Welcome to Week #37 of our Sunday Song Series. Prepare for a bit of intrigue not entirely of my own making.
This time, we’ll ALMOST be giving a listen to Don Henley’s composition… A Month of Sundays. While it’s a.k.a. CD bonus track #8 from his 1984 album, Building the Perfect Beast… apparently… in the vinyl LP format, there’d been insufficient room for inclusion of this lyrically noteworthy song.
It would appear that YouTube’s astronomically vast platform has insufficient room for inclusion of this song, too. They’ve successfully set up a barricade to our musical adventure with their terse advisory… “video blocked in country”.
Hence, that blog topper roadblock vid… for the moment… will be in lieu of our usual, featured, Sunday Song, recording artist.
One has to wonder how any of this can possibly be playing out… or more to the point… not playing out… especially when several other tracks from that exact same Beast album are readily available.
Further adding to feelings of incredulity is how that ACCESS DENIED status applies, too, to Henley’s live performance of A Month of Sundays at a decades ago, FarmAid benefit concert!
Perhaps, this inaccessibility issue does not exist in your neck of the worldly woods? If you feel so inclined, you could attempt your own YouTube search by utilizing the following copy and paste parameters…
don henley a month of sundays
As you may have guessed from my lengthy narrative, I don’t readily accept the prospect of 180 degree, musical detours OR winding up in the ditch… ergo… rather than simply moving on to some other recording artist’s Sunday Song. I’ve opted to do some fancy footwork.
That’s because… now more than ever… Mr. Henley’s lyrical message needs to be heard… or in lieu of that… at the very least… read.
His keen sensibilities… maybe even prescience… have allowed him to spot-on address the farmers’ plight… how they continue to be [1] screwed over by avaricious, usurious bankers, [2] unforgivably under-served by self-serving politicians and… as of late… [3] flat-out betrayed by and plunged into bankruptcy by a fraudulent, fake prez who’s been waging his ill-timed, ill-conceived, international trade war.
And all of that duly noted… let the fancy footwork now begin. Check out my patched together presentation of Don Henley’s A Month of Sundays… courtesy of [1] YouTuber Sean Cheek’s piano tutorial… no less… and [2] via a printout of Henley’s must read song lyrics.
Don Henley ~ A Month Of Sundays
A Sean Cheek Piano Tutorial
Songwriter: Don Henley
A Month of Sundays lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc
I used to work for Harvester
I used to use my hands
I used to make the tractors and the combines that plowed and harvested
This great land
Now I see my handiwork on the block everywhere I turn
And I see the clouds ‘cross the weathered faces and I watch the harvest burnI quit the plant in ’57
Had some time for farmin’ then
Banks back then was lendin’ money
The banker was the farmer’s friend
And I’ve seen dog days and dusty days;
Late spring snow and early fall sleet;
I’ve held the leather reins in my hands and felt the soft ground under my feet
Between the hot dry weather and the taxes, and the Cold War it’s been hard
To make ends meet
But I always kept the clothes on our backs;
I always put the shoes on our feetMy grandson, he comes home from college
He says, “We get the government we deserve.”
My son-in-law just shakes his head and says, “That little punk, he never
Had to serve.”
And I sit here in the shadow of the suburbs and look out across these
Empty fields
I sit here in earshot of the bypass and all night I listen to the rushin’
Of the wheelsThe big boys, they all got computers; got incorporated, too
Me, I just know how to raise things
That was all I ever knew
Now, it all comes down to numbers
Now I’m glad that I have quit
Folks these days just don’t do nothin’ simply for the love of itI went into town on the Fourth of July
Watched ’em parade past the Union Jack
Watched ’em break out the brass and beat on the drum
One step forward and two steps back
And I saw a sign on Easy Street, said, “Be Prepared to Stop.”
Pray for the independent, little man
I don’t see next year’s crop
And I sit here on the back porch in the twilight
And I hear the crickets hum
I sit and watch the lightning in the distance but the showers never come
I sit here and listen to the wind blow
I sit here and rub my hands
I sit here and listen to the clock strike, and I wonder when I’ll see my
Companion again
The fancy footwork is still afoot, folks… I really do feel bummed about not being able to actually provide Henley’s A Month of Sundays… ergo… I’m including the following clip where… although… strictly speaking… this is not a Sunday titled song… [1] there is similar, significant social commentary and [2] concerns for the well-being of the farmers of my homeland… indeed… our entire world… do get astutely addressed and echoed by another legendary singer/songwriter…
Tom Paxton ~ Early Snow
I now cordially invite you to click back here for our next Sunday Song… seven days from now…
CommonSenseTom 