Music and a Movie
If you enjoy good music and are not one of those people whose tastes stick almost entirely to one genre (I can never figure those folks out, but that's another entry entirely) I can recommend checking out two fantastic albums by two fantastic artists.
A few months back I purchased Warren Zevon's last album The Wind, which is a damn good piece of work anyway, but hits you even harder when you know that Zevon wrote many of these songs and cut the album after he had learned that he was dying of cancer. For this album he had brought together a venerable array of friends including Dwight Yoakam, Ry Cooder, Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, T-Bone Burnett, Tom Petty, and Emmylou Harris. The entire album is solid and some of the stand-out songs include a great cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and humorous and heartbraking self epitaphs such as "Dirty Life and Times," "Please Stay," and final track, "Keep Me in Your Heart."
"Keep Me in Your Heart"
Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile
If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile
When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for awhile
There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile
You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on your blouse
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you
Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream
Keep me in your heart for awhile
These wheels keep turning but they're running out of steam
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo
Keep me in your heart for awhile
Keep me in your heart for awhile
For classic Zevon fans who loved his delightfully twisted version of piano rock encaptured by his great album Excitable Boy (which featured his well-known song "Werewolves of London" and the disturbing title track) the songs "Disorder in the House," "Numb as a Statue," and "The Rest of the Night" recall his wilder days. I'd recommend this album for long time classic rock fans and even those unfamiliar with Zevon who are looking for something different.
Another great album that I just purchased this weekend is Jackson Browne's Solo Acoustic Vol. 1. It's Jackson Browne, live, on stage with only his guitars and a keyboard doing some of his best songs. I'm constantly surprised by how little people know excellent and prolific songwriter although they are familiar with his work (songs such as "These Days" and "Take it Easy" which he does on this album). Aside from the fantastic solo performance, the recording includes Browne's interactions with the audience and his introductions to his songs (which are seperate tracks on the CD for the impatient who wish to get straight to the music). The first track is an excellent rendition of my favorite song of his, "The Barricades of Heaven."
"The Barricades of Heaven"
Running down around the towns along the shore
When I was sixteen and on my own
No, I couldnt tell you what the hell those brakes were for
I was just trying to hear my song
Jimmy found his own sweet sound and won that free guitar
We'd all get in the van and play
Life became the paradox, the bear, the rouge et noir
And the stretch of road running to LA.
Pages turning
Pages we were years from learning
Straight into the night our hearts were flung
Better bring your own redemption when you come
To the barricades of heaven where I'm from
All the world was shining from those hills
The stars above and the lights below
Among those there to test their fortunes and their wills
I lost track of the score long ago
Pages turning
Pages we were years from learning
Straight into the night our hearts were flung
Better bring your own redemption when you come
To the barricades of heaven where I'm from
Childhood comes for me at night
Voices of my friends
Your face bathing me in light
Hope that never ends
Pages turning
Pages torn and pages burning
Faded pages, open in the sun
Better bring your own redemption when you come
To the barricades of heaven where I'm from.
Better bring your own redemption when you come
To the barricades of heaven where I'm from.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to recommend the film Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War. Contrary to the conclusion you may draw from the title, this is not a martial arts film but a Korean film about the Korean War and its effects on a family, two brothers in particular. With their father deceased, times are tough for the family. Jin-tae, the elder brother works as a shoeshine boy. He dreams of opening his own shoe store and working as a cobbler, but for now he is using his earnings along with those of his mother's noodle shop to help his younger brother, Jin-seok, go to college and support his fiance and her young sisters. Life is hard, but it's enjoyable.
When North Korea invades, Jin-seok is drafted into the South Korean army. Jin-tae joins up to look after his little brother, and when he learns from an officer that he could get Jin-seok released from the army if he were to win a medal, Jin-tae volunteers for every risky mission. As his older brother rises to the rank of sergeant, Jin-seok sees him becoming more brutal and driven, putting other soldiers at risk to get his medal.
Filmed in the same gritty, realistic style as Saving Private Ryan, Tae Guk Gi is a much superior movie. The physical and phsychological dangers of war are laid bare before the audience and their effects on the two brothers are heartbreaking. This is one of the best war films I've ever seen; better than Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, and many of the other popular war movies. This is the only war movie other than Lewis Milestone's 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front to make yours truly cry. That's something.