At 75 miles an hour
It’s just another sign on the highway
The 38th Parallel
Stirring the barest hint of a memory
A tiny picture of a serpentine river
Less than a page in my history book
No words in bold about bold actions
Young men dying
For the fall of communism
Young men dying
For the triumph of communism
Later, recycled phrases
Below the newspaper fold
About an invisible line
Striking a patriotic chord
As loud as they can
To cover a melody of pain
Sung by fewer and fewer every year
Drowned out by the newest compositions
For some,
That line defined them
For me,
It’s the war before my father’s war
And another sign on the highway
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Materials to watch if you grew up as ignorant of the Korean War as me:
About the Creator
Sean A.
A happy guy that tends to write a little cynically. Just my way of dealing with the world outside my joyous little bubble.
'20/20'
"Do It Again" the track that would ultimately open the Beach Boys final album on Capitol Records which was released on February 10th 1969 had originally been released as a single in August of 1968. The track was the first of many post-Pet Sounds era throwbacks to the early Beach Boys sound which would become continually more cliched and eventually lead the Beach Boys to the level of self-parody they would eventually succumb to in the 1980s while their closest contemporaries The Beatles nearing the end of their run in 1969 would go on to be viewed as the most influential band of all time. However, the song itself is not bad on its surface, and it opens with a futuristic sounding (for 1969) drumbeat captured by then-Beach Boys engineer Stephen Desper using tape delays on the drums performed by Dennis Wilson and John Guerin. The song has been re-recorded numerous times over the years on various Beach Boys-related projects most notably the 2011 re-recording at Capitol studios featuring the five surviving Beach Boys at the time backed instrumentally by various members of both the Brian Wilson Band and Mike Loves touring "Beach Boys" to promote the then upcoming Beach Boys 50th Anniversary reunion tour in 2012. The hammering and power drill sound at the end of the song was an excerpt from a track called "Workshop" that was to be a part of the uncompleted "SMiLE" album.
By Sean Callaghan7 days ago in Beat
Comments (3)
So powerful and evocative Shaun!
Excellent piece using Poppy’s Prompts.
This is a powerful piece! Incredible work, Shaun! My father was in Vietnam so this resonated