tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post8000949619305408559..comments2024-03-18T19:00:03.047-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Music and MurderLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-17605806309043864132013-07-13T23:20:48.000-04:002013-07-13T23:20:48.000-04:00At first I enjoyed this but the more I read, the m...At first I enjoyed this but the more I read, the more I think you’re only half right. Country music is about hardship and loyalty and their contrasts. For example, Stand By Your Man doesn’t have anything to do with drinking and to my mind it doesn’t have to be about cheating. I’m sorry the rest of the world doesn’t get it, but there’s a reason it’s a classic. But maybe that’s because country music allows anyone to hear their own interpretation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-11822509983353794022013-07-13T20:49:40.680-04:002013-07-13T20:49:40.680-04:00Toe, I agree with Fran. Keep reading, keep writin...Toe, I agree with Fran. Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, submit those stories. One does NOT have to be well known to publish in national markets.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-60973057258927995422013-07-13T20:04:54.200-04:002013-07-13T20:04:54.200-04:00Toe, I feel like I know you since you comment so o...Toe, I feel like I know you since you comment so often on Sleuthsayers. Some advice from someone who didn't start writing fiction until after retirement: Unless you're buried or cremated, it's not too late to write that story that gets published. Also, if you don't submit your material, you won't have to deal with rejection, but there won't be any acceptances either.<br />Good luck! Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-8787381141105989832013-07-13T16:37:09.939-04:002013-07-13T16:37:09.939-04:00Rob, I like the acoustic side of country, the ball...Rob, I like the acoustic side of country, the ballads that sound a lot like folk except that I think they're musically more interesting. I call my own music urban folk when I have to label it, but I've learned a lot from listening to country for the past 25 years (for example, how to write a bridge). And of course my lyrics say what I want them to say about whatever I want to talk about, not just "boy girl boy girl" as one of my mentors, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, once described the subject matter of commercial country.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-55432770560755250292013-07-13T14:15:33.282-04:002013-07-13T14:15:33.282-04:00Hi Elizabeth, Great post! I've been a fan of ...Hi Elizabeth, Great post! I've been a fan of songs like "Long Black Veil" since I was young, and have always thought about the dark side of those types of songs. Now I'm going to go back and look at other songs with whole new eyeballs! LOL. Happy trails from Texas, bobbi c.Bobbi A. Chukran, Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16678371925926783260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-33112875691140686132013-07-13T13:56:45.902-04:002013-07-13T13:56:45.902-04:00Ms. Zelvin: Not to worry. Nothing of mine ever get...Ms. Zelvin: Not to worry. Nothing of mine ever gets published anyway. Yours truly, Toe. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17407149021673167001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-14358140481051159362013-07-13T10:55:12.567-04:002013-07-13T10:55:12.567-04:00Good piece. Country music is not my thing, esp no...Good piece. Country music is not my thing, esp not modern. (Folksinger Utah Phillips: "The reason country music is so whiny is that their cowboy boots are too tight. If they switched to Birkenstocks they'd mellow right out.")<br /><br />Two songs to recommend: "I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MahJcS5xC9w<br /><br />and Fred Eaglesmith's "Alcohol and Pills" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMuIXzZj7YY<br /><br />I remember the old time band Uncle Earl performing in town and saying the concert had the highest death toll of any of their recent shows, referring to the killings in the songs, not the audience, fortunately. Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-4289784813853125682013-07-13T10:39:01.331-04:002013-07-13T10:39:01.331-04:00Interesting. A lot of country is about dysfunctio...Interesting. A lot of country is about dysfunction, as is folk and the Blues, of course: women who should know better, men who abuse them, and obviously taken from life. (I always thought "Pretty Polly" would make a great cover for Neil Young and Crazy Horse, with a throbbing guitar line.) You get tired of the whining, men who want their womenfolk to take them back into the fold---pun intended---but it's hard not to be cheered by a song like "Earl Must Die." David Edgerley Gateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05302818835018859164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-29484527445113115532013-07-13T09:56:44.497-04:002013-07-13T09:56:44.497-04:00Eve, one of my favorites was BJ Thomas's versi...Eve, one of my favorites was BJ Thomas's version of "So Lonesome I Could Cry," a looong time ago. Better even, I thought, that Hank Williams's. John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-11505483060052369912013-07-13T09:50:10.812-04:002013-07-13T09:50:10.812-04:00Eve, my least favorite country song ever is that K...Eve, my least favorite country song ever is that Kenny Rogers one about the guy who doesn't believe in fighting until some guys gang-rape his wife. He shoots them down, so now he knows how to be a man and they all live happily ever after. NOT!Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-63095380406915747242013-07-13T09:36:29.376-04:002013-07-13T09:36:29.376-04:00Oh, country music is full of murder ("Earl...Oh, country music is full of murder ("Earl's gotta die"), alcohol (my least favorite country song ever: "let's get drunk and be somebody!"), infidelity. I remember "long black veil" - my parents had a lot of Johnny Cash and the complete Hank Williams. I don't think Hank ever killed people in his songs, but he wrote what is (to me) the saddest song ever: "Hear that lonesome whipporwill, He sounds too blue to cry; The midnight train is wailing low; I'm so lonesome I could die." Suicide coming up?Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-28912400626164357442013-07-13T08:20:01.593-04:002013-07-13T08:20:01.593-04:00Toe, honestly, I'm not sure I'm comfortabl...Toe, honestly, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that, since I don't know you or your work.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-27508220853581709012013-07-13T07:56:30.174-04:002013-07-13T07:56:30.174-04:00Well, and then there's opera!
Good music makes...Well, and then there's opera!<br />Good music makes a lot that doesn't bear examination, palatable.Janice Lawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-12318062277734280052013-07-13T07:34:28.074-04:002013-07-13T07:34:28.074-04:00Liz, when I traveled with a bluegrass band, the le...Liz, when I traveled with a bluegrass band, the lead singer would introduce songs with murder in them as "bluegrass love songs." You've done a great job with bringing country, including recent songs, into that concept. BTW, you've ruined "Suds in the Bucket" for me. Now when I hear it, Ted Bundy will be driving that truck. One I wish you'd addressed is the recent "Two Black Cadillacs." Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-77249080346308174932013-07-13T00:58:56.240-04:002013-07-13T00:58:56.240-04:00Ms. Zelvin: Many of the performers and songs you b...Ms. Zelvin: Many of the performers and songs you bring up are "out there." Hope that makes sense. They did not hide their inner demons. Nor did they seem capable of conquering them. By the way, is it okay if I use the name Beth Zelvin in a mystery story I'm presently writing. Don't worry, she is very intelligent. And very attractive, of course. You can blame Mr. Floyd for such boldness on my part. Yours truly, Toe. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17407149021673167001noreply@blogger.com