Tuesday’s gone

The tragic southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd sang a mournful ballad penned by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant called “Tuesdays’ gone.” Here are the first two stanzas and chorus about love lost.

“Train roll on
On down the line, won’t you
Please take me far away

Now I feel the wind blow
Outside my door, means I’m
I’m leaving my woman at home, Lordy

Tuesday’s gone with the wind
Oh, my baby’s gone, with the wind“

The tragic part is the band suffered a plane crash which killed their lead singer and co-writer of this song, Ronnie Van Zant and two others band members. Here is quick summary from Rolling Stone. “The legacy began some 41 (now fifty) years ago in Jacksonville, Florida, and halted for a decade by the 1977 plane crash that killed three band members, including Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines. Since then, the band tragically lost Allen Collins, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson and Hughie Thomasson, yet Lynyrd Skynyrd rocks on with original member Gary Rossington…”

Lynryd Skynyrd was a talented group of musicians who brought a blues feel to rock and roll. They chose a tailored name of a coach at their high school who tormented them named Leonard Skinner. They covered other songs such as “T for Texas” by Jimmie Rodgers and “Call me the breeze” by J.J. Cale and blended their own music into the mix, most notably “Freebird,” “Sweet home Alabama,” and my favorite, “Simple man.” They were one of the few bands to open for the Rolling Stones that got as many cheers as the main band.

Unfortunately, their megahits – “Freebird” and “Sweet home Alabama” get overplayed at the expense of a large volume of great work. If I picked one song to highlight the band, it would be “Call me the breeze.” Cale has written many great songs covered by artists like Eric Clapton. If you prefer ballads, listen to “Tuesday’s gone” and “Simple man.”

So, if you are unfamiliar with them, give Lynyrd Skynyrd a listen. If you are, please enjoy.

Tuesday’s gone with the wind – a few wisps to consider

One of my favorite Lynyrd Skynrd’s songs is the ballad “Tuesday’s gone with the wind.” Using that as a theme for a potpourri of topics, let me toss of few of them into the breeze and see where they might blow.

– One of the more provocative movie lines was uttered by a very young Lauren Bacall to her future real husband Humphrey Bogart in “To have and have not.” She said “Steve, you know how to whistle don’t you? You just put your lips together and blow.”

– Chicago is known as the “Windy City,” but that is not due to the cold wind that blows in from Lake Michigan. It is due to blowhard politicians. Right now, we have the windiest of people in the White House. If I could say one thing to him that might have a chance of being heard, it would be “Mr. president, if you can’t add any value, please stop talking.”

– Speaking of wind, former Arizona Senator John Kyl was caught in a lie by a reporter. His response, “It is your fault for mistaking my words as the truth.” Again, that is yet another reason not to believe a word the president says.

– Peter, Paul and Mary do justice to Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the wind.” They sang it in on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when Martin Luther King uttered his famous “I have a dream” speech. Dylan’s words echo with his important chorus as he searches for solutions to obvious pain and suffering. “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”

– Speaking of that famous MLK speech. The marvelous gospel singer Mahalia Jackson is the reason he gave it that day. She had heard him give it before, but MLK had not planned to give that speech. Sensing early on that the words MLK began with were falling flat, she shouted from behind MLK to “tell them about the dream, Martin.” MLK then went off script to say his resounding words.

– Lincoln’s name speaks loudly these days for more than obvious reasons. The Emancipation Proclamation and constitutional amendment to free the slaves are well known. Yet, he is also remembered for putting enemies of his on his cabinet. Think about that. He wanted to keep them close, but he also wanted to hear from them on dissenting views. I think of that as we have a president who has filled and refilled his cabinet with people whose loyalty is more important than competency. To me, this is a key reason a group of Republicans who favor the defeat of Donald Trump have called themselves “The Lincoln Project.”

Invoking “Blowin’ in the wind” one more time. We have many challenges facing our country and planet. Yet, one of the answers is being advocated by The Lincoln Project. That answer blowin’ in the wind is the defeat of Donald Trump in November.

Tuesday’s gone with the wind (and context)

One of my favorite songs from the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd is “Tuesday’s Gone,” written by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zandt. Here is the first stanza:

“Train roll on, on down the line,
Won’t you please take me far away?
Now I feel the wind blow outside my door,
Means I’m leaving my woman behind.
Tuesday’s gone with the wind.
My woman’s gone with the wind.”

This song is a quick lesson in context. If you listen to the song, you get the impression the singer is doing the leaving in the relationship. Yet, there is one simple line that reveals the context of why he is on that train.

“Tuesday, you see, she had to be free.”

The woman did the leaving. And, the man decided to leave town to escape the source of his blues.

Many things in life and in politics are heard or read without knowing the full context. Context matters to enlightened understanding. We are told that immigration is a huge problem and immigrants are taking American jobs. Immigration is a concern, but it is not as big a problem as portayed and the jobs being taken tend to be those which Americans don’t flock to. If immigration was stifled, certain industries would be in a heap of hurt.

We are told we must place tariffs on China, but why are we placing them on our friends? What we are not told, is there are mechanisms we could tap with the World Trade Organization with the support of our allies to gain concessions from China. Economists note that we are forgoing working together as a unified front. But, a key contextual item is collaboration is hard work, where the collective group gains.

Context matters. Songs, poems and stories can reveal context in a subtle matter. But, it is important for us to ascertain the context. Otherwise, we may solve the wrong problem in the wrong way.