I have a certifiably unhealthy obsession with sad songs. I think they’re the most beautiful things that human beings create, and I think you can learn far more truth about the complex, convoluted tragicomedy that is human life and community from sad songs than from all the rest of our creations combined. Among the reasons…
Read MoreConfession: I’m not sure I totally understand today’s #30DaySongChallenge prompt. I don’t drive very much anymore. In fact, I only filled my gas tank up once a month in that last year. But even when I do drive, I never drive without music. So, by transitive property, every song is “a song to drive to”…
Read MoreThere is, quite literally, no way for me to pick my “favorite” song about drugs or alcohol. Almost all of my favorite songs are about, or are inspired by, or make reference to some generic or specific sin-substance. At the risk of overstating the case, I might even conjecture that ALL great music has some…
Read MoreI can’t even count the number of songs that remind me of Memphis. In fact, most of American music does. My home is the home of the blues, the birthplace of rock n’ roll, and it has a long history of influential underground music of all genres. It’s the home of Stax, Sun Records, Royal Studios,…
Read MoreA few months ago, the video below made the rounds on Facebook and Twitter, much to everyone’s delight, especially mine. In it, we see a balding, middle-aged, white man in the stands at what appears to be some kind of professional sporting event. The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” is playing over the stadium…
Read MoreHaving sold nearly 500 million albums since 1972, ABBA is not only one of the best-selling bands of all time, but is THE best-selling band outside of the English-speaking world. Although they started out in disco, ABBA was never confined by any particular musical genre. They wore great outfits, they gave good face, and they’ve…
Read MoreOnce, when asked to explain the meaning behind the title of his 1984 mega-hit “Purple Rain,” His Royal Badness replied: “When there’s blood in the sky– red and blue = purple. Purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the…
Read MoreWARNING: If you still believe that academia is a meritocracy, that higher ed assessment instruments are useful (or unbiased), that grades motivate students to learn, or that grades accurately reflect students’ performance, this essay is not for you. Now, let’s talk about grades. No matter how fastidious one is about one’s course design, every prof…
Read MoreI live in Memphis, so summertime makes me think of heat. Hot heat. Sticky heat. Unrelenting heat. Oppressive heat. The kind of heat that you can’t escape and you can’t recover from, despite the fact that you spend most of your time between May and September mad-dashing from one air-conditioned place to another air-conditioned place….
Read MoreYou know what I’d rather forget? Donald Trump. I’d like to forget that he currently sits in the Oval Office, guzzling Diet Cokes, downing McDonalds cheeseburgers, drooling over Fox & Friends, and firing off barely-literate tweets. I’d like to forget the circus he manufactured leading up to his 2016 election, and the dumpster fire he’s…
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