I Have Stories To Tell! Episode the 24th

Girl howdy and howdy to the boy who shakes his head in bewilderment at the type of outerwear his girl chose to drape herself in {YOU'RE WEARING THAT?!} and welcome to the skewered literary world of G.B. Miller, where being called wholesome is something that I often find to be very, very confusing.

This past work week has been a serious canine of the female persuasion, and as such, we've developed an abnormally low tolerance for TDS. Let me say one thing, and then will move on to something more meaty: People who suffer from TDS (and that includes the socialized media corporations), just give it up already. Hasn't the past with Bill Clinton taught you anything? If not, then be prepared to suffer devastating losses at the ballot box come 2020.

Now, the other day, with a few extra minutes to kill, I decided to watch a music video on YouTube, which is my current down time obsession for my phone when I'm at home (channel is a major inhaler of data usage). The song in question was Filter's Hey Man, Nice Shot. Being that this was YouTube, you can bet your personal paycheck that you can find almost anything video related.

This was no exception to the rule.

Searching my memory banks brought up the background story to the song, which was the on-air/live and in living color death of a politician falsely accused of a financial crime (the two people who peddled this lie later 'fessed up to it). And yes, you can find the entire uncensored video of this incident on YouTube.

I bring all of this up because I got to thinking about what I wanted to write about for today's post, and the first thing that popped into my head was rock songs that were based on real events. The song by Filter was one of them, although the connection wasn't made apparent until the band had to clarify that the song wasn't about the death of Kurt Cobaine.

So, in no order of particular importance beyond being my own personal preference, here is a very short list of songs that were based on real life tragedies.

1} The Dead Kennedy's cover of I Fought The Law. In a nutshell, they re-worked the lyrics and turned the song into diatribe about the Twinkie Defense used in the murder trial of Dan White, who shot and killed Harvey Milk and George Moscone.

2} The Boomtown Rats, I Don't Like Mondays. This song was based on a California schoolyard shooting in the late 70's. The shooter, who was a teenager, when asked why she shot up the school (killing two and injuring 8), said, "I don't like Mondays".

3} Seven Mary Three, The Water's Edge. This song was based on an event in Chicago, in which a woman was being verbally and physically assaulted by two men on a bridge. It was witnessed by dozens of onlookers who didn't get involved. The woman ultimately jumped from the bridge to escape her attackers and drowned.

I don't mean to gross or horrify anyone with this particular very short and very dark list of songs, but I do want to point out that all creative people can find inspiration in all sorts of news, whether it's very good or downright deplorable. And more often than not, it's the item based on deplorable events that will be remember years/decades after its been created.

{c} 2019 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved