Primary tabs

Posts

All articles from all albums, full content, latest on top,
not including Doodles

Page 122 of 131, posts 606 - 610 of 652

1.
     Dm                    C
Aunt Anna will turn ninety-nine this year
        C                           Dm
All her friends have died off long ago
     Dm                         C
It's harder these days for Aunt Anna to hear
     C                      Dm
It's harder still for us to know
     F           Em         Bb     Dm
What thoughts go on in Aunt Anna's head.
    Dm             C        Em
Sometimes her eyes seem so alive.
     F            Em            Bb      Dm
This could be the last year for Anna to live,
      Dm           C           Em
We've said for the last twenty-five!
     F          Em         Dm
Aunt Anna still finds it a nice thing to do
   F           Em           Dm
To put all the young people on.
       F          Em            Dm
With a wink and a smile all her mirth will show through
    C                      Dm
And two moments later it's gone.

Mindful Webworks | Best of Spirits | Aunt Anna, page 2

2.
     Dm                    C
Aunt Anna will turn ninety-nine this year
    C                           Dm
Her breath comes sometimes in a wheeze.
    Dm                           C
She burps when she wants like an infant child
     C                  Dm
Aunt Anna has no one to please.
        F        Em     Bb    Dm
And the children cannot comprehend
        Dm       C           Em
And the old ones say she's insane
    F   Em             Bb Dm
And sometimes she's so aimless
    Dm      C         Em
She doesn't know what words to say
              Dm
      or what games to play
        F       Em        Dm
And I'd love to tell her, no, you're not old,
        F       Em      Dm
And I'd love to see her go on
       C
       smiling
             Dm
             baby-wise.

Aunt Anna stories

Mary Jo's Great-Aunt Anna lived to be ninety-nine years old. It was an honor to know her.

There are many Aunt Anna stories to tell, but I will leave them to those who knew her better. Here, though, are two of my favorites, one from before I knew her, and one of my own experience.

I am told that when President Richard Nixon was resigning, some young person (to Aunt Anna, everyone was a young person) asked her what she thought about it. After a pause, in her creaky old voice, she commented, "He just couldn't believe he got the job!" Probably no political analyst ever summed it up better.

Anna One day wife Mary Jo and I were going across the street for some ice cream, and we were "taking orders" from anyone else who wanted some. My mother-in-law, "Bubby," turned to Aunt Anna and asked, "Do you want some ice cream?" Anna, hard of hearing, croaked, "Whaaat?" Bubby repeated the question, "Do you want some ice cream?" and Anna, frustrated a bit by her ailing body as she often was, asked with greater intensity, "WHAAAAT?" At which point, in that way some people do some times, Bubby spoke loudly enough to be heard, but this time changed the question, "DO YOU LIKE ICE CREAM?" The message registered in Anna's face, a moment of startle, a brief look of puzzlement, and then she repeated, "Do I like ice cream?" She looked me right in the eye, winked boldly, and replied, "Noooo, I don't like ice cream." With a wink and a smile all her mirth would show through; and two moments later, it's gone. I'll always remember.

Info

Comments open

Aunt Anna

Composed 1975 Jan 7. Published to mindfulwebworks.com 2007 Apr 29. Reformatted 2011 Sep 21.
This song is modeled after Jefferson Airplane's "Lather," using the same tune and much of the wording. For those who don't know or remember "Lather," it concerns a young man going "over the hill." I was told that it regarded drummer Ginger Baker. All this from memory of decades ago.

Verse posted to Best of Spirits on 1997 Mar 17.

Subjects: aging, relationships, Jefferson Airplane

•
•
•

1.
C               Dm
Why do diamonds come from coal?
F              C
Why is New Mexico?
C           F       Am
Why is fire hot and not
     Bb
   a crystal like the snow?

C                   Dm
Why not three sides to a square?
F               C
Why is the sky above?
C               Am
Why when babies cry
             Bb
  do mothers care
               C
    and why is love?

2.
Why do birds lay eggs?
Why doesn't water run uphill?
Why is money? Why is funny?
   Why is William Bill?

Why chip potatoes? Pick tomatoes?
Lick an ice cream cone?
Why is a crowd so loud?
   Why do I sometimes feel alone?

3.
Why is cheer? Why is fear?
Why is L.S.D.?
Why was Hitler? Why is Buddha?
   Why do you and me?

Why are what? how? who? how often?
When? Which? Where? and Why?
Why is a three year old?
   Why is the Fourth of July?

Why why why why why why why?
   Why is the Fourth of July?

Info

Comments open

Why?

Bubby told us that when Jay was little, he would ask "Why...?" so often and about everything that one day she burst out, "Why, why, why, why, why is the Fourth of July?" I wrote this and dedicated it to Jay when he was three. That was decades ago.
This song actually comes in two flavors, which differ slightly but significantly. This is the original "adult" version, as opposed to the more cleaned-up kids' version. The tune is one I borrowed from Tom Allen's Universal Unity — which I sometimes append to the above, as an answer; I'll put that up here sometime if he'll permit. I've used the tune for some other songs, too, and Tom said it was okay.
Offline for a long time, re-published on mindfulwebworks.com 2007 Apr 12. Reformatted 2011 Sep 21.

Verse posted to Best of Spirits on 1997 Mar 17.

Subjects: why, children, inquiry, searching, truth-seeking, questions

•
•
•

1.
          D              Bdim
There's a certain risk involved
             D              Bdim
   in almost everything you do.
        D             G
There's danger in the course you take
           E             A
   and the one that you eschew.
          D              Bdim
There's a certain risk involved
             D                Bdim
   in almost every breath you take,
      D               F6
So no matter what you do
                 Em             A
   it's going to look like a mistake.

2.
          D                Bdim
There's a certain price to pay
             D                  Bdim
   for every choice you make or don't.
        D               G
There's problems if you will
                 E                 A
   and there's obstructions if you won't.
  D             Am
A setback is forseeable.
          G               Gm
   You'll likely miss the boat,
    D                 G
And curse your luck until you find
      Bb          A
   it didn't stay afloat.

Mindful Webworks | Short and Tall Tales | Risk, page 2

3.
       D              Bdim
If you never took the chance
       D               Bdim
   you might be safer, but
    D              G
The day you didn't leave
               E           A
   you are the victim of a nut.
      D                 Am
We'll spare you now the details.
           G                 Gm
   You can catch the film at nine,
                  D              G
Watching from the safety of your living room,
          Gb            A     D
   Saying glad his life ain't mine.

Performed in Mindful Webworkshop #2

Info

Comments open

Risk

Image source: My Favorite Dumpster Find and a Story of Risk
Originated 1988 Jan 5 amidst a burst of several songs. I was going to force one a day for a year (but quickly wised up). Okay, I'll admit it. I was in a mood to write a song, looked around, and my eyes came upon a boxed board game. But that's all the board game has to do with the song. A relative made fun of my use of eschew as being too intellectual; maybe; but in life you have to take some risks.
Published to mindfulwebworks.com 2007 May 2. Reformatted 2011 Sep 26.

Verse posted to Short and Tall Tales on 1997 Mar 17.

Subjects: risk, chance, fate, decisions, effort

•
•
•

1.
F7
One Two Three

And they've all gone down

Getcher dancin' shoes babe

We're goin' out on the town

            Bb7
We're goin' dancin'
   Doo wop a doo
            F7
We're goin' dancin'
   Shoo boop a doo be
      C7
Goin' dancin'
              Bb7       F7      C7
All de leedle tykes're asleep.

2.
          F7
O, we can smoke a jug o' wine

An we can flip a couple lids

If we can only find a sitter

Who'll come 'n' mind the kids

            Bb7
We're goin' dancin'
   Bo do dee oh
            F7
We're goin' dancin'
   Woh woh woh
      C7
Goin' dancin'
              Bb7             F7     C7
Wait a sec, I think I heard a peep.

Mindful Webworks | Short and Tall Tales | Got No Babysitter Blues, page 2

3.
         F7
Change a diaper then another

Dad I wanna drinka water

Got a dolly for my daughter

Tuck her brother into bed

             Bb7
And we'll go dancin'
   Whee-dee-dee  dee-dee-dee
   dee-dee-dee-dah-dah
F7
Dancin'
   Ya-ta-ta  ta-ta-ta
   na-na-na  na-na-na
C7
Dancin'
                Bb7             F7      C7
Babe just go 'n' getcher dancin' shoes.

4.
F7
Granny's feelin' po'ly

An' the sitter's got a test tomorrow

Then our frien' nex' door comes down

A-lookin' for yer shoes t' borrow

Bb7
Dancin'
   Hup hup hup
            F7
She's goin' dancin'
   Yup yup yup
      C7
Goin' dancin'
         Bb7
I think I got those
                     F7       C7
   got no babysitter blues!

2016 Sep 23: Performed in Mindful Webworkshop Episode #7

Info

Comments open

Got No Babysitter Blues

Image source: Insomniac Armed Quad Toddlers On Patrol, a Mindful Kiddisms Webwork.
Written in Chicago, Summer of 1987. Let's see the kids were ages two and six back then. Yup.
Published to mindfulwebworks.com 2007 May 2. Reformatted 2011 Sep 26.
Chord notations added 2016 Sep 23.

Verse posted to Short and Tall Tales on 1997 Mar 17.

Subjects: family, parenting, recreation, humor

•
•
•

1.
    Am            C
How hard is Judas working

        Dm7            C
to make up for what he did?

  Am             C
I know before he died

               Bb
he learned the facts.

2.
    Am              C
How long will we be paying

        Dm7                C
for the secrets we thought hid,

    Am
Our multitude of

C                     Bb
cruel and thoughtless acts?

3.

    Am          C
How terrible is judgement!

      Dm7              C
Judge ye not, not even he.

   Am                C
If you'd been in his sandals

        Bb
are you sure

4.
      Am               C
You'd have the will to follow

         Dm7           C
when you didn't really see?

      Am
Would you have known

    C             Bb
the Master was so pure?

5.
         Am             C
(How) presumptuous to betray him

      Dm7              C
or to think he doesn't know

      Am              C
(How) crushing is our guilt

             Bb
when we find out!

6.
         Am                 C
(Do you) sell your soul for silver,

        Dm7               C
missing substance for the show?

Am
Doubting faith

    C               Bb
but having faith in doubt?

7.
  Am               C
Observe the little children,

     Dm7      C
as a family begins,

  Am             C
Unknowing of how much

            Bb
the parents give.

8.
    Am          C
How infinite is mercy

     Dm7             C
to encompass all our sins

   Am
In perfect love,

     C          Bb      Am
does even Judas live

2016 Sep 16: Performed in music video Mindful Webworkshop #6.

Info

Comments open

Judas Working (How Hard is)

Image source: Saint Brigid Religious Education
Does even Judas live? Urantia Paper 139, "The Twelve Apostles," section 12, Judas Iscariot, ends on this cryptic hint: "The worlds have found it difficult to forgive Judas, and his name has become eschewed throughout a far-flung universe." Some UB students wonder, would we need to forgive one who is no more?
Originated 1987 Jun 24, 9am, Chicago. Published on mindfulwebworks.com 2007 Mqy 1. Reformatted and links updated 2011 Oct 12.

Verse posted to Urantiana on 1997 Mar 17.

Subjects: Judas Iscariot, Jesus, sin, forgiveness, mercy, faith, spirituality, survival, Urantia

•
•
•

Primary tabs

Posts

Aunt Anna

Why?

Risk

Got No Babysitter Blues

Judas Working (How Hard is)

Pages