Echoes and Moments

If you're on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you may know that Thursdays have been reduced to a meaningless hashtag "#tbt," otherwise known as "Throwback Thursday." Although I'd normally give an exasperated gasp when scrolling through these feeds, I'm pleasantly surprised by the treasures that can be found after some good retrospective digging. My generation grew up in the 90s, a decade I've written about before and am decidedly biased towards for the extraordinary amount of good music it produced. Today, my #tbt is aimed at Radiohead's sophomore effort, 1995's The Bends . This album is never at the top of the critics list, nor does it include any of the best songs the band has written. It lies awkwardly between their debut Pablo Honey , most famous for their single "Creep," and OK Computer, often named by fans and critics alike as one of the greatest albums ever made. For a die-hard Radiohead fan like myself, their first

Sufjan Stevens in 2005. My latest poem was inspired by an album that I listened to as I drove from Fresno to my current home in Roseville. The music? Sufjan Steven's classic album Come on Feel the Illinoise! . Because it came out in 2005 (a pretty dead year for good music), and because of how much I enjoyed this guy's stuff as a teenager, I was surprised by how much the music holds up after such popularization. Kids in my generation know "Chicago" for its movie soundtrack overtones  (click if you don't believe me), or even "Casimir Pulaski Day" for how Stevens uses a religious experience to inform his perspective on a close friend's death. People of all ages should listen to it because it is just good music. I'm still holding onto the dream that he finishes his project to write an album about every state! Only 48 to go! Same guy, with his wife and kids in 3005. This poem's title is my tribute to that great dreamer.  But the p

Yup, today the Government shut down. It's on days like these that I don't particularly want to hear a song about how great it is to be alive, in love, playing with your puppy, whathaveyou.  That's probably why I write songs like this, an homage to a semi-obscure live cut by my favorite artists, Radiohead. If there was any occasion to link our collective simple desire not be alone with the heartbreak of being let down by those we trust, well, we found it today in our Congress (and, probably our President, as much as I hate to admit it). I'm definitely putting this one to music. Call it a cover/extension of Yorke's song. Just imagine his trembling tenor soothing you with these lines. All my thoughts are drowned when you make my make believe We'll tumble to the ground Just to sink too far beneath See life's a little brighter From the blinding of your gaze But what once drew me higher Now leaves this bitter taste Don't leave me here alone