it feels
And he says, "Here is your throat back, thanks for the loan"
And you know something is happening but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

 

Now, you see this one-eyed midget shouting the word "Now"
And you say, "For what reason?" and he says, "How"
And you say, "What does this mean?" and he screams back, "You're a cow!
Give me some milk or else go home"
And you know something's happening but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

 

Well, you walk into the room like a camel, and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket and your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law against you comin' around
You should be made to wear earphones
'Cause something is happening and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?"

 

- Bob Dylan, released in 1965 on his sixth album, Highway 61 Revisited.

 

 

Counting Down to a New Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every Day is Halloween...

A scanned-in pumpkin is given a narrative - digital - DS 2020.

... or Samhain, if you prefer. So, while I apologize for not coming to the table on the actual day, well, does it really matter?

Anyway, I've been camping out in a rabbit hole these days... and diligently trying to produce a post relative to the situation. As it was, the image appearing above was meant for my "other" blog... but after some careful consideration - and possibly some subliminal communication with the those on the "other" side - it was decided that the Famous Last Words on Post-Mac Blues would neither be my own nor Mac's, but, instead, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's.

I did read some good news today. In reference to a footnote in my previous post... the one about the "fat" lady singing, it seems like she's singing for Biden & Harris... as every artist, woman, and intelligent human should be. See: The Countdown: Lady Gaga gets drawn in as campaign heats up.

I hesitate to hope... but, maybe, this is a good omen!