All - American Souls

OUIJA BOARD ~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS
AND JUST A LITTLE EERIE!

The Ouija Board was never a big thing with me and my friends, though we were all mystified by it and surely pulled one out every now and then at a slumber party or on a Halloween night. With the Samhain Triumvirate upon us -- Halloween, All Saints & All Souls -- what better time to contemplate a message from Beyond. What will it bring? Healing? Threat? Warning? That's what songwriter Andrew Robert Palmer deliberates in the following lyrics, bringing to mind an entire cycle of high holy days and patriotic holidays:

American Souls

Well, I'm waiting for the light to come on
and I'm praying it ain't really there
Oh, I'm closing my eyes and hoping the monsters are gone
I'm running up the basement stairs

We were playing with the ouija board
it was late, a voice said, "hey, can I play?"
When we asked the evil spirits who they were coming for,
it just spelled out "U...S...A."

Well, sweet baby Jesus, when are you coming home?
When will this world be saved?
Will there be room in heaven for our American Souls
When flowers grow on our graves?

Hush now child don't you worry no more
even evil demons have their end
I can't say it ain't really there, so I won't anymore
but It's safe to say the sun will come out again

Have faith and pray the sun will come out again
Have faith and pray for a brand new day
the sun will come out again

Music & lyrics by Andrew Robert Palmer
released May 1, 2019
posted with author's permission
all rights reserved

Note from Andrew: "Wanted to end this whole thing off on a hopeful note, even though life can seem as spooky-scary as being in your basement in the dark when no one's home. I don't mean to sound trite or glib, but I reckon sometimes, the best you can do is keep going and hope it all gets better. But you know ...also do stuff to help it get better...don't just hang around and do nothing. cool? cool."

To The Lake!
Little House
Rockford Rock
Northside Blues Confusion
American Souls
Speaking of "trite or glib" -- but not really -- I somehow went from humming Andrew Palmer's "American Souls" to recalling another all - American tribute from the classic musical Stop the World -- I Want to Get Off, written in 1961 by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The lyrics vary occasionally from production to production and from songbook to songbook, so if I have not chosen your favorites, please feel free to amend!

What remains constant in each rendition is the spectacle of a citizen shallowly embracing the more ridiculous elements of patriotism and popular culture without bothering to remember the current President or understand the Constitution -- how timely! Thus even the cutesy comic relief of a show tune harbors the same sinister concern lurking in Palmer's "American Souls." Entertaining yet worrisome:

All - American

I'm an all - American sweetheart
From an all - American town
I'm from all - American Main Street USA
I eat all - American popcorn
I chew all - American gum
Which is why I talk this all - American way

I watch all - American movies
half the all - American night
On my all - American television screen
And like all American females
I've an all - American dream
To become an all - American movie queen

[Reid, Murdoch & Co. Building]
I get all - American goosebumps
When I hear the Stars & Stripes
I'm an an all American niece of Uncle Sam
And I think that Mr. Eisenhower is altogether swell
-- Oh really? When? Oops --
I think Mr. Kennedy is absolutely swell
What a lucky all - American girl I am!

I consider myself very fortunate to be a citizen
of the United States of America
and furthermore, I support the Fifth Amendment,
whatever it is . . .

All - American Tevas!
What a lucky all - American girl I am!

SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS ON MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Thursday, November 14th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogspot.com

Serendipity and/or Synchronicity

A COUNTRY ROAD, A HAPPENSTANCE
WHERE ALL'S ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

Synchronicity ~ Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)
Wallpaper at quotefancy

Synchronicity I

With one breath, with one flow
You will know
Synchronicity

A sleep trance, a dream dance,
A shared romance,
Synchronicity

A connecting principle,
Linked to the invisible
Almost imperceptible
Something inexpressible.
Science insusceptible
Logic so inflexible
Causally connectible
Yet nothing is invincible.

If we share this nightmare
Then we can dream
Spiritus mundi.

If you act, as you think,
The missing link,
Synchronicity.

We know you, they know me
Extrasensory
Synchronicity.

A star fall, a phone call,
It joins all,
Synchronicity.

It's so deep, it's so wide
Your inside
Synchronicity.

Effect without a cause
Sub-atomic laws, scientific pause
Synchronicity

Sung by The Police
Words & music by Sting

********************

Serendipity ~ Horace Walpole (1717 - 1797)
Poster at AZ Quotes

Lawrence Block: "Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for."

Erin McKean: "Serendipity is when you find things you weren't looking for because finding what you are looking for is so damned difficult."

********************
I recently had a lovely fall visit with my sister Diane during which we resumed our discussion of the "s" words for all the good coincidences: synchronicity -- when events occur simultaneously and "appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection"; and serendipity -- when events occur and develop "by chance in a happy or beneficial way." I still remember learning the meaning of serendipity, when it appeared as a vocabulary word on a 10th grade typing test! I was the slowest typist in the class, but at least I learned the vocabulary!

Remember that romantic line sung by Rita Coolidge (music by John Barry; lyrics by Tim Rice): Funny how it always goes with love, when you don´t look, you find? Well, that's kind of how it is with serendipity, except that instead of not looking, you are searching for one thing but end up finding another that is even more valuable or agreeable than the original item you were seeking.

And then there's synchronicity. After my sister departed, I sent her a note to let her know how much I was missing her, and to wish her well on the remainder of her travels. She texted back:

"Sweet you. I got your message when we stopped on our way home. We were at a ❤️Love's Travel Stop❤️ at the time. Awwww, right? Earlier we had stopped at Walmart and our cashier's name was "Kitty." What did you call that? Something about the universe synching? Today it did! 😊"

Di calls this my "Doll House Back Porch”

Also 2018 & 2016

SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS ON MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Monday, October 28th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogspot.com