Friday, June 24, 2016

The Pound Is Sinking

Bestest Friend is very wise.

She sent me a link to Paul McCartney's "The Pound Is Sinking," which of course is extremely apt today, because Brexit.

Aside: WTF, UK?

Aside aside: I love the way that actually spells out what I didn't want to write explicitly.

As does this.
The pound was indeed sinking after Britain so confidently believed it would stay in the European Union that it allowed itself to be voted out via the dirtiest of tricks: democracy.

And if one person believes that a) the United States won't be pulled into this crisis politically and economically, and b) we haven't just gotten a glimpse into our own future vis a vis the power of complacent assholes to not vote themselves out of catastrophe, then I want what you're huffing, bro.

Cuz it's not sweet, glittery freedom.

Anyway, "The Pound Is Sinking" is a track from Sir Paul's 1982 album Tug of War. Honestly, I hadn't made the connection, so good on Bestest Friend. It gave me a huge shot of life after a couple of exhausting, demoralizing days.

I emailed her and said I would probably end up listening to the entire album.

Which of course is what I'm doing right now.

And so is Sir Paul, seen here.

OMG, I love this album.

I haven't listened to it in years. But I remember buying it, I remember playing it over and over and over, and I remember exactly that period in my life: Spring/Summer 1982, just before I learned my family and I were moving to Texas and everything changed forever.

Listening to Tug of War now takes me right back to that place and time. Every song, every note, every background "oooooh" from Linda McCartney is burned into my soul. The title track is one of my favorite songs EVER. The aforementioned "The Pound Is Sinking" is one of my favorite Paul vocals EVER.

This is the album that featured the mega-smash duet of Sir Paul and Stevie Wonder on "Ebony and Ivory." But it also features another collaboration between the two, "What's That You're Doing," which I feel is far superior. It's super-funky and synth-driven. These two need to work together again, while they're both still alive and kicking.

Mostly I'm struck by how this album speaks to me, today, right now, talking at my feels and getting them just right. That's what great music is all about.

So thanks, Paul, for Tug of War. And thanks, Bestest Friend, for knowing exactly what I needed to hear this week.

Maybe I'll listen to Give My Regards to Broadstreet next.

Sort of a private joke.

And Drunkards: If there's a Tug of War in your musical memory, I'd love to know what it is. Hopefully it's on Rhapsody.

5 comments:

  1. Kitschy, but They Might Be Giants Flood... it's a time machine. It's my compass.

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    Replies
    1. Excellent! "Particle Man" is a very special song to me. <3

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  2. On tap now for the weekend: Tug of War, Pipes of Peace, Broad Street. Help us, Sir Paul! You're our only hope!

    -JFB

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  3. Kitschy, but They Might Be Giants Flood... it's a time machine. It's my compass.

    ReplyDelete
  4. When I was in England the song "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" suddenly surged up the charts. This was 1991--more than a decade after the release of "Life of Brian" but for some weird reason people just started calling radio stations and asking for it and it eventually hit number one on the pop charts.
    Here, even if enough people could do that, I don't think the record companies would allow it to chart.
    The song takes me back but I'm comparing it to the EU vote to say that sometimes democracy works...and sometimes it doesn't.

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