Common Sparrow

Old dried willow leaves scurried across the front porch. I thought they were mice. #DailyHaikuPrompt - Willow Leaves

@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org I think the quick brown fox must jump over the lazy dog now.

For this week's jukebox music theme, A Wider World, here is a wonderful NPR Tiny Desk Concert by Los Mirlos, a Peruvian cumbia band. Cumbia is originally a genre of folk music from Colombia, but later developed a fusion with Peruvian Andean music, Cuban percussion, and electric guitars. It became popular with workers in the Amazonian regions of Peru. Let Los Mirlos get you dancing along to their Tiny Desk concert here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCh4tfSqXFc #JukeboxFridayNight #AWiderWorld

This week's jukebox music theme is Personal Playlist, the songs that mean something in our own lives. My top choice is the one that seems to be the song of my own life, "Amazing Grace". There are hundreds of recordings out there, and many are wonderful, and I can only post one. So I'll go with this one by the Soweto Gospel Choir, singing from their hearts. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now I'm found, Was blind, but now I see. The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures, He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures. Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come, 'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoJz2SANTyo #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

For this week's jukebox music theme, History, here is "Cold Missouri Waters", written and sung by James Keelaghan. The song tells the story of the 1949 Mann Gulch wildfire, which killed 13 of the 16 firefighters trapped by the fire. The fire was much-studied, and led to a re-evaluation of wildfire fighting safety techniques. "But the fire crowned, jumped the valley just ahead, There was no way down, headed for the ridge instead, Too big to fight it, we'd have to fight that slope instead, Flames one step behind, above the cold Missouri waters." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN2DVFX8X0M #JukeboxFridayNight #History

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here's another comic music hall classic, "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm", lyrics by R. P. Weston and Bert Lee and music by Harris Weston. Sung here by Stanley Holloway. Dark humor about the ghost of Queen Anne Boleyn haunting the tower of London. "In the Tower of London, large as life, The ghost of Anne Boleyn walks, they declare. Poor Anne Boleyn was once King Henry's wife, Until he made the headsman bob her hair. Ah, yes, he did her wrong long years ago, And she comes up at night to tell him so. With her head tucked underneath her arm, She walks the bloody tower, With her head tucked underneath her arm, At the midnight hour." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_U2861IdU0 #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here is "I Had A King", written and sung by Joni Mitchell, the song of a marriage breakup. "I had a king in a salt-rusted carriage, Who carried me off to his country for marriage, too soon. Beware of the power of moons. There's no one to blame, There's no one to name as a traitor here. The king's on the road, And the queen's in the grove till the end of the year. I can't go back there anymore, You know my keys won't fit the door, You know my thoughts don't fit the man, They never can." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NK0asxf2zk #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here's an old comic music hall hit, "I'm Henery the Eighth I Am", written by by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston, sung by music hall star Harry Champion. Not really about King Henry, but obviously a reference to him. "I'm Henery the Eighth, I am, Henery the Eighth I am, I am. I got married to the widow next door, She's been married seven times before, And every one was an Henery, She wouldn't have a Willie nor a Sam, I'm her eighth old man named Henery, Henery the Eighth, I am!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX02KZt59bw #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, Dirty, here is "Don't Go Near the Water", written by Mike Love and Al Jardine, sung by the Beach Boys. Their usual songs celebrating fun times surfing in clean water are turned around in this song warning that the water is now too dirty and polluted to be safe. "Don't go near the water, Don't you think it's sad, What's happened to the water, Our water's going bad. Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams, Have all been touched by man, The poison floating out to sea, Now threatens life on land. Don't go near the water, Ain't it sad, What's happened to the water, It's going bad." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjZES3_SSYA #JukeboxFridayNight #Dirty

For this week's jukebox music theme, Dirty, here is "Black Waters", written and sung by Jean Ritchie, lamenting the pollution and devastation of the land caused by coal strip-mining. "I come from the mountains, Kentucky's my home, Where the wild deer and black bear so lately did roam, By the cool rushing waterfall the wildflowers dream, And through every green valley, there runs a clear stream. Now there's scenes of destruction on every hand, And only black waters run down through my land, Sad scenes of destruction on every hand, Black waters, black waters, run down through my land, Black waters, black waters, run down through my land." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vySGbQwXUy4 #JukeboxFridayNight #Dirty

@heidilifeldman@mastodon.social Yes! Me too!

For this week's jukebox music theme, History, here is "Canadian Railroad Trilogy", written and sung by Gordon Lightfoot. The song commemorates the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first trans-Canada line, built in the 1880's. The song was written as part of the Canadian Centennial celebrations of 1967. "So over the mountains, and over the plains, Into the muskeg, and into the rain, Up the St. Lawrence, all the way to Gaspé, Swingin' our hammers, and drawin' our pay, Layin' 'em in and tyin' 'em down, Away to the bunkhouse, and into the town, A dollar a day, and a place for my head, A drink to the livin', a toast to the dead." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXzauTuRG78 #JukeboxFridayNight #History

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here is "Queen of the Supermarket", written and sung by Bruce Springsteen. "I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket. As the evening sky turns blue, A dream awaits in aisle number two... ...I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket, There's nothing I can say. Each night I take my groceries, and I drift away..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfvp5XHbM9U #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, Dirt, here is Bill Steele's "Garbage", a musical diatribe about our trashing of the earth. Sung by Pete Seeger for a 1986 environmental documentary, in front of a backdrop of garbage barges. "Mister Thompson calls the waiter, orders steak and baked potato, He leaves the bone and gristle and he never eats the skin, The busboy comes and takes it, with a cough contaminates it, And puts it in a can with coffee grounds and sardine tins, And the truck comes by on Friday and carts it all away, A thousand trucks just like it are converging on the Bay, Oh, Garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, We're filling up the seas with garbage, What will we do when there's no place left to put all the garbage." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX14qeHlVj4 #JukeboxFridayNight #Dirty

This week's jukebox music theme, Personal Playlist, looks back at the music that marked our lives. I used to discover new albums I liked by borrowing them from the library. If I liked one well enough to spend money on it, I'd buy my own. Judy Collins' "Bread and Roses" album was one that I played over until it was scratched and worn. It spoke to me when I was in my 20's. Here is the title song from that album, a stirring anthem of working women. ".As we go marching, marching, In the beauty of the day, A million darkened kitchens, A thousand mill lofts grey, Are touched with all the radiance That a sudden sun discloses, For the people hear us singing Bread and roses, bread and roses.. ...No more the drudge and idler, Ten that toil where one reposes, But the sharing of life's glories, Bread and roses, bread and roses. ...Our lives shall not be sweated From birth until life closes Hearts starve as well as bodies Bread and roses, bread and roses." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsvGPj0LH0M #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

Another song for this week's jukebox music theme of A Wider World. Joanne Shenendoah is a Haudenosaunee singer from the Oneida nation. Her music mixes sounds from her Six Nations tradition with a modern style. Here she is singing a series of Old Moccasin Dance songs from her 1993 album of Social Songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0lh6GH-LO0 #JukeboxFridayNight #AWiderWorld

For this week's jukebox music theme, songs from a Wider World, here is a song rooted in the Haudenosaunee musical tradition. Sadie Buck is a Tonawanda Seneca artist and author who has written new songs based on traditional Seneca music. She is the lead singer of the group Six Nations Women Singers. Here is her amazing voice leading the group singing "Uheawaewhale" in March 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy6g8v7J1qU #JukeboxFridayNight #AWiderWorld

For this week's jukebox music theme, Dirt, here is "Pollution", scathing satire with a merry tune, written and sung by Tom Lehrer. "If you visit American city, You will find it very pretty. Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air! Pollution, pollution, They got smog and sewage and mud, Turn on your tap, And get hot and cold running crud... See the halibuts and the sturgeons, Being wiped out by detergents, Fish got to swim and birds got to fly, But they don't last long, if they try. Pollution, pollution, You can use the latest toothpaste, And then rinse your mouth With industrial waste." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPrAuF2f_oI #JukeboxFridayNight #Dirty

This week's jukebox music theme is Personal Playlist, the music of our own lives. I was 49 years old when I finally met Brian, at a time when I never expected to fall in love. We were together for 15 years, until he died of covid in 2024. Unlike the family I grew up in, Brian was not personally musical, and didn't have favorite albums or musical enthusiasms. But one of our favorite regular dates during our years together was going to free outdoor concerts. We took our folding chairs down to Ontario Beach park in the summer, to eat ice cream and listen to the bands playing in the gazebo. If there was a slow dance number, Brian would have to dance with me. So here's a mellow one for you, Brian, in memory of those summer nights dancing at the beach - "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", sung by Shirley Bassey. "You are the sunshine of my life, That's why I'll always be around. You are the apple of my eye, Forever, you'll stay in my heart." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k4d3keYseE #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

This week's jukebox music theme is Personal Playlist, the music that marked our lives. When I was a teen, I belonged to a girl scout troop filled with girls who liked to sing. Folk songs, popular songs of the day (1970's), and weird parodies, we sang anything. Here's one that was a popular sing-along in those days, late at night around the ashes of the campfire. "I'd like to build the world a home, And furnish it with love, Grow apple trees and honey bees, And snow white turtle doves. I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony, I'd like to hold it in my arms And keep it company." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Wm65-tXBk #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

For this week's jukebox music theme, in memory of Dolly Parton, here is "Light of a Clear Blue Morning", a song that speaks to hope in dark times, a song that means a lot in these times we are struggling through right now. Look for that light! "It's been a long dark night, And I've been a-waiting for the morning, It's been a long hard fight, But I see a brand new day dawning, I've been looking for the sunshine, You know I ain't seen it in so long, But everything's gonna work out just fine, And everything's gonna be all right, That's been all wrong. 'Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning, I can see the light of a brand new day, I can see the light of a clear blue morning, Oh, and everything's gonna be all right, It's gonna be okay." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfinvuRolR0 #JukeboxFridayNight #BeLikeDolly

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here is "I Had A King", the song of a marriage breakup, written and sung by Joni Mitchell. "I had a king in a salt-rusted carriage, Who carried me off to his country for marriage, too soon. Beware of the power of moons. There's no one to blame, There's no one to name as a traitor here. The king's on the road, And the queen's in the grove till the end of the year. I can't go back there anymore, You know my keys won't fit the door, You know my thoughts don't fit the man, They never can." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NK0asxf2zk #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here is the haunting "Erlkönig" (Elf-King), a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, set to music by Franz Schubert. Sung here by Daniel Norman. In this song, a father and son are pursued through the forest by the elf-king, who wants to steal the child. The child sees the pursuer and tries to appeal to the oblivious father, who dismisses the son's fears. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS91p-vmSf0 #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here is "King of the Road", written and sung by Roger Miller. Even a wandering janitor pushing a broom can be a sort of King. "Trailers for sale or rent, Rooms to let, fifty cents, No phone, no pool, no pets, I ain't got no cigarettes. Ah, but two hours of pushing broom Buys a eight by twelve four-bit room. I'm a man of means, by no means, King of the Road." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neVBvyuSqkk #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

@MaryAustinBooks@mstdn.social You are one of my favorite political news contacts because of how you always cheer, encourage, and keep me from doom and gloom. And you do it, not by airily waving away the problems, but by bringing it down to earth, with "the evidence of our own eyes" on the ground. I imagine you have saved thousands of us from giving up in despair. Keep posting about your bridge troll gang! We need this stuff!

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here's probably the very first childhood song I ever knew about a king, "Old King Cole". "Old King Cole was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he, He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl, And he called for his fiddlers three." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOmsXMPSMh4 #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, History, here is "Solomon Browne", written and sung by Seth Lakeman, a song about the 1981 Penlee Lifeboat disaster. The RNLI lifeboat Solomon Browne went to rescue five sailors aboard the Union Star after her engines failed off the coast of Cornwall. Sixteen people died, including 8 RNLI volunteers. "At fair Mount's Bay, on that Christmas week, Was such a raging storm, no man could speak, That lifeboat thundered through an angry sea, Was called Solomon Browne and her company, With courage, it was called, On our heroes brave and bold, With courage, it was cold, On board that night." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdGWJ7ATRJA #JukeboxFridayNight #History

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here is the carol "We Three Kings", written by John Henry Hopkins Jr. and sung here by the wonderful voice of Ella Fitzgerald. "We three kings of orient are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar, Field and fountain, Moor and mountain, Following yonder star." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L690w1cZSZE #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, in memory of Dolly Parton, here is a song about the memory of friends who have gone, "You Can't Make Old Friends", a moving duet by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Listening to this song, and remembering my own old friends, tearing up. "What will I do when you're gone? Who's gonna tell me the truth? Who's gonna finish the stories I start The way you always do? ...How will I sing when you're gone? 'Cause it won't sound the same Who'll join in on those harmony parts When I call your name? ...You can't make old friends, Can't make old friends, It was you and me, since way back when, But you can't make old friends." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi6UJH8KfY4 #JukeboxFridayNight #BeLikeDolly

For this week's jukebox music theme, Dirty, here's another song called "Don't Go Near the Water". This one written and sung by Johnny Cash, lamenting how we humans are polluting the environment. "There was a time the air was clean, And you could see forever ‘cross the plains, The wind was sweet as honey, And no one had ever heard of acid rain. We’re torturin’ the earth, And pourin’ every kind of evil in the sea, We violated nature, And our children have to pay the penalty. Don’t go near the water children, See the fish all dead upon the shore. Don’t go near the water, ‘Cause the water isn’t water anymore." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYyDaguS5go #JukeboxFridayNight #Dirty

For this week's jukebox music theme, songs from a Wider World, here is a song rooted in the Haudenosaunee musical tradition. Sadie Buck is a Tonawanda Seneca artist and author who has written new songs based on traditional Seneca music. She is the lead singer of the group Six Nations Women Singers. Here is her amazing voice leading the group singing in March 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy6g8v7J1qU #JukeboxFridayNight #AWiderWorld

This week's jukebox music theme is Personal Playlist, the songs of our own life. Here is the one that always makes me stand up, starts my blood flowing, brings me to smiles and tears. The "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's 9th Symphony is one of the greatest musical compositions of human genius. Here it is moving an entire crowd of people to sing along. "Freude, Schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuer-trunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum! Deine Zauber binden wieder, Was die Mode streng geteilt; Alle Menschen werden Brüder, Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt." And in English - "Joy! A spark of fire from heaven, Daughter from Elysium, Drunk with fire we dare to enter, Holy One, inside your shrine. Your magic power binds together, What we by custom wrench apart, All men will emerge as brothers, Where you rest your gentle wings." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah-5wLaTwME #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

This week's jukebox music theme is Personal Playlist, the music that followed us through life. My dad and I continued to discover new music together as we aged, influencing each other with our fresh enthusiasms. We discovered Motown and R&B when I was in my late 30's, and found a whole new musical world to explore. A couple of my personal favorites: Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?"- "Mother, mother, There's too many of you crying, Brother, brother, brother, There's far too many of you dying, You know we've got to find a way To bring some loving here today..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-kA3UtBj4M Aretha Franklin's "Think"- "You better think, Think about what you're trying to do to me, Yeah, think, think, Let your mind go, let yourself be free. 'Cause freedom Stands for freedom Oh, freedom Yeah, freedom, right now." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5upuCxz_Rg #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

For this week's jukebox music theme, History, here is "Like a Mountain: Can't Kill the Spirit", by Naomi Littlebear Morena. It was written in 1977 and was originally the anthem of the women's anti-nuclear movement. Thirty thousand women held hands and sang while surrounding the Greenham Commons Nuclear Cruise Missile site in the UK. The song sustained that protest for 20 years. In the years since, it been adopted by various other protest movements. This recording features Marilyn Keller as the soloist. "You can't kill the Spirit, She is like a mountain, Old and strong, She goes on an on and on, She is like a mountain." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opNJITWIURQ #JukeboxFridayNight #History

For this week's music theme, History, here is "Aberfan", a song remembering the 1966 industrial disaster in Aberfan, Wales, when a colliery's coal tip buried a town's school. Written by Kyle Aughe and sung by the group Dulahan. "For years the townfolk worried ‘bout the spring beneath Merthr Vale. Could it someday bring the slag upon the town? And on that fateful morning in the mining south of Wales, Five hundred thousand tons came raining down. On Aberfan, a hundred sixteen children, Aberfan, so cruel a fate to will them, There’ll be no consolation, For the coal board’s washed their hands Of the blood of those young children in the town Of Aberfan." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXqN559cPAY #JukeboxFridayNight #History

This week's jukebox music theme is Personal Playlist, the songs of our own life. This one is a childhood memory of my dad. Pete Seeger's "Hobo's Lullaby" was the lullaby my dad used to always sing to me and my sisters when we were little ones, and it always reminds me of being tucked in cozily and safely, with my dad's familiar voice singing for me. "Go to sleep, you weary hobo, Let the towns drift slowly by. Can't you hear the steel rails hummin'? That's the hobo's lullaby. Don't you worry 'bout tomorrow, Let tomorrow come and go, Tonight you're in a nice warm boxcar, Safe from all the wind and snow." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IxzEqXJS9g #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

For this week's jukebox music theme, A Wider World, here is a contemporary song from the world of Afro-Peruvian music. Susana Baca, the award-winning singer-songwriter, sings "María Landó", the song of a poor working woman's life. "María no tiene tiempo de alzar los ojos, María rotos de sueño, de andar sufriendo, María sólo trabaja, sólotrabaja, sólo trabaja, y su trabajo es ajeno." English translation: "María has no time to lift up her eyes, María exhausted by lack of sleep, and by suffering, María only works, only works, only works, And her work belongs to others." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7_0JdMl2bc #JukeboxFridayNight #AWiderWorld

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here is the amazing "Queen of the Night" aria from Mozart's "The Magic Flute, sung with vengeful power by Sabine Devieilhe. In this aria, the Queen of Night demands that Pamina kill her rival or else she will curse Pamina. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWkJRIiiSE4 While my dad was a musical theater fan, he was generally indifferent to opera. There were only three operas he loved, but those three he loved with a passion, and "Magic Flute" was one of them. My first opera recording was my dad's "Magic Flute" album. #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, here is "Mississippi Goddamn", written and sung by Nina Simone. The song was her impassioned and furious response to the murders of Emmett Till and Medgar Evers and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, and the many other violent attempts to shut down the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. "That's just the trouble (Too slow) Desegregation (Too slow) Mass participation (Too slow) Reunification (Too slow) Do things gradually (Too slow) But bring more tragedy (Too slow) Why don't you see it, why don't you feel it, I don't know, I don't know..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ25-U3jNWM #JukeboxFridayNight #History

I began this week's Personal Playlist with "Amazing Grace", the central song of my entire life. Now I end this list with its bookend, another song that similarly speaks for my whole life, "How Can I Keep From Singing?" We heard it growing up on my dad's folk music records. We sang it around the campfire in girl scouts. I sang it in church with the choir. The first two verses have traveled with me throughout my years, sustaining me in song through life's ups and downs. The third verse was part of my childhood, then forgotten, then rediscovered lately, as we fight for our democracy. It's a good choice to end my Personal Playlist. "My life flows on in endless song, Above Earth's lamentation. I hear the real, though far off hymn That hails the new creation. Above the tumult and the strife I hear the music ringing. It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing? What though the tempest loudly roars? I hear the truth, it liveth. What though the darkness round me close? Songs in the night it giveth. No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that rock I'm clinging. Since Love is lord of Heaven and Earth, How can I keep from singing? When tyrants tremble, sick with fear, And hear their death-knell ringing, When friends rejoice both far and near, How can I keep from singing? In prison cell and dungeon vile, Our thoughts to them are winging. When friends by shame are undefiled, How can I keep from singing?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH72dgNSAsw #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

This week's jukebox music theme is Personal Playlist, the music of our own life. I grew up surrounded my eclectic music, in a household with my dad and my grandparents. I was awash in pop songs of the 60's and 70's, but certainly the music I heard from the older generation also struck deep into my ears. Dad listened to jazz, folk, blues, theater and movie music. Grandpa liked swing jazz and polka music. Grandma liked sweet jazz and the pop music of the 1930's and 40's. Their playlists in a way became part of my own playlist. So here is an iconic song for each of them. For my Dad, here is Huddie Ledbetter singing "Rock Island Line". My dad used to sing along with this record with enthusiasm. I can still hear him singing as we washed dishes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2iiS-neZls For Grandpa, here is the "Beer Barrel Polka". I learned to play this on the piano especially for him. He taught me to dance the polka with him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF-5zBjEIDM For Grandma, here is "You Are My Sunshine", sung by her favorite Bing Crosby. She used to sing this sweetly to Grandpa, and to us girls. When she was elderly, and lost her speech to a stroke, she surprised me one day by suddenly singing along to this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PuiP1bzrVI #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

This week's jukebox music theme is Personal Playlist, the music of our lives. When I was in high school, I played violin in the school orchestra, where I fell in love with Mozart. I had an album of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" which was my homework album, spinning on my record player while I studied or did math or wrote essays. It shut out the world and helped me get in the groove and focus. Hearing this music to this day takes me back to high school. Here's the first movement, Allegro, played by the New Century Chamber Orchestra. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzEX0-nwN4Y #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

This week's jukebox music theme is Personal Playlist, the music of our own life. I grew up surrounded by eclectic music, in a household with my dad and my grandparents. I was awash in pop songs of the 60's and 70's, but certainly the music I heard from the older generation also struck deep into my ears. Dad listened to jazz, folk, blues, theater and movie music. Grandpa liked swing jazz and polka music. Grandma liked sweet jazz and the pop music of the 1930's and 40's. Their playlists in a way became part of my own playlist. So here is an iconic song for each of them. For my Dad, here is Huddie Ledbetter singing "Rock Island Line". My dad used to sing along with this record with enthusiasm. I can still hear him singing as we washed dishes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2iiS-neZls For Grandpa, here is the "Beer Barrel Polka". I learned to play this on the piano especially for him. He taught me to dance the polka with him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF-5zBjEIDM For Grandma, here is "You Are My Sunshine", sung by her favorite Bing Crosby. She used to sing this sweetly to Grandpa, and to us girls. When she was elderly, and lost her speech to a stroke, she surprised me one day by suddenly singing along to this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PuiP1bzrVI #JukeboxFridayNight #PersonalPlaylist

For this week's jukebox music theme, History, here is "Wind of Change", written by Klaus Meine, performed by the band Scorpions. Written during the waning days of the Soviet Union, it became an iconic song in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell. "Take me to the magic of the moment, On a glory night, Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams With you and me, Take me to the magic of the moment, On a glory night, Where the children of tomorrow dream away In the wind of change." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RjJKxsamQ #JukeboxFridayNight #History

For this week's jukebox music theme, Royalty, here is "Queen Jane Approximately', written and sung by Bob Dylan. "When your mother sends back all your invitations, And your father to your sister he explains That you're tired of yourself and all your creations, Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?" https://youtube.com/watch?v=5-ZmD3sCFcE #JukeboxFridayNight #Royalty

For this week's jukebox music theme, here is a deceptively gentle song about atmospheric poisoning. "What Have They Done to the Rain?" was originally written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962 as a protest to the strontium-poisoned rain caused by above-ground nuclear tests. Later, the song also became a protest in the 1970's and 1980's against acid rain as well. Sung here by Malvina Reynolds. "Just a little boy standing in the rain, The gentle rain that falls for years, And the grass is gone, The boy disappears, And rain keeps falling like helpless tears, And what have they done to the rain?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DramVG4AL2c #JukeboxFridayNight #Dirty

For this week's jukebox music theme, History, here is "Abraham, Martin, and John", a memory of leaders cut down by murder, written by Dick Holler, sung by Marvin Gaye. "Anybody here seen my old friend Martin? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, But it seems the good die young, I just looked around and he's gone." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XN6hePGMI8 #JukeboxFridayNight #History

For this week's jukebox music theme, History, here is "Abraham, Martin, and John", written by Dick Holler, sung by Marvin Gaye. "Anybody here seen my old friend Martin? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, But it seems the good die young, I just looked around and he's gone." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XN6hePGMI8 #JukeboxFridayNight #History

For this week's jukebox music theme, History, here is "Biko", a tribute to murdered anti-apartheid activist Steven Biko, written by Peter Gabriel, and sung by the Playing for Change music collective. "You can blow out a candle, But you can't blow out a fire, Once the flame begin to catch, The wind will blow it higher. Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja The man is dead, the man is dead." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWNEr4eHL18 #JukeboxFridayNight #History

For this week's jukebox music theme, History, here is "Burn On", written and performed by Randy Newman. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, US, caught fire due to industrial pollution and oil slicks. The fire was a wake-up call that led to a major environmental clean-up effort, and is partially responsible for the creation of the Environmental Protection Act. "Cleveland, city of light, city of magic, Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me, Cleveland, even now I can remember, 'Cause the Cuyahoga River goes smoking through my dreams. Burn on, big river, burn on, Burn on, big river, burn on." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDVIFVy1MXQ #JukeboxFridayNight #History