For the second half of this snapshot in time of the modern age, everything is different. Gone from the stage is the cityscape, and it’s youthful characters scrambling to figure things out, and exploring personal themes. For set two we turn to classic members of society, stereotypes and archetypes of our coexistence. For the stage we recommend the singer and a simple backdrop, accompanied by that “second voice”, the lead guitarist. A horn could sit in. I like seeing them on the stage with the singer(s). There are co-singers and harmonies. The cast from set one would have to re-dress at set break into these characters. (Recognize that interpretations of works are strictly up to the enthusiast.) I keep thinking a slideshow makes sense, because we are making impressions. A rapidly changing stage, with characters and perhaps extravagant outfits, one to the next. It’s like the characters of the modern age in and out of your life.
Song one on side B is a song about immigrants. More particularly, it is a song about ambition and adventure, of being the one to say, “Hey, we’re loaded up and headed out. Are you coming?” Metaphorically, all adventures have to start as an idea in somebody’s head. Some lead, others follow. My grandfather Nicola Carpinello left Italy as a teenager for a better world. Would I have had the nerve to do that, leave my mom forever, and my folks? For what? He was shot up in WWI, and he noisily limped around with a brace on his leg. He received the Silver Star for heroics, and in return he gained citizenship. So that’s where he was headed? Never understood anything he said, but don’t tell my mom that. So, to immigrants, and more generally, inspiration.
“A Good Ship Aweigh”
Off in the land of far away places
Where the sun and the skies gets lost on the way
With the hope of tomorrow the look of our faces
We know in our hearts we can get there some way
So here we stand looking out at the water
As we wait for the boat that comes in with the tide
Then it’s off to wherever for little that matters
As much as the others who never have tried
(Chorus) Oh the lines of the past disappearin’
With the clang of the bell that we’re hearin’
No time to borrow today from tomorrow
Alright and okay! For the good ship aweigh
Gone from the sands of a land long forgotten
To the new and the wonder of never before
And they’ll welcome us there as if once begotten
Coming home once again from the waves to the shore
Now it’s the sun that’s slowly been risin’
The sails, they catch at whatever goes by
To the rare and uncertain on past the horizon
Adventures aplenty that never run dry
(Chorus) Oh the lines of the past disappearin’
With the clang of the bell that we’re hearin’
No time ya borrow today from tomorrow
Alright and okay! For the good ship aweigh
And we’ll see what it is that we’ll see
On a good ship aweigh for you and for me
Perhaps. If all goes well, and they don’t toss you smallpox blankets. Or traffic you after taking all your possessions. Their children could be your president one day. The next song also makes mention of immigrants, but very specifically says this: America embodies the fantasy of freedom in the western world as a way of life, plain and simple. Because groups of dudes will happily take everything and anything they can, your only hope of this fragile reality is protection from that. So, say a prayer, for America. And its “Wild Western Fantasy”. This song is essentially all metaphor. (Idea: How about a dude dressed in a Colonial outfit, like me on the cover of the album this song was on, This Elite Band, 1996.) It is song 2 on side B (i.e., Set 2).
“The Wild Western Fantasy”
Can anyone hear the whisper
Of the spring time through the winter?
The night will bring the sunshine
And the wind and rain of the cloudy time
They brave the ocean’s hungry tide
For a better world they know inside
To hear the symphony play their song
And hope that somehow
They can sing along
(Ref) Say a prayer for America
The Old Utopians’ legacy
And we’ll take care of America
So we can dream, in our wild western fantasy
Little girl where’s your daddy gone
You haven’t seen him in so long
Your mommy’s tryin’, she’s really tryin’
But late at night I can hear her cryin’
Your brothers need him to come home too
To save him from those things he do
Tell him you need him home today
In a world where tomorrow was yesterday
(Ref) Say a prayer for America
The Old Utopians’ legacy
And we’ll take care of America
So we can dream in our wild western fantasy
In our wild western fantasy
Wild western fantasy
(There is a third verse reprise of this song that I have slipped in at the end of set two.)
The next two songs are sung by the man of the house. He is an endangered species in the modern age. His testosterone levels are dropping, his general maleness decreasing, and along with it the tough edge so necessary for achievement expected of real men. Things are getting softer everywhere you look. And after a century of war and mayhem, perhaps it was inevitable.
The first one could even be sung by a cave man. But something masculine wants to ask a simple question: Do you hear what I say? For sure, maleness and manliness mean different things to different people. Here, the virtues include ambition, determination and goal direction, and transparency. And real and concrete achievement. Of commitment and camaraderie. Song 3.
“Hear What I Say”
I came around when the world was a real small place
Seasons bring a new wind in my face
But I know I got my work to do
It’s never done between me and you
Looking after my own, I see how the world has grown
Do they hear what I say?
I won’t go away
Long as they make us this way
A century’s scene, the loss of too much everyman
What’s any different ‘bout a year two grand?
Knights and armor are all gone
A castle looms in a hill beyond
Fools in stupid screens, modern age machines
Do they hear what I say?
I won’t go away
Long as they make us this way
I’ll come back again when the world is a real small place
All that matters you never can replace
You’ll see it my way again
And feel like you’ve found your only friend
Standing big and strong, you could see me all along
But could you hear what I say?
I won’t go away
Long as they make us this way
He says he’ll be back again when the world is a real small place. Hmm. Scary, dude. Back to what, hunting and gathering? Let’s hope not. In modern American society, poverty represents that most basic level of existence: living hand to mouth. And driving a beat up old car that breaks down a lot. Such failure of productivity is failure of manhood. No fruits from hard labor, society’s sweetest reward.
The second song sung by the dude of society is the only ballad in The Modern Age, a song called “My Woman”. If there’s one antidote to the struggles wrought by the modern age, it’s being raised by good nurturers. Ideally in loving households, especially with a mom that offered nothing but unconditional positive regard. Balance that with a productive and supportive, and ideally entertaining, father, and presto, you’re ready to live it up in the modern world. So thus mom and pop gotta be that, and tough out the rough patches of such an undertaking. Song 4.
“My Woman”
I can see her standing there
For the moment a twinge of hair hangs in her face
The air of charm and grace
Everywhere I go I know she’s there with all the loving so
I keep on what I’m doin’
And she’s my woman
But words can be so hard
You’ve got to make them up where you are
My woman just smiles and it’s alright
My woman just likes it when I hold her tight
The days are hard and the nights are longer
Timeout still just for a song or two
I play to you
Love is cruel I hear ‘em say
For anyone who doesn’t know the way
You make me feel. Like I’m for real
How could I ever make you cry
We can make it baby if we try
My woman just smiles and it’s alright
My woman just likes it when I hold her tight
Come on baby take a walk with me
There’s so much out there for us to be
My woman just smiles and it’s alright
My woman just likes it when I hold her tight
My woman just smiles and it’s alright
My woman just likes it when I hold her tight
Ok. So we’re moving on, and for the 5th song on set 2 we turn advisory. We begin to offer advice and recommendations, on living and surviving, in, the modern age. The first of such songs is called “Proverbs”, which begs to say, hey, nothing’s changed. Stupid is still stupid, and self-defeat just a hop-skip away. Do not somehow miss the basic recommendations of tribal elders and writings of lore. The modern age is tricky, and will gladly chuck you out with a long list of erstwhile somebodies.
“Proverbs”
They put the message in your head, you found it all easy to believe
It was fun until the start you said, when the fool sees what he sees
In the dark cloud hiding what’s up ahead, in a forest without trees
(Ref) Only half of what you saw was there, but keep looking anyway
There’s nothing in the street you’ll hear, that means just what they say
It had only been a year or two, but it seemed so much further down the line
And though there was so much to do, never seemed to find the time
To catch up to what’s behind you. Some trick that would save you nine
(Ref) Only half of what you saw was there, but keep looking anyway
There’s nothing in the street you’ll hear, that means just what they say
(Bridge) You need to hold it all in your hand
To know for sure where it stands
When everything was said and done, it had taken too long to learn to play
But rules were there for anyone who showed up here one day
Was it over before it had begun by taking the easy way?
(Ref) Only half of what you saw was there, but keep looking anyway
There’s nothing in the street you’ll hear, that means just what they say
Ooh, keep looking anyway
Ooh, keep looking anyway
Keep looking anyway. Can you see the takes on old proverbs? My own is there at the end. I like to point out that life is hard, and not easy. So, when you cut a corner or do some easy-out solution, that’s bad news. It will catch up to you every time. And the refrain, there’s an old saying, “Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” Throw in deep fakes, and now you have to wonder if you can trust your eyes, especially when it’s something you’re seeing on a screen. Or rather, a “stupid screen” as mentioned by the caveman in “Hear What I Say”. So, for the modern age, one more time, Good Luck. Any mistakes you make, somebody was trying to tell you, but you didn’t listen. Proverbs are there for you to ignore at your own peril. Of course here in set two, there’s a little more preaching. Like up next, Song 6, the one I call “the gospel song”, officially named “The Games We Play”. Again, over the top guitar, maybe on stage with a person dressed in the cloth.
“The Games We Play”
Whenever I have to hear your misfortune, and the troubles that have found you on your way
When the hard part of livin’ is all you’ve been given, I just have to turn myself away
These tears you cry, I guess you don’t know why they keep finding their way to your face
(Chorus) Oh, the games we play. The simple things we don’t say
Oh, the game we play. The simple dreams we let slip away
It’s so hard to be holy, I sure know. It’s hard to get up Sunday morning and go
It’s hard to see how it could really be, that some life in this party will show
Just hanging out? Well isn’t it about time you learned what you know?
(Chorus) Oh, the games we play. The simple things we don’t ever say
Oh, the games we play. Simple dreams, we let them slip away
So there’s only one thing left to say. Only one thing I might ask you to do
Is to know that you are your own shining star, and to that light you will be true
Shine on! Your light is strong if you will just shine it for you
(Chorus) Oh the game we play. The simple things we don’t ever say
Oh the games we play. The simple dreams, we let them slip away
(Repeat chorus)
In the modern age, you still see a lot of spirituality. It is probably a straightforward way of subbing out the unfathomables of our existence, like supernatural things, and death and grieving. All so hard to get your arms around. Go all-in with a “religion”, or at least enough to cope with these deep meanings, and life is a little easier. Do you take their advice? Too much maybe? The song says this: don’t defeat yourself. The game’s hard enough.
But some people don’t want to live like that. Understandably. So the next song is his lament. Sung by some flavor of “regular dude”, we proffer a series of disclaimers. Bobbing and weaving and finding the sweet spots of society, gotta get a little shady maybe. Life’s for the living. Gather ye rose buds while ye may. Go and catch a falling star. Tomorrow you may be dead. It’s time to listen carefully, to those things, you see, that can’t possibly be. Very funky and rhythmic, and a rock song. “Funk” represents an increasingly popular respite, with it’s light-hearted thump. Song 7.
“Can’t Possibly Be”
Well I never even meant to speak my mind, tell me what’d I say that was so out of line
I always wanted just to get along, I don’t need to do nobody wrong
Yesterday I was the Man of Steel, right now I couldn’t tell you what I feel
Somewhere deep inside I cry for you, but who could ever tell you what to do
Life goes on and on it seems, and no one knows what it really means
When some things just are meant to be
And they’re happening so mysteriously
Wasn’t my idea living hard like this, I don’t see a thing except the things I miss
Wake up now and see it gone away, no time for any old songs to play
Where was I when it was going down? What happened when I didn’t come around?
I knew all along, you see
It’s a world you can’t be taking so seriously
Just you watch me make it through another time, I just shake my head and see I’m right on time
For a while I was the last to know, but now I see it everywhere I go
Last in line is just another way to see ourselves and the games we play
It’s time to listen carefully
To those things, you see, that just can’t possibly be
Ready for another change of pace. Song 8 is about stars of society. We need them to be superstars, and we hope with all our might they don’t take the big fall. Indulgence and righteousness, these are pitfalls and pratfalls of stars. So from substances to promiscuity in all its flavors, for many a big fall awaits. So stop it! And don’t! We need you more than we need other members of society. I have read a lot of books about rock stars, and they all adored the same thing: the music. And none of them thought they were going anywhere. So keep it that way, and don’t preach and reach out to oblivion. Be “the man in the tune” with all you got and all you want to put into it. And don’t violate any dictums. It doesn’t work. This song, “The Face of Someone Else”, was originally called “The Man in the Tune”, and especially live performers can defeat their efforts with what can be called “man in the tune violations”. Commenting on social issues, or God forbid, politics. Or telling stupid uninteresting stories, or asking for crowd participation. We’re here to see you, babe. So, don’t say any more to us than Gregg Allman did, which was nothing.
“The Face of Someone Else”
I look up and what’s this I see
Up in the lights for all the world to see
Them looking at you now it’s your chance to be
The man in the tune again
And on your face I see that silly grin
It’s just a game and you know you’ll win
The stories that you tell
People you say you know so well
You make the moment mean so much
You make the moment mean so much, Oh
Oh, whoa oh. Oh, whoa oh. Oh, whoa oh. Oh, whoa oh
(Ref) Just to be the one, who’s bowing when the show is done
To be the man who reinvents himself
And hides behind the face of someone else
So what’s it gonna be this time?
You laughed about it but now you’re cryin’
We can always tell how hard you’re tryin’
Just what is it you believe?
Just who is it you deceive?
Just make the moment mean so much
Just make the moment mean so much, Oh
Oh, whoa oh. Oh,whoa oh. Oh, whoa oh. Oh,whoa oh
Just to be the one, who’s bowing when the show is done
To be the man who reinvents himself
And hides behind the face of someone else
You are the man who reinvents himself
But only for the sake of someone else
In rock, especially the classic rock era, there were so many legitimate stars. Fascinating super special people we all looked up to. Starting with the Beatles, you couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be that guy. So large numbers of young men in the upper half of the Baby Boom generation, born in the late 40s and early 50s, they learned to play instruments, starting at early ages. The Beatles hit in the early sixties, when they were young teenagers. By the 70s they were the next wave of sophisticated rockers. I have seen many of them live. Most say very little and it’s all gold. Others abuse the spotlight for platforming and self adulation, and choose to preach, or make a stand for something. They run the risk of shattering that aura of stardom, making themselves estimable, instead of fantastic.
In the modern age more than ever, we need stars. Many of them are athletes, and they run the same risks, with their tweets and instagrams. They will someday be too old to do what made them so special, and then what? At least old rockers can still jam and sing, many of them better as they age. So I had to say this as a song on this side: refine yourself and try plenty hard. Don’t cut corners or take the easy ways. Appreciate what real men appreciate, which is a job well done. And this is not to be sexist, but if you’re being real about things, men of today are struggling to impress, me at least, while modern women are doing nothing but improving. Many of them achieve absolute perfection. The name of the song is “Hard To Find”, the 9th song on side B, Set Two, of this rock opera called The Modern Age.
“Hard To Find”
There’s such a thing as one in a million, we all know. Because they tell us so.
A cool cat comes and takes the show but then before too long, you know he’d come and gone
With better things to do he wonders on. Up against the big odds all along
Just making’ on his way up the street, know what he would do
And he says, “Wouldn’t you?”
(Ref) Dark skies and a flash of light
For a minute doin’ it right
And the people got it in their mind, there’s that something they need
And it’s so hard to find
A glass jaw and a shallow drink makes a man of you. You gonna make that do?
No help from the old man now he don’t come around. And he was so profound
Maybe he won’t know no more. Don’t you see he’s heard it all before
Couldn’t help but take the money and run and he don’t see at all
It’s such a long way to fall
(Ref)
A lady friend now to carry the load, it’s just fine with him. She gonna sink or swim
She’s seen and heard a lot of crazy things and had to wonder why she wouldn’t give it a try
She’s got a heart of gold we know for sure. But don’t ask her what she’s cryin’ for
It’s not hard to expect a lot from what it might mean, when she makes the scene
(Ref, Repeat)
There’s that old saying, “A good man is hard to find”. I had not thought about that when these words plopped out to that melody. But today more than ever. One more time: dropping testosterone levels, flagging sperm counts, widening girths, decreasing relevance. Modern age reality of undetermined significance and consequences. Who’s to be funny and the life of the party? Loveable and huggable lumberjacks? BAM! cooks? Chivalrous for beauty’s sake? Thus addressed in The Modern Age.
Two songs are left on side B, Set 2 of The Modern Age. This 10th one is a personal favorite of mine. It is called “Rescue Me”. And needless to say, there are lots and lots of lost souls in modern society. Families are smaller. Relatives and interaction with them are fewer. Moms are working and dads are less impressive. In troubled minds, rumination and reassessment can lead to rabbit holes with seemingly no escape. In ERs we see suicidal patients on an impossibly frequent occasion. What’s happened? Couldn’t you have been rescued with a perfectly timed coachable moment? Could you tell it? This recording, from the Songs for The Modern Age album of the Y2K, features the electric guitar in its classic function in the rock genre. You have a crying and bellyaching singer, and a wow-wow guitar so well done by my pal Tom Beyer, a blues guy.
“Rescue Me”
When hours have faded to moments again
The lonely will find it so hard to pretend
That some same old story is reachin’ the end
Sliding on down to wherever it goes
To the answers that lie in the lowest of lows
In battles lost that nobody knows
Closing your eyes to shades of gray
When they wake up again to another today
(Ref)
I need somebody to rescue me
There’s something that I don’t see
And even if I can keep on tryin’
Will they make it in time?
The merry-go-round that keeps wandering by
A face in the mirror keeps wondering why
It goes around again in the back of your mind
Looking out as if something to see
In The Darkness itself, a something to be
Something that’s so far away from me
Waited forever and ever it seemed
To wake up from all that I dreamed
I need somebody to rescue me
There’s something that I don’t see
And even if I can keep on tryin’
Will they make it in time?
Spooky a little bit. That song was written before “mass shootings” became so routine. If you haven’t noticed, they all want to warn us, that they haven’t been rescued. We’ll need to become wiser at finding them before they do something so desperate. Don’t forget, suicides outnumber murders by 2 to 1. Apparently, the modern age chewed them up and spit them out, but people have struggled forever. We must be less good at rescuing them. And maybe better at manufacturing them.
The last song on this side, B, Set 2 of The Modern Age, therefore offers this recommendation: Don’t look back. Forget about yesterday and move on. Maybe it was bad, or even good, but things are changing, and every day is a new journey. The eleventh song, “Say Goodbye to Yesterday”.
“Say Goodbye To Yesterday”
Up and down, and all around, simple dreams so much abound
On their way to the lost and found, and maybe lost again
For so fast they run, and so far they’ve come
In the shadow of the morning sun
They’ll get an answer when it’s said and done
On the other side of now and then
But there are times when it’s all a big lie
And the world brings a tear to your eye
But then Monday, turns to Tuesday
Just like any day that goes on by
(Chorus)
Say goodbye to yesterday
Comes a time when there’s nothing left to say
Just the lines of some old song
Could ya see it, or believe it, had to be this way?
All the time, the words that rhymed, had a meaning you had hoped to find
And the moment didn’t seem to mind, if it was true alright
You’d let me know, if letting go, made it easier to say it ain’t so
When everything you didn’t need to know
Would get you through the night
No looking back, no hanging on
No more being where you don’t belong
No more waking in the middle of the night
No more being wrong instead of right
(Chorus)
Say goodbye to yesterday
Comes a time when there’s nothing left to say
Just the lines of some old song
Couldn’t see it, or believe it, had to be this way
That’s just about it. We end this snapshot of the modern age with a deeply American vow, that we will figure this out. We will climb the hills before us now, like all generations, and make secure this dream, this uniquely wild and western fantasy. Of freedom to do, and be, all that we can aspire to. A reprise of song two on this side.
“Wild Western Fantasy (Reprise)”
From giant leaps for all mankind
To the little steps from the chains that bind
We’ll climb the hills before us now
To find happiness The Fates allow
We’re there for all the world to see
All it is that life can be
When people live to find their way
In freedom’s hand, at work and play
(Chorus)
Say a prayer for America
The Old Utopians’ legacy
And we’ll take care of America
So we can dream, in our wild western fantasy
In our wild western fantasy
The wild western fantasy
And that concludes this deep and far-reaching analysis into people and their world in this early 21st century clusterbleep. Here’s hoping some of the melodies and lyrics were pleasing to you or at least unique and interesting. Thanks for hanging.