Tag Archives: Kansas

Buzzards

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Buzzard: (n) a large hawklike bird of prey

Sometimes I find myself discontent with my status and very fussy about my being.

Even though the more religious souls around me would disagree, I believe the Creator was much better intentioned than adept at design.

You know what I’m saying? Every once in a while, each one of us gets in a mood to buy some watercolors and try to paint a picture. Even though the experience may be pleasant, the results of the painting adventure need to buried in the back yard.

Yet what often causes me to recover from my spiritual swoon is considering how fortunate that I am not another type of creature.

I would despise being a cockroach.

Being a rat living in the sewers of New York City seems uncomfortable.

And I wouldn’t want to be a buzzard. Job description: flying around the sky all day long looking for dead things. Sometimes really, really dead things–so I can eat.

Now, I know that hamburger is just the remaining flesh of a cow, but when you add some ketchup, pickles and onions, it can be quite good.

Buzzards have to land and pick the bones of the dead.

I don’t want to be a buzzard. And I especially don’t want to be an emotional buzzard–flying around looking for the disasters in the lives of others so I can chew the fat with the old birds about their demise.

I don’t like buzzards–but they are part of creation.

So may I say, “Carion, my wayward son.”

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Baroque

Baroque: (adj) relating to or denoting a style of European architecture, music, and art of the 17th and 18th centuriesDictionary B

The definition of radical is anything that the present crop of mortals is unaccustomed to doing.

If we understood that, we would have a better sense of reviewing what truly is beneficial to us, and what is silly and frivolous.

Such is the case with baroque music.

Somewhere along the line, some radical composers decided that the left hand on the piano should not remain limp and stagnant. It was customary, coming out of the era of Gregorian chants, for music to be simple and nearly haunting.

The idea of movement, rhythm and harmony reeked of devilish implications.

I can’t imagine the bravery of these composers, who decided to put motion to the emotion of music, and generate bass lines that complemented the melody line, to create an entire composition instead of merely augmenting chords with parallel notes.

I will tell you that baroque is the Great-Grandpappy of rock and roll. Every time you hear groups like Yes, Queen, The Who and Kansas play their tunes, you must realize that they are merely mimicking the bold strokes and ingenious determination of craftsmen like Johann Sebastian Bach.

So I smile whenever a new style of music comes along and those sitting in the stands jeer because it doesn’t quite perform to their particular liking.

If we can’t be brave in our compositions of music, how we will ever dare to insist that love can change the world?

Yes–“all we need is love.”

By the way, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were equally as infected by baroque.

 

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