Today's Apocalypse Sign: I Am Truly Discombobulated!

As a testimonial to this post's title, I started writing it on 1/29 and just finished and post it today.

Yes, I have now defined this word and somehow embodied it, yet I am curiously serene with no explanation.

The puzzle pieces of discombobulation:

1.  My beloved Packers are in the Super Bowl for the 5th time, in the city where I live, and there is no, absolutely no, chance of going to the game.

2.  After a beautiful wintery Christmas back home I had to return there a week and a half ago due to the death of my uncle...I failed to see him when I was home in December. And it was still very wintery.

3.  While there I learned of some disturbing news that a close family member had placed their financial trust with the wrong person.

4.  I celebrated my 30th anniversary with my company this past week and today is the actual 30-year date.

5.  My region of the company is going over a significant growth expansion.

6.  I have seen my wife for only about 3 hours in the last 12 days.

7.  Tied to number 6 above, I have to sleep with both dogs again tonight.

8.   I have fallen behind miserably in blog posting and commenting on the ones I read.




I am going to correct #8 above because it is never too late to list my ever-changing Top Ten Music list. I missed it on Monday but here it is anyway. These are in no particular order, which is quite odd for me.

Just Dropped In - Kenny Rodgers and The First Edition


I think this song is timeless. I listen to it periodically and never seem to tire of it. The sense of dispair and urgency and not caring all rolled into one make it a great early career song for The Gambler. Added bonus: this song was part of the soundtrack for the Big Lebowski.

It was their follow-up (sung by Rogers), the proto metal-psychedelic single "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" that earned them their first brush with fame. The single, which had Glen Campbell playing the backwards guitar intro and Mike Deasy providing various psychedelic sounds, became a hit early in 1968, climbing to number five in the U.S


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House Of The Rising Sun - Frijid Pink

This song had the most ominous sounding overtones when I was a kid but I could not hear it enough. Even now I have virtually every version ever recorded, stored on my hard drive. I know the Animals wrote the original version but the Frijid Pink version had everything the Animals were not. The guitar solo, wah wah effects, the long hair hippylook,and the music that would lead me to embracing Zeppelin in the near future. I just love this song. Many people think it is about a home for wayward youth when in reality it is about a brothel. Take a listen:


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War Pigs - Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath was the AntiChrist to most parents of teenagers back in the early 70's. Although there were many great songs by Sabbath at that time, nothing hit home harder during the winding down of the Vietnam war than the song War Pigs. The air raid siren (live versions), the hard hitting bass, Ozzy's guttural lyrics, it was a song I played over and over again. Mostly when I was the only one in the house. I remember once putting my stereo speakers out on the roof outside my bedroom window so we could listen to Sabbath while we played basketball...neighbors called the cops, good times. Watch the video below and tell me that Ozzy and David Lee Roth weren't separated at birth.


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Master Of Puppets - Metallica

I will admit I did not join the Metallica masses early on. Partly because up until the early '90s I was kind of stuck in the classic rock listening mode. Strangely, Temple Of The Dog's "Hunger Strike" marked a radical shift in my listening. Nirvana, G&R, Pearl Jam, all became listening staples. I really got into Metallica when the Load CD was released. Fuel is still one of my favorite hard jammin' songs of all time. But Master Of Puppets with its message of drug abuse and multi-layed music is a song I can play over and over again. I mean..."chop your breakfast on a mirror"...is that the greatest lyric ever?
Any questions?



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While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles

As blasphemous as this sounds, I never really got into the Beatles until the White Album. That was sort of their coming out party musically into a whole new direction. Helter Skelter, Why Don't We Do It In The Road were just different from their previous albums. I love the guitar work of George on While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I continue to play that song to this day. Many people don't know that Eric Clapton played lead guitar on the album version of the song...at the request of George. Give a listen to the original album version...



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Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd 1973 Psychedelic Rock

This album cannot be separated into its song parts. This album was the ground breaking launch of my psychedelic music taste. I wore this album out. It formed the basis of  Floyd as one of my all-time favorite bands and this as one of my all-time favorite albums. I never get tired of listening to any of these songs to this day. This is THE definition of "timeless". Truth be told though, Pigs, (Three Different Ones) from the Animals album maybe my all-time favorite Floyd song.


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Turn The Page - Bob Seger (or Metallica's cover)

I have loved this song ever since I saw Seger perform it live in Houston back in the early '80s. It was my favorite concert as stated in a previous post. And I must say that Metallica does a hugely great cover with the San Francisco orchestra. It is a song that is easy to sing to and bleeds all the emotion possible about being on the road and the ups and downs of a touring musician. It is real heartfelt music.


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Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin

Like many kids my age at the time, this song started my long idolization of the greatest rock band ever. Their music was everything. Blues, rock, mythology, haunting...it was EVERYTHING. I wore out Zep II and had to buy a second copy. They are my all-time favorite band...fortunately my wife shares that feeling. It seems easy to pick this highly played song as a top ten but that is truly where it belongs on anyone's list that knows anything about music. A close second for me (and believe me every other Zep song could be second) is No Quarter. It is the most haunting, desolate song ever.



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Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynryd came on the scene with a raunchy southern rock that made you want to drink beer and get into a pool hall fight. Their songs were easy to sing to and had a down home feel. Next To Stairway To Heaven, Freebird ranks as the second greatest song of all time. Every countdown, top 500 you name it, those two songs end up 1-2. It is the natural order of things that classics like these stand the test of time. The lead guitar jamming until the frets melt makes you break out in a sweat. Who hasn't played air guitar to this song...even now. Ronnie ye left us too soon. Here is 1975 performance. Ya gotta love the days of two microphones duct taped together for the singer.


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Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John

My senior year in high school is when this album came out. I thought it was brilliant and loved every song on it (especially cool was the epic All The Young Girls Love Alice). The title song was another one that made a statement and was catchy to sing along to. To this day I know every word. It is my test that the long-term memory is still with me. Elton and Bernie made quite a song producing team. The video is not the best but it is 1976.



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The End - The Doors

The Doors was the band that gave meaning to the term anti-establishment. This song was as on the edge as it got back late '60s. I have listened to the entire discography of the Doors many times over. And once spent an entire weekend "enlightened" and listening to every album...twice. Never left the apartment. The Lizard King for sure.

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Aenima- Tool

Tool is one of my favorite newer groups. Aenima is a symbolic song akin to the Great Flood of the Bible. The music is unique and the lyrics very current. I have included a link to the lyrics as I think they are worth reading as you listen to the song. Freakiest video I have ever seen.


Tool Aenima


http://www.elyrics.net/read/t/tool-lyrics/aenima-lyrics.html

There you have them for now. Ask me again in 6 months and I'll likely give you a new list, except for the two mentioned above that will always make the list.

Rock on!