The Cake Left Out In The Rain

As much as I hate to admit it, I am a Baby Boomer, the group of wonderful children born between 1946  and 1964.  Our parents were "The Greatest Generation", the people that survived both a Great Depression and Great World War. Our generation was “The Not So Hot Generation”, which survived Non-cable/satellite TV and riding bicycles without helmets .

One thing we have going for us is our music totally, and no pun intended, rocks. It used to be that people sang and played instruments. They sang with deep, deep conviction regarding things like leaving cakes out in the rain. People were always leaving cakes out in the rain in the 60’s.  You’d come in the house and ask your Mom if there was any cake and she’d tell you to check outside.

 This is where the cake was left out of the rain: MacArthur Park

I am a late Baby Boomer (1959) and I spend a lot of time wondering what happened to the music of my youth. Why is music so bad now?

I think I know the day the music died. It was the day Van McCoy recorded “The Hustle”. You remember that song? Here are the lyrics: “Do the hustle. Do the hustle”.  The first couple of times I heard that song I thought the lyrics were, “Do the hot dog. Do the hot dog”. I come by this talent of misunderstanding lyrics naturally because my mother never understood a single lyric in the rock era. She thought, and this is the truth, The Culture Club song “Karma Chameleon” was “Come to me, Leon”.

One thing that might have killed the music was the 70’s singer-songwriters. There were a lot of depressing songs in the 70's that never made a lot of sense. Everybody had seen fire and rain. The cat was in the cradle and you are ignoring your kid.  I am I said I am to no one there and no one heard at all because no one was there that had ears.  I found your diary underneath the tree and started reading about me but then I realized it wasn’t about me so let’s just forget I mentioned it. There is this bullfrog, his name is Jeremiah, and he’s a good friend of mine.

One cheery-upbeat feel good song of the 70's was “The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald”. This was a song by Canadian Singer-Songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. If there is anything that says “depression” it is “Canadian Singer-Songwriter”. It commemorated the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. That’s what people sang about in the 70’s: boats sinking and “making sweet love”. (“Making sweet love” is a phrase you will find in all genres of music in the 70’s. From rock to soul to country, if people were not dying in sinking boats, they were “making sweet love”.)

             This is the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

One depressing 70’s song that I like is “Mandy” by Barry Manilow. If you do not want to have your sexuality questioned, never admit on Facebook that you purchased this song on iTunes. Trust me on this.

“Mandy” is a special song about a special girl who could give without taking.  Let’s face it; girls who can give with taking are about a dime a dozen. If you can find one that can give without taking, with all of this uphill climbing and nothing rhyming, I suggest you don’t send her away.

    I look at this picture and think: He needs a haircut.

“Mandy” could also kiss and stop people from shaking. This could revolutionize medical care in this county. Just think of how much money could be saved if Mandy and her medical kisses were in America’s emergency rooms.

Patient: “I’m shaking and I can’t stop!”

Doctor:  “Nurse Mandy. Kiss this man!”

Nurse Mandy: (smooch)

Patient: “I’m cured!”

The problem with “Mandy” is that it led straight to “The Copacabana” and music has been in the dumps ever since. Looks like we'll never have that recipe again, oh no.