Tag Archives: Pink Floyd

Spinning Sunday or: The Listening 5/16/20

17 Sunday May 2020

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Salutations™!!

I feel we’re getting closer to being able to rummage through some used vinyl in the next month or so, but until then Jonathan is still delivering vinyl from Underdog Records all during the week. I think sales have been okay for him but I’m sure he could use some more. Head over to the Underdog Records website, or follow on Instagram (Jonathan’s preferred method) and Facebook to see what you can purchase.

And, per usual, this week’s streaming listens comes from Discogs’ shuffle feature and it has to be an album that I own on vinyl (outside of peripheral things like Beeswax Vinyl & More listens), that way it’s like listening to my vinyl but with headphones from my computer whilst The BCPF works 10 feet away. Here’s the list (this is in order of listens):

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A pretty good list. Then The BCPF and I listened to these, on vinyl, yesterday:

collage2051720

Again, check out Underdog Records’ social and web stuffs. Buy records. Use Discogs to keep track of your collection and use it’s groovy (see what I did there) shuffle feature.

Until tomorrow, keep spinnin’…
Scorp out!

—
“Father, father, we don’t need to escalate. You see, war is not the answer. For only love can conquer hate. You know we’ve got to find a way to bring some loving here today.” – “What’s Going On” (Gaye/Cleveland/Benson)

Now Normal Chronicles or: Is This Nowhere?

14 Thursday May 2020

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Salutations™!!

Today is the anniversary of several albums. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere from Neil Young & Crazy Horse (#210 on the RS list) celebrates 51 years today. The Carpenters’ self-titled third album is 49. Relics: A Bizarre Collection of Antiques & Curios, a compilation album from Pink Floyd is also 49. Little Queen, the second album from Heart is 43 today. Breaking All the Rules from Peter Frampton is 39. Combat Rock from The Clash is 38. Chicago 17, my personal favorite Chicago album is 36. Spellbound, the second album from Paula Abdul is 29. Slang, the sixth studio album from Def Leppard is 24 as is Long Line from Peter Wolf and All This Useless Beauty from Elvis Costello & the Attractions. Maladroit from Weezer and Down the Road from Van Morrison and Vapor Trails from Rush are all 18 today.  That’s a lot of albums. The last three were released the day before my son was born. I guess you can figure what tomorrow’s post will be about, huh? Anywhat! This is what I decided to play today. Enjoy!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Loneliness is such a sad affair. And I can hardly wait to be with you again. What to say to make you come again? Come back to me again and play your sad guitar.” – “Superstar” (Bramlett/Russell)

The Struggle Without or: Tiring

10 Tuesday Mar 2020

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Salutations™!!

I’m in a bit of a mood. I just hate when people owe money and don’t pay it. That’s really all I have to say about that.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Money, it’s a crime. Share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie. Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today. But if you ask for a rise, it’s no surprise that they’re giving none away.” – “Money” (Waters)

Running Late or: You Animals!

23 Thursday Jan 2020

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Salutations™!!

I’m running late this evening so I’m going to talk about one of my favorite bands but not necessarily my favorite stuff they do. Today is the 43rd anniversary of Pink Floyd’s Animals album. I love everything about the album except the album. I really like hits and this is bereft of those. Some of the tunes were live staples, I understand, but, I just don’t do long, drawn-out prog stuff very well. But, I get it. This is a group of talented youngsters doing “Dogs” from the album. Enjoy!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“You gotta be crazy, you gotta have a real need. You gotta sleep on your toes, and when you’re on the street. You gotta be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed. And then moving in silently, downwind and out of sight. You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking.” – “Dogs” (Waters/Gilmore)

Call Me a Fanner or: That First Time All Over Again

21 Tuesday Jan 2020

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Salutations™!!

My friend Doug Davis (yes, that Doug Davis) has like 356 side musical projects. One of them is this thing called Fanner. According to their Facebook page, the influences for this project are Peter Gabriel, Steven Wilson, Elbow, Radiohead, Pink Floyd. I don’t know much about Elbow, but the rest I can at least say that I like. Gabriel and Floyd are some of my faves. I told Doug that if I were in the market (or in the mood) to get back into music, this would be the kind of project I’d be interested in doing. 

I was sitting at home and was thinking about how I should pick up a guitar again. Then I thought to myself, well the only thing keeping me from doing it… well, is not doing it. So, I put down my computer, went upstairs and picked up my Mexican Stratocaster that I haven’t touched in probably a year or more. I plugged it into my Line6 amp and dialed through some presets. I didn’t really get anything out of it other than some sore fingers, but it felt good having a guitar in my hand again.

Do I want to do anything musically leaning? Well, not really anything out like gigs or anything but I’d love to make some music again. I miss doing it for myself. I don’t really have the outlet or time for anything, but I’d still like to pluck around a bit more. I need to make time in my week for that. Just 10-15 minutes or so. Kind of like exercise. Except, it’s not really like exercise, but it would be like musical exercise.

So, I had a good time doing absolutely nothing but doing it musically. In honor of this, I am including the video from Fanner/Doug Davis, directed by Jack Pennington at Green Sneakers Media.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“This is completely a solo project, and I have no plans or intentions to play any live shows, but I’ve been enjoying having friends help me out here and there, in the studio.” – Fanner

Spinning Sunday or: The Haul 12/26/19

29 Sunday Dec 2019

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Salutations™!!

The BCPF and I made our way to Underdog Record for the first time in over a week the day after Christmas. I couldn’t go any longer. We had put together our fifth record case and had shifted the whole collection around and now it was time to get more records! I think we did a good job, too. Here’s the haul:

1Bowie

©RCA

  • Pink Floyd – A Saucerful Of Secrets — This past April, we got the “mono version” of this for Record Store Day, but you’ll remember that it wasn’t a full version because I got a mis-pressed copy that had some weird dance/electronic song on the first side. Turns out, you needed to run that at 45RPM and when I Shazamed it, it came up “Track 1” from 04 by Moi. Well, this isn’t the cool mono version, but I wanted to have the album anyway, so I bought the stereo reissue from 2016. New.
  • Love And Rockets – Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven — This is the debut album from Love and Rockets, the band that was Bauhaus without Peter Murphy. It was a fun listen and is on a cool deep blue vinyl. It’s big on The BCPF’s list of bands and things she likes so when she saw it, she was like, “can I?” and I can’t tell her no. New.
  • David Bowie – Low — This was the first of the “Berlin Trilogy” (along with “Heroes” and Lodger). It was done with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti and was recorded mostly in France, not Berlin. It’s instrumental- and synth-heavy. The album is #251 on the RS list. I really like this album and while it doesn’t really feel like a Bowie album to me, it is a great listen. New.
  • The Jesus And Mary Chain – Psychocandy — This is a weird album. Jangly pop, I like it, but you can’t hear what they’re doing because there is so much “noise.” I think they added the noise and while I respect the artistic “vision,” it makes it really distracting and I think that really takes away from the overall integrity. VG.
  • The Rolling Stones – 12 X 5 — The second American studio album by the Stones, which released in 1964 following the success of their American debut The Rolling Stones (England’s Newest Hit Makers), which was released concurrently with their UK debut, The Rolling Stones. 12 × 5 is an expanded version of the EP Five by Five, which had followed their debut album in the UK. I had asked The BCPF if we had this album when we were rearranging our records on Monday. This is a really good copy of the 1986 reissue. EX/VG++.
  • The Connells – Fun & Games — The BCPF gasped audibly when I showed her this album, so to say she was excited would be an understatement. I thought it was a decent listen but not “great.” This is Jangle Pop and it’s okay for that. She was happy and that’s what matters the most! EX/VG++.
  • AC/DC – Fly On The Wall — I’ve never been a huge AC/DC fan, especially Brian Johnson era, but I didn’t mind this album at all. It’s a mid-80s record and I guess the big tune on this one is “Sink the Pink.” It’s really cookie-cutter 80s AC/DC. So, yeah. VG+.
  • Crow – Crow Music — I got the “Best Of” from Crow a few weeks back and thought it was decent. This one is their debut and it has what is probably their biggest hit, although I hadn’t heard of them before, “Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me),” even though I have heard that song and don’t know if it was from that compilation album or perhaps on a comp CD from Time-Life or what. Anyway, it was pretty good. VG.
  • Various – The Best Of Laurie, Volume 1 — Compilation album of songs from early- to mid-60s. Dion, Chiffons, The Royal Guardsmen, The Mystics and more. NM.
  • Elvis Costello And The Attractions – Imperial Bedroom — I believe this is the first real album I heard of EC’s and I remember being really impressed with it. It has a lot of emotions and as The BCPF said, “he writes good torch songs.” VG/VG+.
  • The Longines Symphonette – Somewhere My Love and Other Romantic Movie Melodies — 6xLP of symphonic film melodies. I couldn’t pass it up. $1 bin find and it’s in NM.
  • Byrds – Byrds — I found this in our reshuffling and realized I had never put it in Discogs. I don’t know why. This is the Byrds twelveth and final album. Most of the press I see is less than stellar. But, The BCPF feels like she needs all of them and I’m not arguing over that! VG.

It was so good to see Jonathan again and just being in my favorite local store was a big relief. Jonathan had some good freshly-acquired vinyl and I noticed there was still a good bit of used stereos/turntables/speakers for sale. You gotta go by and check that out. You got Visa gift cards for Christmas, right!? Go invest in some vinyl!

Listen to each new episode of The Less Desirables and hear what the TLD/UR Special of the Week is. Obviously, I use Discogs to track my collection, find what I may have, may need, and definitely want. And, as we found out (or confirmed what we already knew) whilst reshuffling our collection, it is great for the Random Grab!

Until tomorrow, keep spinning…
Scorp out!

—
“Wickedness lies in your moistened lips. Your body moves just like the crack of a whip. Black cats lay atop your satin bed. You sure wish that you could see me dead. Evil woman, don’t play your games with me.” – “Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)” (Waggoner/Wiegand/Wiegand)

Spinning Sunday or: The Haul 12/13/19

15 Sunday Dec 2019

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Salutations™!!

Like the last few weeks, The BCPF had the day off on Friday and we went to Underdog Records a day early. We got some good stuff and I’m going to share that with you, now!

Queensryche_-_Promised_Land_cover

©EMI

  • Michael Kiwanuka – Kiwanuka — I first heard pieces of this album when I was making the commercial for Underdog Records on The Less Desirables. I thought it was great. Jonathan kept getting copies and selling out before I could get there to get one. So, I had him order one for me specifically. Here it was, finally. And it was well worth the wait. Lots of good ambient blues, R&B, rock, all that in one. A great album that even The BCPF loved and was disappointed there wasn’t a download code in the sleeve. New.
  • The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come — Gotta love some miserable Brits, eh? “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish,” “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before,” “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me” and one of my favorite Smiths tunes, “Girlfriend in a Coma” is on this album. VG++.
  • Elvis Costello & The Imposters – Look Now — A 2018 release from EC, it sounds like old EC and that is a good thing. He wrote most of the stuff himself but there were three songs co-written by Burt Bacharach and one co-written by Carole King. A really good listen. VG++.
  • Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother — Released a month and a half before I was (born), this is Pink Floyd’s fifth studio album and consists of mostly instrumentals (36:44 of the 52:06 total running time). I didn’t think I’d care for it as sometimes Floyd’s instrumental stuff idles on, but I did enjoy it. It is a good and relaxing atmospheric listen. VG+.
  • Faces – Ooh La La — This is the fourth and final studio album by Faces. By this time, Rod Stewart had already had a hit with “Maggie May” and his first few solo albums, and the singer had become increasingly distanced from some of his Faces bandmates, who were frustrated by the fact that by this point they had come to be perceived by the public (and even by some concert promoters) as little more than Stewart’s backing band for live work (according to Wikipedia). I had never heard the title track until the Amazon Echo commercials and when I found out who it was, I was like, yeah, that sounds like Rod Stewart. Turns out it was Ronnie Wood who sang it, co-writing it with Ronnie Lane, the bassist. The cover is cool, you can “squeeze” the top of the sleeve and the mouth and eyes move. VG+.
  • The Who – Magic Bus — Oh we crazy Americans in the 60s and 70s. This is a compilation album of previously released material and was not issued in the UK. They were capitalizing on the success of the song by the same name. The BCPF picked it up! VG+.
  • Ringo Starr – Beaucoups Of Blues — A most peculiar album, indeed. It’s not really that peculiar, but it’s certainly Ringo’s take on American country and western. It’s pure “tears in my beer.” Not bad for what it was, but… VG+.
  • Angel City – Face To Face — I had never heard of Angel City until Eugene had me review Two Minute Warning on his hard rock list. You can read my review here. In Australia, they were known as The Angels, but so they wouldn’t be confused with the band Angel (KISS’ rostermates on Casablanca Records), they changed to Angel City. This was their second overall release and the first for the US. It’s a decent listen, as we did so whilst cleaning/straightening our downstairs. Rock, punk, even metal at some points. VG+.
  • Queensrÿche – Promised Land — This wasn’t purchased at Underdog Records. I believe this came from Bobby the Drummer (from Heavens Sake) when he worked at CEMA (EMI) when we first met. He knew I was a Queensryche fan and gave it to me. I had either forgotten that I had it or where it was (or a combo of the two) and I found it located behind a filing cabinet that I have in my living room. You’d have to see it… but it was still sealed. So, I promptly opened it up and gave it a spin. Operation: Mindcrime will always be my favorite Queensryche album (second favorite overall of all time) and Empire will always be my second favorite ‘Ryche album. But, to me, this is their most underrated. It is just what I wanted to do musically at that time and I still love it. It’s still hard rock but has a more modern edge to it (at least in the mid=90s) and Geoff Tate was still singing and not talk-singing through songs. He hadn’t quite blown himself out at this point. The songs are well-written, still tell stories and still sounds like Queensryche. I love this album and will listen to it again, really soon. Have I mentioned that I love this album?

It’s Christmas time and that means gift certificates and Underdog Records has plenty of them, in any denomination you want. The cool thing is these come on old 45s/singles/7″ whatever you call them. And, Jonathan can still special order anything on vinyl that you need in time for your special vinyl lover (I can give you a list if you’re interested *wink*). Also, Underdog Records will be putting out freshly acquired used vinyl every single business day until Christmas. Also, also, there are plenty of used receivers, turntables, speakers and more in the store if you know someone who has said they’d love to start listening to records (perhaps again) but don’t know where to start. Jonathan can help you out. Listen to each new episode of The Less Desirables to hear the TLD/UR special of the week. I use Discogs to track my awesome record collection and to make sure I don’t double dip something I already have. The BCPF used it to “random grab” a record during our cleaning time yesterday. Much fun, indeed!

Until tomorrow, keep spinning!
Scorp out!

—
“Let me whisper my last goodbyes, I know – it’s serious.” – “Girlfriend in a Coma” (Morrissey/Marr)

Late But Not Out or: For the Records

23 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by in Food, Music Review, Podcasting, Records, The Less Desirables Network

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Salutations™!!

This weekend, as I said was a little bit weird, timing-wise and we didn’t get to do our normal listening. That also threw our posting off a little on Beeswax Vinyl and in the Underdog Records “Now Spinning” page. So, I’ll leave a little posting about them here. Hah’bah’dah?

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©Enigma Records

This is from Saturday, Sunday and one today.

First up is a great record from The Smithereens. It’s their debut album from 1986, titled Especially For You. I say debut, but I really mean their first full-length album. They had some EPs and stuff prior. This had “Blood and Roses” and “Behind the Walls of Sleep” on it.

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©A&M

Then came the debut album from one of my favorite bands, The Police. It’s Outlandos D’Amour. They were extra punk/ska at this time and the album is just full of awesome tunes. “Next to You,” “So Lonely,” “Roxanne,” “Hole in My Life,” “Can’t Stand Losing You,” “Truth Hits Everybody” and “Born in the ’50s” just to name a few. I love this album. It’s not my favorite Police album but it’s tied for second with the other three that aren’t Synchronicity.

 

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©Sire Records

Next, was The Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me. It wasn’t Tim or Let It Be (not to be confused with the Beatles album of the same name), which were both on the RS list, but it does have the song “Alex Chilton,” named after the singer of The Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton actually plays on this album, too, but not on that song. It’s punk, it’s rock, it’s alternative. It’s great. I enjoyed listening to it, a lot.

 

Those were Saturday’s listens. Sunday, we only got one in and that was Walking Across Egypt, which is basically author and musician Clyde Edgerton doing songs based on two of his books, Walking Across Egypt and Raney. This album is a lot of banjo and not-quite-bluegrass-Americana. Edgerton is a native of North Carolina, being born in Bethesda, close to Durham. He is a professor at UNC-Wilmington and has a street named for him in Kernersville. This is signed by Edgerton. The last bit is kind of an audiobook with a couple of passages read by the author. A good listen.

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©Flying Fish

 

 

Today, I listened to Pink Floyd’s Animals. This was the transition between Wish You Were Here and The Wall. It’s not my favorite, by any means. It’s a little more proggy than I’d like and less about compact songs. I like compact songs. Heck, read any of my RS list reviews. It’s a concept album that is based on socio-political issues in the late 1970s UK. That was a tumultuous time, for sure. There was turmoil within the band at that time, too. It led to Richard Wright leaving or being fired. Either way, he was no longer in the band. He was just a “hired hand” on The Wall, even though I felt he was a very important part of both of those albums. This was a decent listen. I dug it.

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©Columbia

That’s what I got for our playing the last few days. One day, we’ll get back to recording Beeswax Vinyl & More podcast. We’ll talk about more records soon. Hey, speaking of podcasts, we recorded both Fan Interference and The Man Who Ate the Town today. Listen to TMWATT here and FI here.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“If you didn’t care what happened to me and I didn’t care for you, we would zigzag our way through the boredom and pain. Occasionally glancing up through the rain, wondering which of the buggers to blame. And, watching for pigs on the wing.” – “Pigs on the Wing (Part 1)” (Waters)

Spinning Sunday or: The Haul 9/21/19

22 Sunday Sep 2019

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Salutations™!!

Yesterday was a scheduling-weird day for The BCPF and me. We had a house-warming to attend in Charlotte so we had to put our regular activities on hold. We got back into town around 3pm so then we got to go to Underdog Records and got to listen to a few before we went to dinner. Anywhat! We got some good stuff. Here’s the haul:

The_Replacements_-_Pleased_to_Meet_Me_cover

©Sire Records

  • The Replacements – Pleased To Meet Me — All I knew of this band (other than listening to the stuff on the RS list, somehow this isn’t on that) was the song “Alex Chilton” about, well, Alex Chilton, the founder of Big Star and lead singer of the 60s band, The Box Tops (“The Letter”). That song is on this album. Chilton actually played on this album, but not on his namesake tune. The Replacements started in punk but moved a little more straight-ahead rock and became one of the pioneering “alternative” rock bands. This album is great! I really dug it. VG+.
  • Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years — We had this already but it was only in VG shape. We aren’t going on a big run of re-collecting better versions as it may seem we are from the last few weeks. However, if we find something that we know we are a fan of but our version wasn’t in the best of shape, then we’ll get the better version because we really enjoy listening. Besides, this one is a reissue on Warner Bros and the original we had was on Columbia. EX/VG++.
  • The Smithereens – Especially For You — The first full-length album by The Smithereens and supposedly one of Kurt Cobain’s favorite albums, per his journal. “Blood and Roses” and “Behind the Wall of Sleep” were both Top 40 hits on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks charts and the album is solid. It was a fun listen. EX/VG++.
  • The Smithereens – Green Thoughts — The follow up to the previous entry, we haven’t listened to this one, yet. It had the singles “Only a Memory,” “House We Used to Live In,” and “Drown in My Own Tears.” Sadly, we lost singer/guitarist Pat DiNizio in 2017. EX/VG++.
  • Pink Floyd – Animals — One of the few “classic” Floyd albums I didn’t have. This isn’t in the greatest shape but I couldn’t pass it up. It’s one of their “proggy” ones that is only five songs long but has three over 10 minutes long. I’ve heard it and it’s not my fave but I now have it. It’s an original pressing. VG-.
  • The Police – Outlandos D’Amour — The debut album by one of my faves. Finding them on vinyl has been somewhat of a chore. But, I’m working on it. This has “Next to You,” “So Lonely,” “Roxanne,” “Hole in My Life,” “Can’t Stand Losing You,” “Truth Hits Everybody” and “Born in the ’50s.” I love this album. I love all their albums, even if I don’t love all the songs. VG is what Jonathan said and while I trust him more than my own ratings, I didn’t hear any surface wear or noise so I’m going to say it’s VG+.
  • Glen Campbell – Southern Nights — I’m not a huge Campbell fan, but I do like the title song and I recognize his talent. It was $2. VG++.

Jonathan was busy in the store yesterday and he and “D” have been working on getting the store cleaned up for the big $1 album sale coming next weekend. Basically, boxes and boxes of $1 albums that he’s never put out before will be available and people will (hopefully) go crazy and buy a bunch of stuff! It could be a big deal. So, make sure you get by and get your $1 records. Make sure you clean them before you play them. Dirty records are like a social disease for styli. Listen to this week’s The Less Desirables to hear more about it! I have been using Discogs to “shake” my phone which leads to a random pick from my collection. That’s awesome.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Sleep lay behind me like a broken ocean. Strange waking dreams before my eyes unfold. You lay there sleeping like an open doorway. I stepped outside myself and felt so cold. Take a look at my new toy. It’ll blow your head in two, oh boy. Truth hits everybody, truth hits everyone.” – “Truth Hits Everybody” (Sting)

Sounds Like Saturday or: Andromida With an I

29 Saturday Jun 2019

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Salutations™!!

Today is the 51st anniversary of Pink Floyd’s second album A Saucerful of Secrets. I still haven’t gotten it (fully) on vinyl. The Record Store Day version that I got is one of a handful that was pressed with the wrong first side master. So, I have some EDM tune on side one and side two is correct. But, I’ll get it eventually. I figured it would be hard to find a good cover of something on this album but this band out of Egypt, Andromida (Egypt) does a pretty good job. The drummer handles the Richard Wright vocals while doing some Nick Mason stuff. That’s impressive. They spell Andromida with an “i” because they’re Iron Maiden fans as well. I think that’s a silly reason, but it’s not my place to judge, right? Enjoy!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Remember a day before today, A day when you were young. Free to play alone with time. Evening never comes. Sing a song that can’t be sung without the morning’s kiss. Queen, you shall be it if you wish. Look for your king. Why can’t we play today? Why can’t we stay that way?” – “Remember a Day” (Wright)