30-Day Music Challenge: Day 27

EDITOR'S NOTE: In the summer of 2017, I answered the 30-Day Music Challenge on this blog. I'll be reupping the best of those posts from time to time.

27. A song that breaks your heart.

Ah, these people.

The thing is, I understand these people. I'm pretty sure I used to be one. I'm pretty sure I'm a recovering "these people", which means there's no used-to-be about it.

See, you grow up with someone who says and does nice things just to get something out of you. Then, they stop doing and saying nice things -- just to punish you for not playing the game by their rules. Just to show you who's boss. Or whatever. What you understand then, beyond the shadow of a doubt, is that they mean to harm you.

When they swing back to being nice, you forget who they were until they remind you with some exquisitely-designed humiliation. Some people figure it out. More people go to their graves wondering why.

You grow up, and when you meet a genuinely-kind person -- and kind, unlike nice, is never superficial -- you can't tell whether they're trying to manipulate you or just being themselves. So you lash out, even when they're so loving it hurts. Even when the air between you is emotionally neutral.

If you're smart, if you're lucky, you grow out of it. If you're really lucky, someone wise tells you the key is to trust someone until they prove that you can't. If you're really, really lucky, someone tells you that both hurting others and being hurt by them are unavoidable parts of life.

If you decide to be kind without evidence, you get what this song offers. And you get more of it than you ever thought possible.

This is Neil Young with "Peace of Mind".

30-Day Music Challenge: Day 8

8. A song about drugs or alcohol.

I was quite surprised when, several months ago, I heard an interview with a musician I quite admire -- as a player and as a person. He said he had done drugs for most of his life, had never suffered any ill effects, and had never been unable to stop. He simply chose to. He was ambiguous as to whether his life was better with drugs or without.

That's not my experience.

I count myself blessed never to have been sucked in because I've watched close friends, colleagues, and loved ones throw away family, career, and their very lives for one more drink, one more hit. Nothing prepares you for the suicide of one of your closest friends just days before his 50th birthday. Nothing prepares you for the tears grown men can't stop crying at the funeral.

This is my experience: Neil Young with "The Needle and the Damage Done".

An Election Year Sermon From the Stones

Rolling Stone magazine reports today that Neil Young would have been perfectly fine with Donald Trump using "Rockin' In the Free World" as his official campaign song, if only Trump had been a gentleman about it.

I'd be fine with a school of great white sharks tearing me limb from limb if they'd just call first, but whatever.

I'd rather see The Rolling Stones dust off this 30-year-old sermon to serve as a sort of official Trump campaign song, sub rosa. Just start playing it live, without any pointed commentary, let the song speak for itself.

What, you didn't know those guys were preachers?

Sure, they are. They just avoid the "I'm so holy, and everyone else is so filthy" brand identity that most preachers cling to. The Stones get so far down in the muck that you can't tell if they're of it, or just in it. If you're paying attention, you know that's the case with every one of us in some measure, but I digress.

Musically, this one's far better than I remembered -- now, this is a bass line! Sadly, the lyrics cut much deeper, too. Back then, I didn't know anybody who lived this way, or didn't know that I knew them. What a life!

The Rolling Stones with "Winning Ugly".