29th
& 30th September, 2008
New concerts announced!
Click HERE for details.
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Photo by Jay Hagan,
7/12/08 Burbank, CA
A Thought for Today
A little cynicism is fine as long as it
doesn't wear a heavy cloak.
.ASK
ROD
POLITICS & POETRY
Good Morning Rod...I usually enjoy reading your
daily flight plan, however, as much as I adore you somehow a political
opinion doesn't become you today (9/25/08). It isn't that one doesn't
have the right to state their views, cause Lord knows I do it with
passion, it just doesn't bring a warm feeling for me. As Dennis Miller
says, "I could be wrong. That's just my opinion". E. Hatcher
Dear E. Hatcher, You're absolutely right, you are entitled to your
opinion. Me too, but if you are a McKuen fan, where have you been all
these years? I've always considered myself a political activist first
and a writer/performer somewhere else down the line.
If I have an opinion I express it, particularly where injustice or my
country is concerned. Apparently you are unfamiliar with many of my
songs including Soldiers Who Want to Be Heroes, Ally, Ally Oxen Free,
The Things Men Do, The Intellectual Rag, Smell the Buttercup, The
Summer’s Long and The Wind of Change.
You say you usually enjoy my flight plans and go on with “a political
opinion doesn't become you today.” Guess you missed all those other
‘Today’s Flight Plan(s)’ over the past ten years that spoke of women’s
rights, those of our neglected men and women in combat and the plight of
returning veterans who receive sub-standard medical benefits.
My columns on abused children and the homeless must have somehow escaped
your ‘usual’ perusal. Should I consider myself lucky that you don’t drop
in often enough to see what I’m up to when I write about seniors and
gays and health care? And since you’ve obviously missed all my anti-Bush
rants there won’t be any more of those after January 20th; unless of
course we’re dumb enough to elect McBush and Tondelaya.
Still, by quoting one of my favorites, activist/comic Dennis Miller, you
give yourself away as far as where you stand politically. Guess its OK
to be funny and an activist as long as it agrees with your own political
point of view.
Hate to lose you as a fan, if you really are one but stay away from The
Flight Plan if you expect your poetry without politics. Poets have a
long tradition of political activism and I’m proud to be in the
continuum. And, if anyone thinks I could possibly remain silent on the
eve of the most important election in my lifetime they don’t know me or
my mission in life.
This website is called A Safe Place to Land, not because it is meant to
be a hiding place but one where anybody’s ideas, including yours, can be
safely expressed. Cheers, Rod
ON THE OTHER HAND
Rod, Thanks for assembling all the recent nonsense
and the political BS of the past 24 hrs. and layin' it out Like It Is!
Seems tho' the thought has crossed our minds; "age" is NOT the blaming
factor for 'McBush'. You are the prime example that age can work in
one's favor. McCain needs to go away to the farm or some far away place,
hey, maybe Alaska with Pretty Face. Sherilyn
Dear Sherilyn, Age isn’t the culprit, though it’s not reassuring to know
that a 72 year old who seems to be loosing it has Madame DuBarry waiting
in the wings once it’s all gone. Obama said it best concerning McBush,
“He just doesn’t get it.” Of course he might, if like the rest of us, he
ever had to pay the bills. Quite honestly we all spend too much time
worrying about his running mate when we ought to be concentrating more
on McBush and where he and his party have put us in the last eight
years. The Republican candidate says he’s “seasoned.” Fair enough, as
long as we’re sloganeering please give me reasoned over seasoned. A vote
for the good old boys is one for the bad new days. As ever, Rod.
AS BLACK AS MOST GOODBYES
Can you locate the poem/song with lyrics that
include “Because the night is black...as black as most goodbyes?” If so
please note availability and price and names of other tracks on the
album Thank you, Ray Williams
Dear Ray, the song you are seeking is And Tonight. I wrote the words &
the music is by the late Leo Ferre. It first appeared on my 1970 album
New Ballads. The other 14 songs on the album are Statement, As I Love My
Own, All I Need, Thank You for Christmas, I Looked at You at Long Time,
I'm Not Afraid, Resolution, Before I Loved No One, Rock Gently,
Philadelphia, Gone With the Cowboys, Tomorrow and Today, In Someone's
Shadow, Hit 'Em in the Head With Love and A While More With You.
New Ballads has not been transferred to compact disc yet but the LP is
still available from Stanyan House.
You can check with Ben but I believe the price is $5.95; as is the
songbook Through European Windows, it contains the complete words and
music to And Tonight. Meanwhile here is the verse and chorus containing
the lyric you mentioned. All my Best, Rod.
AND TONIGHT
Because the sky is black, as black as most goodbyes
I’ve come to see the light I might find in your eyes tonight.
Because the world is empty and because I’m empty too
I’ve come to be here for a while and look at you tonight.
Because my new life now is lived inside your smile
I’ve come to talk to you and stay a little while tonight.
I have no compass and no chart no way of knowing where to end or where
to start I must rely on you
If I can’t depend on my own heart.
And so I’ve come here once again to talk to you tonight,
And Tonight everything is all right.
And Tonight everything is all right.
Words & Music by Leo Ferre & Rod McKuen © Copyright 1968, 1970, 1975 by
Rod McKuen & Stanyan Music Group © Renewed
CIVIL LIBERTIES
Dear Rod: I am a newly appointed civil marriage
celebrant in a small town called Myrtleford, in Victoia Australia. While
looking at your website I saw the line “It doesn't matter who you love
or how you love, but that you love” and loved it so much. I would like
to use it in my signature line. (I'm a romantic who can hardly string a
sentence together but do recognize beauty when I see it) I have been
advised if I want to do this I must have your permission. Is this
possible? I won't use it again until I hear back from you. Many Thanks,
Jayne
Dear Jayne, By all means feel free to use the line from my poem "Creed"
any way you wish as long as you cite me as the source. Thanks for your
generous comments
All my best to you Jayne and good luck with the important work you are
doing. Warmly, Rod
RM 9/28/08 First Publication
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