Soothe the Savage Beast
I remember it as if it were yesterday. My mother treated me, my sister, and my brother to an album. I'm not sure what the occasion was, but I remember the music albums that we each received - Corinne chose Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty, John got Glass Houses by Billy Joel, and I picked Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan.
So, I'm figuring the year was about 1980 or so. I can remember what the album looked like in my hands. I believe that I can still sing every song off of each album because we played them to death - you ain't lived until you've heard Dylan sing about the slow train coming around the bend.
In any regard I've always been a collector of albums, then tapes, and now CD's. I've replaced all of my favorites each time technology passed me by, but I'm kind of stuck in the buying the whole album trap. I don't know how to download songs. Instead, I read the paper and wait for my favorite artists to release their new "albums".
Of course, I always buy Springsteen, Mellencamp, the Stones, and Mark Knopfler without even hearing a single song. Van Morrison usually falls into the same category. Yet there is one person who releases an album every two years or so that sells at least one copy - Tracy Chapman.
Tracy Chapman is a black, folk singer with a voice that doesn't change much from one song to the next. She had a huge hit with Fast Car about twenty years ago - and I've purchased every album since. I recall being in a bar in New Haven, Connecticut twenty years ago. I was playing darts and drinking beer with my brother, John. I put a lot of money in the jukebox and played every song on the album. The bartender turned down the volume on me.
I purchased the new Tracy Chapman CD today - Our Bright Future - I don't play it for friends - it won't be at the next dart or Foosball party - but take my word for it - it's been a great day.
The first thing I did was sit down and read the lyrics. Now it is playing softly in the background as I write.
I think of my mother buying us those first albums - just one more gift she used to soothe the savage beast.
So, I'm figuring the year was about 1980 or so. I can remember what the album looked like in my hands. I believe that I can still sing every song off of each album because we played them to death - you ain't lived until you've heard Dylan sing about the slow train coming around the bend.
In any regard I've always been a collector of albums, then tapes, and now CD's. I've replaced all of my favorites each time technology passed me by, but I'm kind of stuck in the buying the whole album trap. I don't know how to download songs. Instead, I read the paper and wait for my favorite artists to release their new "albums".
Of course, I always buy Springsteen, Mellencamp, the Stones, and Mark Knopfler without even hearing a single song. Van Morrison usually falls into the same category. Yet there is one person who releases an album every two years or so that sells at least one copy - Tracy Chapman.
Tracy Chapman is a black, folk singer with a voice that doesn't change much from one song to the next. She had a huge hit with Fast Car about twenty years ago - and I've purchased every album since. I recall being in a bar in New Haven, Connecticut twenty years ago. I was playing darts and drinking beer with my brother, John. I put a lot of money in the jukebox and played every song on the album. The bartender turned down the volume on me.
I purchased the new Tracy Chapman CD today - Our Bright Future - I don't play it for friends - it won't be at the next dart or Foosball party - but take my word for it - it's been a great day.
The first thing I did was sit down and read the lyrics. Now it is playing softly in the background as I write.
I think of my mother buying us those first albums - just one more gift she used to soothe the savage beast.
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