Thistle

Thistle, along I-35 in Texas, May 26, 2013. Photo by Laura Anne Heller

Hay Bales

I'm going to try to start posting a pictue-a-day here.  And other ramblings as well.  *crosses fingers for success and persistence*

Hay Bales, Newcastle, Oklahoma, May 26, 2013.  Photo by Laura Anne Heller

Love Song for Bobby Long

 

I could go on forever about this movie and its music.  One, I love New Orleans and it is the central landscape and culture of the film.  Two, the dialogue interests me because there’s plenty of literary references to Moliere, Dickens, Twain, Auden, etc.  That tugs at my literature heart.  There’s a character whom you both love and are confused by because of his mistakes and how he has complicated his life by them.  You want to smack him while at the same time just sit on the porch enjoying a glass of bourbon and talk about literature, society, the city.

This movie also includes the Carson McCullers novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, a paperback book that Purselane reads while waiting to get on the train but upon finishing it, changes her mind and stays in New Orleans.  I finally read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter last summer, and it was a very good read.  Also, the movie’s screenplay is based on the Ronald Everett Capps novel Off Magazine Street.  I should read it someday.

The soundtrack features several songs written and performed by Grayson Capps, plus a few old traditional songs like “Barbara Allen” being performed by John Travolta while sitting outside with friends for a cookout.  By the way, there are many versions of “The Ballad of Barbara Allen.”   A Myspace music profile was created by someone to feature several songs most loved from the film; Give it a listen.

Secrets (playlist)

Secrets 

1. "The River" - Samantha Crain
2. "Flowering Spade" - Sean Hayes
3. "When I Go" - Brett Dennen
4. "Spaces In Between" - Shane Alexander
5. "Happy Ending" - Matt the Electrician
6. "Blues Man" - Michael Huff
7. "Forms of the Truth" - Beth Waters
8. "Strangers" - Kris Delmhorst
9. "Ragdoll" - Gavin Glass & the Holy Shakers
10. "Tribute to Taj Mahal: Cakewalk Into Town" - Justin Witte One Man Band
11. "Santa Fe" - Samantha Crain
12. "Houston" - The Bittersweets
13. "Southern Smile" - Four Year Bender
14. "Meridian" - Rebecca Loebe
15. "Other Hearts" - Michael Huff
16. "Reflecting Light" - Sam Phillips*

I included "Reflecting Light" just because I was completely absorbed in the song while working on these and I thought it appropriate to close with it.
Support local music; Links link out to musician's website.

Tales (playlist)

Tales

1. "This Too Shall Pass" - Danny Schmidt
2. "Dancer" - Jared Tyler
3. "Blackwing Butterfly" - Noelle Hampton
4. "Soul Parade" - Jesse DeNatale
5. "Better Nobody" - Kelly B. Band
6. "Siren" - Rebecca Loebe
7. "Song for John" - Penny Hill
8. "She Run Away" - Mike Beck & the Bohemian Saints
9. "I Would" - Ali Harter
10. "Fortune Teller" - Michael Huff
11. "Scissor Tales" - Samantha Crain
12. "Your Chances Are High" - Camille Harp
13. "Angel on the Floor" - Elam Blackman
14. "Lonely Spires" - Rachel Ries
15. "Working My Angels Overtime" - Justin Witte One Man Band
16. "Life of a Buckaroo" - Mike Beck & the Bohemian Saints
17. "The Wind" - Penny Hill
18. "Band of Angels" - Kelly B. Band
19. "Too Far Off" - Michael Huff
20. "Collapsible Plans (Sugar)" - Tom Freund

Links link out to musician's website; Support local music!

Stories (playlist)

Stories

1. "For the Morning" - Camille Harp
2. "Babylon" - Justin Witte One Man Band
3. "We Are the Same" - Samantha Crain
4. "Salem" - Penny Hill
5. "Everybody Knows" - Kelly B. Band
6. "Cheyanna" - Mike Beck & The Bohemian Saints
7. "Land & Sea" - Rebecca Loebe
8. "Little Birdie" - Michael Huff
9. "The Dam Song" - Samantha Crain
10. "Goodbye Blues" - Easton Stagger Phillips
11. "Don't Hurt My Heart" - Mike Beck & The Bohemian Saints
12. "South" - Camille Harp
13. "California" - Rebecca Loebe
14. "Untitled #3" - Ali Harter
15. "Rising Sun" - Samantha Crain
16. "Be Kind to You" - Forest Sun
17. "All the Pretty Girls Leave Town" - Tim Easton
18. "It's Okay to Be Alone" - Elam Blackman
19. "Keep on Going" - Michael Huff
20. "The Weeping Willow" - Devon Sproule

Links go to musician's website; Support local musicians!

Downtown Train

“They’re just thorns without the rose

Be careful of them in the dark
Oh, if I was the one
You chose to be your only one
Oh yeah
Can’t you hear me now
Can’t you hear me now
Will I see you tonight
On a downtown train
Every night it’s just the same
You leave me lonely"

—	“Downtown Train” (Rain Dogs studio version, 1985) by Tom Waits