Pamela Leavey

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Day: July 21, 2014

A Little Night Music: Compared to What

Every Sunday morning, I listen to Lisa Garvey’s show A-Train on UMass Boston’s PBR station WUMB. Every now and then Lisa will play Les McCann and Eddie Harris’ Compared to What. It’s one of my all time favorite jazz and protest songs. From Les McCann and Eddie Harris’ seminal 1969 live performance album Swiss Movement, recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival with trumpeter Benny Bailey:

Compared to What“, was a huge Billboard pop chart topper crossing into pop from the soul/jazz genre. The lyrics criticised both President Nixon and the Vietnam War. Written by Atlantic composer/artist Eugene McDaniels, the song first recorded by soul vocalist Roberta Flack, on her debut release, First Take (1969).

Lyrics: Compared to What

I love the lie and lie the love
 A-Hangin‘ on, with push and shove
Possession is the motivation
 that is hangin‘ up the God-damn nation
Looks like we always end up in a rut (everybody now!)
 Tryin‘ to make it real — compared to what? C’mon baby!

Slaughterhouse is killin‘ hogs
 Twisted children killin‘ frogs
 Poor dumb rednecks rollin‘ logs
 Tired old lady kissin‘ dogs
I hate the human, love that stinking mutt (I can’t use it!)
 Try to make it real — compared to what? C’mon baby now!

The President, he’s got his war
Folks don’t know just what it’s for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt, they call it treason
We’re chicken-feathers, all without one nut. God damn it!
 Tryin‘ to make it real — compared to what? (Sock it to me)

Church on Sunday, sleep and nod
 Tryin‘ to duck the wrath of God
 Preacher’s fillin‘ us with fright
 They all tryin‘ to teach us what they think is right
They really got to be some kind of nut (I can’t use it!)
 Tryin‘ to make it real — compared to what?

Where’s that bee and where’s that honey?
Where’s my God and where’s my money?
Unreal values, crass distortion
Unwed mothers need abortion
Kind of brings to mind ol’ young King Tut (He did it now)
Tried to make it real — compared to what?!

(Music break)

Tryin‘ to make it real — compared to what?

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Reflections: Refuge

No place is more sacred to me than the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge along the northern coast of Massachusetts. It is there in the diverse coastal estuary lands that are part of the Great Marsh, that I find inner peace, happiness and sometimes solace. The ever-changing landscape of the Refuge is woven into the tapestry of my life since childhood, when my entire family, including aunts, uncles and cousins would gather to camp at the southern tip of the Refuge known as Sandy Point.

Salt Pannes at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge ~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2014
Salt Pannes at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge ~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2014

Throughout the decades of my life, which include two decades of living in Los Angeles, I never ceased to long for Refuge that was part and parcel of the fabric of my existence. It is there I celebrate the abundance that exists in nature and in life. It is there I revel in the colorful palette of water, land and sky and witness the delicate balance of the cycle of life.

In times of trouble in my life, no place has ever filled me with so much comfort as my beloved Refuge, for it is there that I find the answers to the questions in my heart that fail to be answered in any way other than by immersing myself in nature. I may arrive at the refuge sometimes with a heavy heart, but I never leave the Refuge not filled with joy. It is my greatest source of inspiration and it fills my heart with the greatest sense of gratitude imaginable.

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