Thunder - More Than A Weather Condition

It is also the name of one of the hardest working, and most under rated bands of the last twenty years. They are just completing their farewell tour. For those old enough to remember, they formed in 1989 out of the ashes of Terraplane. I only got into them about two years ago, and was thinking really must see them some time. When they announced that they were calling it a day, I thought well it's now or never. Saw them at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Friday, with some good friends from the Planet Rock Forum. It was an awesome display of rock at it's best. Thanks guys for the music and the memories.

I have chosen to use a clip of my favourite track, I love you more than rock and roll, as recorded on this tour in Glasgow.

Thanks for letting me go Megan, The title refers to how I feel about you to!!!

Beat It

Regardless of what he may, or may not have done, in his personal life, there can be no dispute that Michael Jackson was a very talented person. In my opinion the Thriller album, was one of a very select few albums, which changed the face of music. The production by Quincey Jones was first class. The video for the title song, changed forever the style and quality of music videos. It marked the first major cross over for a black artist from a select few type audience, to a global market. The musical content of the album was also diverse, from soulful ballads to the power numbers such as Beat It and Thriller. I am proud to say that despite being a rocker at heart, I do have a copy of this album in my collection. A man who has performed with Slash and Eddie Van Halen, to name but two, must have some rock credentials. Also I think the bass playing on quite a few of his records would not be out of place on any rock album.

As a tribute to Michael, I am featuring a clip of Beat It recorded in October 1987 in Japan. Not sure who plays guitar on this version, but Eddie Van Halen played the solo on the album version.

Hysteria

Hysteria is probably the reaction you would get if you asked a fan of classic rock, to listen to country music. A friend of mine recently put this piece of music on Facebook, with a mention to me, as he thought I might like it. His musical tastes are fairly broad, as are mine, but recently he has developed a keen interest in country music. He is putting a fair bit of it on Facebook, trying to change perceptions of it, and highlighting the amazing lyrical contents involved. Country music is also reinventing itself to a wider audience, and is not pure country and western.

Having given this some thought, it would appear to me that much classic rock had it's birth in country type music. Jimi Hendrix covered a Bob Dylan song for starters. A lot of the early classic rock was birthed in the 1960's and early
1970's West coast sound formulated by ex folk singers, and hippies.

The track below is Def Leppard with Taylor Swift at a country music awards night. Apparently Def Leppard were nominated for three country music awards. I do not know what this means for either classic rock or country, but enjoy anyway...

The Last Resort

Heard this song on the radio today, and was moved by it. It is by The Eagles and is taken from the Hotel California album. I am not going to read anything into the words of this one, save to say that one line in my opinion sums up all that has been wrong with the world for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. "We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds, in the name of destiny and in the name of God". In my opinion, most people claim to have God on their side to justify their view or stand point. In fact they do have God on their side, but he is on the side of everyone. He has His own plan, but loves us all.

"The Last Resort"

She came from Providence,
the one in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang
heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams
like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea

She heard about a place people were smilin'
They spoke about the red man's way,
and how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere
to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand
or a place to hide

Down in the crowded bars,
out for a good time,
Can't wait to tell you all,
what it's like up there
And they called it paradise
I don't know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
while the town got high

Then the chilly winds blew down
Across the desert
through the canyons of the coast, to
the Malibu
Where the pretty people play,
hungry for power
to light their neon way
and give them things to do

Some rich men came and raped the land,
Nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus,
people bought 'em
And they called it paradise
The place to be
They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea

You can leave it all behind
and sail to Lahaina
just like the missionaries did, so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign: "Jesus is coming"
Brought the white man's burden down
Brought the white man's reign

Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here

We satisfy our endless needs and
justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny and the name
of God

And you can see them there,
On Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about
what it's like up there
They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye

Hungry Heart

If I remember rightly this Bruce Springsteen track was on The River album from about 1980/81. That album in my opinion is full of hard hitting socially aware lyrics, complimented by awesome musicianship by the E Street Band.

This song speaks of the emptiness of a hungry heart. Most peoples ideal when growing up, is to have a good marriage with children, but as the song intimates, it does not always end up this way. Sometimes you can reach the stage, when just jumping in the car and driving anywhere else, seems to be the best solution. I remember once when our eldest boy was still a baby, I had had care of him all day, and he just did not seem to have stopped crying. When my wife got home from work, I just passed him over, got in the car and drove for hours, not really knowing where. Though I did know that I would end up home again a few hours later, when the stress had more or less passed. It was not until that point that I realised why some people could just do the no going back thing. There is also the hungry heart seeking solace in the bottle of beer or spirits, and the casual pick up in the bars or clubs. I have never been there myself, but again I can see how it can happen.

I know that it is a cliche, but everyone has a God shaped hole in their heart, and can only be whole totally when God is allowed to fill that hole. God has always wanted the best for His people, though we often can not, or will not, see this.

Growing up I could not really see myself as married, or with children, despite what I said earlier about most peoples aspirations. God in His goodness has given me both, and I feel so much better for it. It is my opinion though, that if He had not done so, my life would have still been ok, if I allowed my hungry heart to be filled by Him. We all yearn for a place to rest, a place to call home, and not to be alone. God provides all three, and yes some people may be single in a human relationship basis, but with God to fill the hungry heart they are not alone in the true sense of the word.

Hungry Heart

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don't know where it's flowing
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

CHORUS

Everybody's got a hungry heart
Everybody's got a hungry heart
Lay down your money and you play your part
Everybody's got a hungry heart

I met her in a Kingstown bar
We fell in love I knew it had to end
We took what we had and we ripped it apart
Now here I am down in Kingstown again

CHORUS

Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Don't make no difference what nobody says
Ain't nobody like to be alone

CHORUS

This version was performed life in Toronto in 1984 and feature the original and best line up of the E Street Band.


Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don't know where it's flowing
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

CHORUS
Everybody's got a hungry heart
Everybody's got a hungry heart
Lay down your money and you play your part
Everybody's got a hungry heart

I met her in a Kingstown bar
We fell in love I knew it had to end
We took what we had and we ripped it apart
Now here I am down in Kingstown again

CHORUS

Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Don't make no difference what nobody says
Ain't nobody like to be alone

CHORUS

This version was performed live in 1984 in Toront, and features the best and original line up of the E Street Band.

Telegraph Road

This song has always resonated with me for some reason. It is by a British band, Dire Straits, but appears to be set in the American Midwest, though I may be wrong on that. It appears to be about the birth of a small town, based on one man stopping there and building himself a home. Others join, and a community develops, iron ore is discovered and mined, then comes the war and depression. The man in the song wants to work, but there is none, and slowly it appears that this once thriving community dies on its feet, with businesses closing or moving out.

In this scenario hopelessness and desperation can easily kick in, though he appears to be clinging on to his memories of the past, and a future hope.

The sad thing is, that this type of mass closures appears to be happening again now. Employers large and small are closing worldwide. We do not appear to be learning from past mistakes. In my lifetime alone I can remember at least two similar situations, both in the 1970's, though you could argue that they were in fact one.

It seems almost trite to say that even in the midst of all this that God is in control, but He is. He has a purpose and plan for all of us, the trouble is we often have difficulty either accepting this, or seeing it. Even in the bleakest situation, we have to remember that God loves us, and is in the process of rescuing us.

Telegraph Road

A long time ago came a man on a track
walking thirty miles with a pack on his back
and he put down his load where he thought it was the best
made a home in the wilderness
he built a cabin and a winter store
and he ploughed up the ground by the cold lake shore
and the other travellers came riding down the track
and they never went further, no, they never went back

then came the churches then came the schools
then came the lawyers then came the rules
then came the trains and the trucks with their loads
and the dirty old track was the telegraph road

Then came the mines - then came the ore
then there was the hard times then there was a war
telegraph sang a song about the world outside
telegraph road got so deep and so wide
like a rolling river. . .

And my radio says tonight it's gonna freeze
people driving home from the factories
there's six lanes of traffic
three lanes moving slow. . .

I used to like to go to work but they shut it down
I got a right to go to work but there's no work here to be found
yes and they say we're gonna have to pay what's owed
we're gonna have to reap from some seed that's been sowed
and the birds up on the wires and the telegraph poles
they can always fly away from this rain and this cold
you can hear them singing out their telegraph code
all the way down the telegraph road

You know I'd sooner forget but I remember those nights
when life was just a bet on a race between the lights
you had your head on my shoulder you had your hand in my hair
now you act a little colder like you don't seem to care
but believe in me baby and I'll take you away
from out of this darkness and into the day
from these rivers of headlights these rivers of rain
from the anger that lives on the streets with these names
'cos I've run every red light on memory lane
I've seen desperation explode into flames
and I don't want to see it again. . .

From all of these signs saying sorry but we're closed
all the way down the telegraph road


The version shown below was recorded live in Basel in 1992.

The Servant King

From heaven you came
Helpless babe,
Entered our world,
Your glory veiled:
Not to be served
But to serve,
And give your life
That we might live.

(Chorus)
This is our God,
The servant king,
He calls us now
To follow Him,
To bring our lives
As a daily offering
Of worship to
The Servant King.

There in the garden
Of tears
My heavy load
He chose to bear.
His heart with sorrow
Was torn,
"Yet not my will
But yours" He said.

(Chorus)

Come see his hands
And His feet,
The scars that speak
Of sacrifice,
Hands that flung stars
Into space
To cruel nails
Surrendered.

(Chorus)

So let us learn
How to serve
And in our lives
Enthrone Him.
Each other's needs
To prefer
For it is Christ
We're serving.

(Chorus)


HAPPY EASTER