WWJLD Wednesday.....How do you sleep?

"How Do You Sleep?" was a pretty controversial song from JL's solo career. It's one of the first lyrical bitch slaps that I can think of and to me, the best. There have been some really good lyrical fights after this - Tupac's "Hit 'Em Up" against Biggie and Dr. Dre's "F*ck wit' Dre Day" against Eazy E are two of my favorites. But this one is the original to me. I was reading some comments on the videos for this song on the internet and it's funny how many people got angry over this song. But to me that just goes to show what a great artist JL was - even today his own emotions come through the song and make you feel what he's feeling. He was pissed off when he wrote this song directed at his ex-bandmate Paul. Each line is a dig at McCartney in a very specific way.

The story goes like this - JL was angry at Paul because Paul had written the song "Too Many People" which he later admitted did in fact include digs at JL. "How Do You Sleep?" was JL's retaliation. I find it very interesting that even George Harrison had jumped on the JL bandwagon and played lead slide guitar on this track. Did he also have some hard feelings against Paul?

If you listen to the song line by line you can pick out the obvious digs at Paul, especially if you are a Beatles fan:

• So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise - John refers to the Beatles hit album that from what I read Paul didn't think was going to do well but ended up being one of their biggest albums
• Those freaks was right when they said you was dead - John refers to the whole 'Paul is dead' conspiracy
• The only thing you done was yesterday, and since you've gone you're just another day - John is calling Paul out for not having done anything good since his hit "Yesterday". And putting down Paul's first solo single "Another Day". Pretty much saying all his good songs were behind him
• The sound you make is muzak to my ears - Having your music called muzak is never a good thing, that's like saying it's elevator music
• Apparently when the Imagine album was originally released it came with a postcard of John holding up the ears of a large pig. This was directly making fun of Paul's album Ram where he is holding up a set of Ram horns. On the back of the Ram album there is also a picture of two beetles 'screwing', this is supposedly a 'screw you' to John - from one Beatle to another.

Paul and John later reconciled, but the music was already out there. And forever we will have this insight into their 'sibling' rivalry. Do you think JL went too far? Or can you appreciate the honesty and emotion in this song. He truly wrote from the depths of his heart and soul and what he was feeling at the time. He was hurt and angry, so he wrote about it. And to me, that's the best and most moving kind of music.....not muzak. 






So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise,
You better see right thru that mother's eyes,
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead,
The one mistake you made was in your head,
How do you sleep?
Ah how do you sleep at night?
You live with straights who tell you you was king,
Jump when your momma tell you any thing,
The only thing you did was yesterday,
And since your gone you're just another day,
How do you sleep?
Ah how do you sleep at night?
A pretty face may last a year or two,
But pretty soon they'll see what you can do,
The sound you make is muzak to my ears,
You must have learnt something all those years,
How do you Sleep?
Ah how do you sleep at night?

Defense of Marriage...What exactly do you think you are defending?

Can someone please explain to me what sexual preference has to do with someones ability to do their job or be a good parent? Why is this even an issue? I mean if someone has a foot fetish does that mean they can't be a great doctor? Why don't they have to declare they like licking toes? Why do we make a big deal that a politician or someone of 'power' is gay but yet we don't when a hairdresser is? 

And what is all of this Defense of Marriage Act? Seriously? This is what we are paying our public figures to come up with during their time in office? Yet again politicians are ruling this country with their religious views. How can you tell me that two same sex parents are worse for a child's upbringing than an alcoholic parent who beats them or ignores them, just because of their sexual preference? Or parents that commit adultery? Or how about heterosexual parents who choose their religion over their own children when their children do something that goes against what their religion says and they disown them. You mean to tell me your religion and something you read in a 'book' is more important to you than your own living, breathing, flesh and blood?

Let's say you had 2 kids and you knew you were dying. Would you honestly give your kids to someone you knew was abusive just because they were heterosexual and Christian (or whatever religion you might be) over a same sex couple who you knew would love your kids and raise them as if they were their own.  I would love to know why anyone wouldn't pick the loving home just because the couple was gay. You don't teach sexual preference, it's just in us.

If people are so worried about the 'sanctity of marriage' then why don't they take a look in the mirror and work on the bigger problems with marriage, like adultery and abuse, then worry about two people that love each other that happen to be the same sex. 

Get a clue people and stop being so ignorant and blind to the real issues. Stop using gay marriage as an excuse and a platform for something that is completely irrelevant to the real problems in our country.

WWJLD Wednesday.....Simple

JL would sing, pure and simple. If he were here today, that's all I would want from him. It saddens me he was murdered 5 months after I was born so I never got the opportunity to hear him sing in person. There are so many artists and influential people that died in their prime. I can only imagine the things JL would be singing about today. I listen to his music almost everyday and each time I still feel his passion and emotions come through on each song he's ever done. In his solo years, JL revealed even more of the pain and happiness he felt all his life in his music. It was beautiful and sad all at the same time.

If he were here today he'd sing.

WWJLD Wednesday....Give Me Some Truth

Something happened today that made me really want to listen to the song 'Gimme Some Truth'. I had a run in with a 'Narrow Minded Hypocrite'. Instead of actually reading my last blog post about legalizing marijuana (http://mannalynnawakened.blogspot.com/2011/07/take-toke-tuesday-anyone-legalize-it.html) and trying to understand my points and point of view, they just posted this - "So two wrongs make a right by the writer's standard?"
No, two wrongs don't make a right, and if you took the time to open you narrow mind you would understand what I was saying. The first verse of this song is perfect for this type of person:
I'm sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short sighted
Narrow-minded hypocritics

I just want some truth! Stop regurgitating what other closed minded people say. Use your own brain and your own voice. Don't be afraid of someone not liking your opinion, it's one of the only things we all have that is ours and ours alone. That's one of the reasons I started this blog - to voice my opinion. I have to listen to so many "tight-lipped, condescending, Mama's little chauvinists", why shouldn't they have to listen to my opinion. And just because you can parrot what other people say or what it says in the bible or some other book, that doesn't make you smarter than me. Intelligence is based off being able to actually use your brain for intelligent thoughts, not just repeating what you've heard or read. Try it sometime, it's wonderful!

JL was about listening to others and having a debate while respecting others opinions. Watch this interview with Al Capp during their 'Bed-In for Peace' protest. The cartoonist doesn't even want to listen to JL. He just wants to get his jabs in at JL and Yoko. He's incredibly rude and doesn't have any good information to back up what he is attacking them about. I mean how can you attack someone for having a protest for peace? People are so cynical they accused JL and Yoko of doing this purely for their own publicity. Well then good, let them get some publicity while promoting peace at the same time. Point is, listen to what the other person is saying instead of just throwing out word vomit. Think for yourself!











I'm sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short sighted
Narrow-minded hypocritics
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic
Pig headed politicians
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

No short-haired, yellow-bellied
Son of Tricky Dick is gonna Mother Hubbard
Soft soap me with just a pocketful of soap
It's money for dope, money for rope

No short-haired, yellow-bellied
Son of Tricky Dick is gonna Mother Hubbard
Soft soap me with just a pocketful of soap
It's money for dope, money for rope

I'm sick to death of seeing things
From tight-lipped, condescending
Mama's little chauvinists
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth now

I've had enough of watching scenes
Of schizophrenic, ego-centric
Paranoiac, prima donnas
All I want is the truth now, now
Just gimme some truth

No short-haired, yellow-bellied
Son of Tricky Dick is gonna Mother Hubbard
Soft soap me with just a pocketful of soap
It's money for dope, money for rope

Ah, I'm sick to death of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted
Narrow-minded hypocrites
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now

I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic
Pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now

All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
All I want is the truth

Take a Toke Tuesday? Anyone?? Legalize it!

In the wise words of Mr. Mackey from South Park - Drugs are bad, mkay?





 What I want to know though is why is marijuana illegal, but smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol is not. I understand the whole prohibition thing didn't work back in the 1920's, so I'm not saying to try that again, but think about what drinking does to people - how many deaths a year are attributable to drinking and driving? How many bar fights are there? How much domestic violence and depression is caused by drinking? And then there are cigarettes. Now cigarettes I really just don't get. I know everyone has heard all the horrible things they put into cigarettes, but people still continue to smoke them! Well as a reminder, here are just a few of the ingredients found in cigarettes:

• Acetone – found in nail polish remover
• Acetic Acid –  an ingredient in hair dye
• Ammonia – a common household cleaner
• Arsenic – used in rat poison
• Benzene – found in rubber cement
• Butane – used in lighter fluid
• Cadmium – active component in battery acid
• Carbon Monoxide – released in car exhaust fumes
• Formaldehyde – embalming fluid
• Hexamine – found in barbecue lighter fluid
• Lead – used in batteries
• Napthalene – an ingredient in moth balls
• Methanol – a main component in rocket fuel
• Nicotine – used as insecticide
• Tar – material for paving roads
• Toluene - used to manufacture paint

Mmmmm, pass me one of those cigarettes so I can suck some Formaldehyde and Nail Polish Remover into my system....mmmm mmm good!! Yeah, I think I'll pass. But these two items are LEGAL. Now let's look at marijuana - There is no medical evidence that shows high-potency marijuana is more harmful than low-potency marijuana. Marijuana is literally one of the least toxic substances known. (http://legalizationofmarijuana.com/marijuana-facts.html). The chance of getting cancer from smoking marijuana is miniscule. And studies link marijuana as less habit forming than caffeine.  

How many people do you know that have gotten high and then got into a domestic disturbance? Bar fight? Got loud and crazy at a party? Anyone? No, probably not so much. Except for maybe if you took away their munchies, that might piss them off. But in reality they would probably just shrug their shoulders and go back to toking. Point is, it isn't a violent drug, it isn't an addictive drug, it isn't  filled with all sorts of horrible chemicals (again FORMALDEHYDE!), it's a natural plant that I believe was used in many rituals way back when. 

If our government spent more time going after real criminals and actually using the man power involved in the 'War against Drugs' maybe we could do some real good and get people off the streets, get healthcare for everyone, and focus on the real issues in our country today. Whether or not some one is lighting up a fatty and chilling in their own home, isn't a worry to me. It's things more like - if my dad loses his current health care he will be taken off the lung transplant list because he doesn't have the money to pay for that type of surgery....and he will most likely die. And this type of thing happens daily. People who can't afford health care are being denied the help they need and they are dying. Why isn't this a major concern for our government (ok, this will be another blog I guess). Which also goes back to my first point - sorry Dad, but I have to use you as an example - he smoked cigarettes pretty much his entire life. Yes, he had some other breathing issues like asthma, but he smoked, and now he needs two new lungs. This is reason enough for me not to smoke cigarettes. 

Also, as a person who has the beginning of glaucoma (at 30!), I like to have my options open for treatment. If marijuana helps someone who is sick, whether it's glaucoma, cancer, anything, then why would you want to deny them something that makes them feel better? I've heard so many people that have to undergo chemo say that it really does help them deal with everything they are going through. Why deny them that?

LEGALIZE IT!  

Randomness......G 'n R Edition

Sitting here on a long holiday weekend listening to some random Guns 'n Roses. Just thinking about how much more G 'n R could have done if Axl Rose wasn't such a douche. They were really at the height of their success and could have gone so much further if Axl didn't go off the self indulgent deep end. And even after all these years I still feel the little spark of excitement when I hear Axl is coming back with a new album and tour with his 'new and improved' Guns 'n Roses! And then I usually hear about the very first gig where he flips out about something stupid like having blue m&m's in his dish or a heckling fan and storms off stage like a prima donna. And that little spark I felt for just a moment dies out quickly, as I knew it would. If only Axl could play nice and not be so self absorbed. He could have a cool reality show or something. I mean even Bret Michaels somehow became relevant again by doing a reality show....ahhh Rock of Love - we had some good times, good times.
Point is smarten up Axl and make a comeback, except this time leave the bad, fake corn rows at home.