Pandora’s box there for all to see Pretty, tied with a bow and a note for me If I dared to open the sky would fall in all kinds of disaster A war I could not win
Tempting me with an expensive gift was his cruel way after any rift Replacing an apology with gaudy trappings Presented to silence disguised in wrapping
Not this time It will remain sealed One less weapon for him to wield A gift that will not keep on giving Return to sender! Recipient unforgiving
This week’s prompts from Jim Adams for Song Lyric Sunday are Avenue, Boulevard, Drive, Road and Street. Thanks Jim! I was actually spoilt for choice! I hope highway will be acceptable as I am choosing Ventura Highway by America from 1975. This song always makes me happy and I love the poetic use of words.
According to Songfacts, America member Dewey Bunnell wrote this song. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times October 1, 2006, he explained: “It was 1963 when I was in seventh grade, we got a flat tire and we’re standing on the side of the road and I was staring at this highway sign. It said ‘Ventura’ on it and it just stuck with me. It was a sunny day and the ocean there, all of it.”
Bunnell’s father was in the Air Force and was stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base near Santa Barbara. They were on a trip in the Oxnard area of southern California when they got stranded.
Regarding the lyrics, “Seasons crying no despair, alligator lizards in the air,” Bunnell said: “The clouds. It’s my brother and I standing there on the side of the road looking at the shapes of clouds while my dad changed the tire.”
There’s no official “Ventura Highway,” but Ventura is a county in California, and Highway 101 runs through it.
Have a great Sunday!
Ventura Highway America
Chewing on a piece of grass Walking down the road Tell me, how long you gonna stay here Joe? Some people say this town don't look Good in snow You don't care, I know
Ventura Highway in the sunshine Where the days are longer The nights are stronger Than moonshine You're gonna go I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through Your hair And the days surround your daylight There Seasons crying no despair Alligator lizards in the air
Wishin' on a falling star Watchin' for the early train Sorry boy, but I've been hit by Purple rain Aw, come on Joe, you can always Change your name Thanks a lot son, just the same
Ventura Highway In the sunshine Where the days are longer The nights are stronger Than moonshine You're gonna go I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through Your hair And the days surround you daylight There Seasons crying no despair Alligator lizards in the air
The view across the lake in the early morning Magnificent in its silence as the day was dawning Birds aroused and calling in a contest of sound Happy communicating while others dig the ground
Each day wondrous in its simple familiarity Traveling on the wheels of existence Rotating in its peculiarity Monotonous but necessary a cycle impossible to cheat The tread of time so ruthless that it tramples even kings under its feet
Such is life A difficult road to follow Beautiful yet tough sometimes a hard pill to swallow Moments captured and stored in the memory banks of existence Destined to be robbed by spendthrifts With little or no resistance
She walked slowly and deliberately crossing the path of no one Her hair like spun sugar Almost caramelized In the early morning sun
The day was beginning making its glorious entrance bringing lightness to her day The remains of the previous night Little more than bad memories slowly slipping away
Darkness had consumed her blackening her heart Stealing her soul Wretched and angry She fought hard to escape the tenebrous hole
Kissed by the solar energy her thoughts now clear She shook off the shroud releasing the negativity that was consuming her Letting it drift up to the clouds
Today, for Haibun Monday, Frank Tassone at D’Verse Poets, has prompted us with ‘Memorial’ as today is Memorial Day in the US.
When I think of the armed services, the memory it invokes for me is a visit to France many years ago. My mother’s first husband was killed in the D Day invasion in Word War II and was laid to rest in Bayeux, Normandy. We went with little information other than his name and regiment but thanks to the kindness of the French we found the cemetery and his grave easily.
I will never forget the miles and miles of crosses and markers throughout the French countryside, and how many had laid down their lives or us all.
Wreaths of red poppies In honor of those who died Lest we forget them
This week Jim Adams’ prompts for Song Lyric Sunday are Cool, Groovy, Hip, Nifty, Radical and Swell. For some reason, apart from groovy, radical stayed with me the longest. I chose this Barry McGuire protest song, The Eve of Destruction, from the 60s. In many ways I feel we are right back there in the middle of that decade. Any progress we have made in the last 50 plus years has been snatched away from us in the last three.
According to Wikipedia it was written by P. F. Sloan in mid-1964. Several artists have recorded it, but the best-known recording was by Barry McGuire. This recording was made between July 12 and July 15, 1965, and released by Dunhill Records
The song had initially been presented to The Byrds as a Dylanesque potential single, but they rejected it. The Turtles, another L.A. group who often recorded The Byrds’ discarded or rejected material, recorded a version instead. Their version was issued as a track on their 1965 debut album It Ain’t Me Babe, shortly before McGuire’s version was cut; it was eventually released as a single and hit #100 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. The song was also recorded by Jan and Dean on their album Folk ‘n Roll in 1965, using the same backing track as the McGuire version, and by The Grass Roots on their first album Where Were You When I Needed You in 1966.
McGuire’s single hit #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1965.
Lyrics
Eve of Destruction Barry McGuire
The eastern world, it is explodin', Violence flarin', bullets loadin', You're old enough to kill but not for votin', You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin', And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin', But you tell me over and over and over again my friend, Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
Don't you understand, what I'm trying to say? And can't you feel the fears I'm feeling today? If the button is pushed, there's no running away, There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave, Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy, And you tell me over and over and over again my friend, Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin', I'm sittin' here, just contemplatin', I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation, Handful of Senators don't pass legislation, And marches alone can't bring integration, When human respect is disintegratin', This whole crazy world is just too frustratin', And you tell me over and over and over again my friend, Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
Think of all the hate there is in Red China! Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama! Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space, But when your return, it's the same old place, The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace, You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace, Hate your next door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace, And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend, You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction. No, no, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
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