22 May 2012

I know, I know. It’s Tuesday. Music Monday was postponed till today because I was out enjoying the long weekend. It was the first May 2-4 that wasn’t plagued with rain, ruining everyone’s grand outdoorsy plans. So alas, you’re getting your fix today.

Long weekends make your Sunday extend into Monday and skip all the yucky anxiety about the upcoming work week. I’ve always said that Tuesday was just a passive aggressive Monday, masquerading as a mid week day. But a Monday off turns Tuesday into the first day of your short week and all is forgotten. So in spite of the holiday weekend being over, I am still in the vacation mindset today. It’s still nice outside, and I don’t want to be cooped up with my laptop and work. I’m going to keep this short, cause I want to keep my Sunday state of mind.

Sundays are my favorite day of the week.  Saturday is the great first day of the weekend, sure. You get things done on a Saturday. But Sundays are for lingering in bed. Sundays are for making love and eggs benedict. They’re for reading books in parks and bike rides. And for me, of course, they’re about music. Easy music, playing softly while I cook a long dinner. The kind of songs that make me want to sit lazily with, maybe meet up with a good book until I fall into an afternoon nap.

This is one of my favorite Sunday songs. The Rascals (or Young Rascals, depending on when you heard of them) and soul music were a huge part of my growing up. The Rascals were part of a sector of soul/R&B called ‘Blue Eyed Soul‘, which was a term used to describe white groups that were performing music predominately made by young black men in the late sixties. Racial segregation had a huge influence on music in that time. When records were released in certain parts of the country, label execs made conscious decisions to not publish photos of the group depending on how well popular music was emerging in that state, and the identity of the Rascals were hidden for a long time. Personally, when it comes to race and music, I agree with founder of Motown records Berry Gordy, who said ‘I don’t see black or white, I only see green. If they were good and could make me money, I was in’

So here’s your instructions for this song: It’s still hot out, so grab yourself something cold. A drink, a beer, a popsicle, whatever. Put it on the floor and press play. Lean your back against the wall and sliiiiiiiide down to the floor, slow as you can. Maybe even the word shimmy would work here. Can you shimmy? Do that. Relax, drink your drink and let the sounds of a simpler time fill the room. Don’t worry about tomorrow, or work or when you need to change the oil in your car. They can wait, the world will not fall apart if you take the next 5 minutes just for you. Just listen. Breathe. And put a little Sunday in your Tuesday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkgozdtsh_g