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Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Poetry

“I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep”

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningBy Robert FrostWhose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the […]

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Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Music

A Musical Interlude: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Yesterday’s BLOTT explored the Robert Heinlein novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I have long loved the Judy Collins song, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, without realizing the connection to the book. “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” (sometimes titled “The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress”) is a song by American songwriter Jimmy Webb. […]

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Brotherhood/Sisterhood of Man/Woman Heros Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Music

Sacrifices / Sacrificios

I have long loved the song Sacrifices/Sacrificios by Tish Hinojosa. Sacrifices/Sacrificiosby Tish HinojosaSacrificios, sacramentos de la vidaReligioso, el amor un tierno altarMi plegaria de rodillas será estaQue por siempre encendiera nuestro amarSacrifices, sacraments of life and livingLove’s the altar where religiously we prayWhispered softly like a prayer up to the heavensEternally our votive light will […]

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Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Meaning of Life Musings

Hope Is Not Naïveté; It’s Strategy

Today, let’s celebrate a song of hope and unity – Get Together. Released during the turbulent 1960s, when the world was grappling with war, civil rights struggles, and social upheaval, Get Together became an anthem for peace movements, urging people to embrace love as the only real solution to hatred and division. It still resonates […]

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Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Lasting Love

Sleep, my Child, and Peace Attend Thee

Reflections on “Ar Hyd y Nos” (All Through the Night), a Welsh lullaby. Sleep my child and peace attend thee,All through the nightGuardian angels God will send thee,All through the night Soft the drowsy hours are creepingHill and vale in slumber sleeping,I my loving vigil keepingAll through the night. While the moon her watch is […]

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Brotherhood/Sisterhood of Man/Woman Heros Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days

A Woman Whose Name was Almitra

I find Almitra, the seeress in Khalil Gibran’s masterpiece The Prophet, to be a fascinating character. And there came out of the sanctuary a woman whose name was Almitra.And she was a seeress.And he looked upon her with exceeding tenderness, for it was she who had first sought and believed in him when he had […]

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Current Events Heros Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Sticking It To The Man The Criminal Justice System WWRNTLTRN

The First 34

America: Equal justice for all, etc., etc., etc. So, knowing that we’ll get a pass on our first 34 felonies, the concept of felonies is starting to burn a hole our pocket (i.e. arson). Equal justice for all, and so on and so forth. Since (according to our supreme court) WLBOTT is legally a person, […]

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Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Mexico

Perhaps, in the Abstract

Another WLBOTT nod to Mexican singer/songwriter Lila Downs! If you can’t make your mind upWe’ll never get started.And I don’t want to wind up,Being parted, broken hearted.

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Heros Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days

Musings on the New Year

Shawn Phillips is a wise man, and today he posted these thoughts on the New Year. From his Facebook post: But I’m not alone on this earth so fairThere’s something else beside me hereSomething keeps me ever looking forwardAnd it’s brighter than the sunlightAnd it’s purer than the moonlightAnd it’s drawing me toward itLike a […]

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Hopeful Songs on Dismal Days Music

Symphony of Sorrowful Songs: Amazon Review

Even in a story as sad a Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, we were able to find a touch of humor. Here is the #1 Amazon review for the 1992 review of Henryk Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs with soprano Dawn Upshaw. [1] The Beatles’ song “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” from their Abbey Road album (1969) features […]