I know by now that even the most hardened partiers amongst my listeners will have called a halt to the merrymaking, the carousing, the carolling and may well have broken a few, many, most, or, in the extremist of cases, all of their well-wrought New Year’s resolutions. It is, after all, a week and a day into the new year. Now, you will not find me in the least censorious as I have for a long time been a resident of my own fragile glass house.
Instead, may I present a trailer for the ongoing Letters From Quotidia? To preface it I wish to invoke the courage and the wisdom of that great American poet, Walt Whitman, who, in Part 1 of The Song of the Open Road has this to say, which I have adopted (in spirit, at least) for my New Year’s resolution:
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,/Healthy, free, the world before me,/The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.// Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,/Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,/Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,/Strong and content I travel the open road.//The earth, that is sufficient,/I do not want the constellations any nearer,/I know they are very well where they are,/ know they suffice for those who belong to them.//(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,/I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,/I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,/I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)//
From 22nd of January until 15th October I will present, God Willing, 20 Podcasts at two-week intervals. They are my old delicious burdens, and I will carry them with me wherever I go- I am filled with them and I will fill them in return! We really do have to thank our poets for sharing the contents of their wonderful minds with us. And I can’t leave this trailer without attaching a song to it as an accompaniment to the poem. The song was the opener on the first LP I ever bought, The Rolling Stones, released on 14 April 1964.
I loved it from the first bars of Route 66 which blasted out of my Dad’s stereo in the front room of our home in Cushendall, County Antrim. I have never recorded or played this song before because…I don’t know! The Stones have a lock on the song in my humble…and I have never felt the need, until now, when such a trip remains, it must be said, a most unlikely outcome- but one which I will not banish to the impossible corner- just yet. Written by US Marine Bobby Troup who didn’t see colour, only soul, according to one of the marines serving under him, it remains one of the finest songs about freedom and the open road. [insert song]
So in two weeks’ time, I will present my first podcast of 2023- see you then!
The Rolling Stones (Troup / Chuck Berry)
[Verse] Song transposed to C
A D A
Well, if you ever plan to motor west
D A
Jack, take my way, that’s the highway, that’s the best
E7 D A
Get your kicks on Route 66
A D A
Well, it winds from Chicago to L.A.
D A
More than 2000 miles all the way
E7 D A
Get your kicks on Route 66
[Chorus]
A
Well, goes from St. Louie down to Missouri
A
Oklahoma City, looks oh so pretty
D A
You’ll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico
E7
Flagstaff, Arizona, don’t forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino
[Verse]
A D A
Would you get hip to this timely tip
D A
And go take that California trip
E7 D A
Get your kicks on Route 66
[Solo]
A D A E7 D A
[Chorus]
A
Well, goes from St. Louie down to Missouri
A
Oklahoma City, looks oh so pretty
D A
You’ll see Amarillo and Gallup, New Mexico
E7
Flagstaff, Arizona, don’t forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino
[Outro]
A D A
Would you get hip to this kindly tip
D A
And go take that California trip
E7 D A
Get your kicks on Route 66
E7 D A
Get your kicks on Route 66
E7 D A
Get your kicks on Route 66
Credits: All written text, song lyrics andmusic (including background music) written and composed by Quentin Bega unless otherwise specified in the credits section after individual posts. Illustrative excerpts from other texts identified clearly within each podcast. I donate to and use Wikipedia frequently as one of the saner sources of information on the web.
Technical Stuff: Microphone- Shure SM58; (for the podcast spoken content) Audio Technica AT 2020 front-facing with pop filter); Apogee 76K also used for songs and spoken text.
For recording and mixing down: 64-bit N-Track Studio 9 Extended used; Rubix 22 also used for mixing of microphone(s) and instruments. I use the Band in a Box/RealBand 2022 combo for music composition.
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