Music Tuesday: Shame Shame Shame by The Rolling Stones

I haven’t had a “Music Tuesday’ post in quite a while.  If you have followed my blog you might remember that one of my guilty pleasures is my love of the music by The Rolling Stones.  Of course The Rolling Stones are not going to get an imprimatur from any Catholic bishop, and perhaps one could make an argument that some of their themes contributed to the decadence of our contemporary culture.  Nonetheless as artists of rock and popular music, they are among the greatest.

On November 14^th, the Stones will be releasing a remastered and expanded version of their 1976 album, Black and Blue.  Remastering is an enhancement of the audio sound using more modern technology so that the track on the medium sounds closer to the studio recording.  You can read about remastering here.  But this new release is also an expanded version of the original album which will include six tracks that did not make the final album.  The Stones like to say they have a vault full of gems that never made the final cut, and so, as with other new remastered albums, they have provided outtakes from the original recording sessions as additional material.  These outtakes aren’t necessarily finished, and so sometimes they will go into the studio and “finish” the song or even add to it.  But the finished song still should retain the aesthetics of that original session.

The remastered release will have six outtakes as new songs and depending on which version of the album (two disk studio songs, four disk includes live show, and five disk includes a Blu-ray video of the show) will have a recording of a live show from the 1976 tour, “Live at Earl’s Court.”  Of the six new songs, the Stones have released a single, “Shame Shame Shame.”  This is the song I want to share in this Music Tuesday.  First the song, and then I’ll talk about it.

 

It’s too bad this song did not make the original album because this song is fantastic!  Black and Blue was not one of the Stones’ great albums.  It probably would come in low on my ranking of Stones’ albums.  This is just a great cover of a song and would have most certainly improved the album.  The original song was written Sylvia Robinson and originally released by Shirley & Company in 1974.  The lead singer of Shirley & Company was the Shirley Goodman of the 1950s group Shirley and Lee, and who had a big hit in 1956, “Let the Good Times Roll.” Her “Shame Shame Shame” also hit number one on the charts. 

Shirley Goodman’s work is mostly in the Rhythm and Blues and Soul vein, but “Shame Shame Shame” has more of a disco dance feel of the 1970s.  It also uses a Bo Diddley beat that has been widely used in R&B and rock and is perfect for dance music.  Shirley has a naturally high pitched voice and in her original she does it as a duet between her falsetto female voice complimented with the male tenor voice of Jason Alvarez.  The original version uses a saxophone for the solo interlude played by Seldon Powel.  Here is the original “Shame Shame Shame.”

 

It’s a dance song with the first person narrator expressing her need to go out dancing and it’s a shame if her interlocutor, who I take is a male friend, can’t dance or doesn’t want to go.

 

Shame shame shame on you

If you can't dance too

 

Can't stop me now hear what I say

My feet wanna move so get out my way

I'm gonna have my say

I'm going to every discotheque

I'm gonna dance dance dance dance ooh

Till the break of day I say

 

CHORUS

Shame shame shame hey shame on you

If you can't dance too

I say shame shame shame

Shame shame shame

Shame shame on you

If you can't dance too

 

Don't stop the motion

If you get the notion

You can't stop the groove

'Cos you just won't move

Got my sun-roof down

Got my diamonds in the back

So put on your shaky wig baby

If you don't I ain't comin' back

 

REPEAT CHORUS

 

If you don't want to go

Remember one monkey don't stop no show

My body needs action ain't gonna blow

Yes I'm going out I'm going to find a dancin' man

If you really think you're fast

Try to catch me if you can

I say shame shame shame yeah (aah) shame on you

If you can't dance too

 

It's a shame shame shame

Shame shame shame

Shame shame on you

If you can't dance too

If you can't dance

 

This is an incredibly catchy song.  There is something that coordinates so well between the predominant lyric “Shame shame shame/Shame on you” with the Bo Diddley beat.  If you don’t know what is referred to as a Bo Diddley beat, listen to Matt Dwyer who provides blues guitar lessons on YouTube.

 

The catchy lyric has the meter of four stressed accents followed by two unstressed: / / / / u u.  The four stress words (“Shame Shame Shame/Shame”) mirror the first part of the Bo Diddley beat and the two unstressed words (“on you”) mirror the last two beats.   Now that you have seen the Matt Dwyer explanation and my metrical insight, go back to the Shirely version and listen to it again.  I think I’m correct there.

Now go back to the Stones version.  They just don’t copy the music, they enhance it.  First off, the Stones version weaves multiple guitars that overlay over the Bo Diddley beat.  It’s a much more complex sound.  The original song is joyous but the interplay by the guitars in the Stones version make it so much more joyous.  It’s as if the guitars are in a state of ecstasy.

Another difference is that the Stones version eliminates the sax and uses an electric guitar for the solo.  It fits so much better with the interweaving guitars.  It’s as if one of the weaving guitars stepped up and provided the solo and then steps back into the interweaving web of sound. 

Another difference between the two versions is in the vocals.  On the original version, Shirley is mostly the lead matched with a duet of Jason Alvarez, but they do alternate stanzas.  Her high pitched voice is near falsetto and Alvarez is clearly tenor.  The image is clearly of two separate people interacting.  In the Stones version, Mick Jagger is singing in two voices, roughly a falsetto voice for the Shirley parts and in his natural tenor in the Alvarez parts.  While the voices are two separate vocal ranges, they still have the timber of the same natural voice, and it comes across much more naturally as one person.  Jagger has used the falsetto voice in quite a few songs, so this isn’t new for him.  On that very Black and Blue album, arguably the best song on the album is “Fool to Cry,” which alternates between falsetto and tenor.  The Shirley duet is not truly a duet.  The two voices aren’t replying to each other.  They are saying the same message.  The lyrics of the song don’t call for two separate statements.  Jagger’s one voice in two ranges makes it true to the lyrics.

Another difference is in the backup vocals.  When Shirley and Alvarez come together they come to a harmony where the two voices are blended into one.  In the Stones version, the backup vocals are descant (“a voice (cantus) above or removed from others”) from the lead to give it a sense of separation.  Just like there is a weave of guitars there is also a weave of voices.  As one listens deeper into the song there seems to be an ever so slight difference in timing (a 32^nd of a note perhaps?) between the lead singer and the backup vocals.  This gives the feel that the lead voice is running away, emphasizing the opening lines, “Can't stop me now hear what I say/My feet wanna move so get out my way.” 

The Rolling Stones released a clip of the song being overdubbed to the recording.  It features Mick, backup singer Chanel, and Ronnie Wood on electric guitar.

 

Mick is 82 years old, and he still delivers!  Amazing.

I love the Shirley & Company version of the song, but the Stones cover is an aesthetic masterpiece.  On the surface it appears they are just copying the original, but, when you look closer, they have put their stamp on the song and taken it to a higher level.  Too bad it didn’t make the Black and Blue album, but I can see how with the original being out just two years before it would not have given the original artist their due respect.

Finally I should mention that Shirley & Company put out a “Disco” version of the song that doubles the length to just over seven and half minutes.  The length is extended partly by repeating the verses but more importantly by giving Seldon Powell a second tenor sax solo.  That second solo is exquisite.  I can see that Powell was a jazz saxophonist.  I’m not going to embed that longer version, but you can easily find it on YouTube.

Sunday Meditation: The Shame of the Prodigal Son

In the Fourth Sunday of Lent in year C we get another parable, this time the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  Three years ago when we had this Gospel reading I posted I embedded a clip the movie Jesus of Nazareth with Jesus telling this parable, and I also embedded a clip from Dr. Brant Pitre whose exegesis of the parable focused on the older son.  It’s worth looking back if you have the time.  This year I’d like to focus on the younger son who in many ways stands for all we sinners as we make our way back to our Father in heaven.

 

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,

but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,

“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So to them Jesus addressed this parable:

“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,

‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’

So the father divided the property between them.

After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings

and set off to a distant country

where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

When he had freely spent everything,

a severe famine struck that country,

and he found himself in dire need.

So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens

who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.

And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,

but nobody gave him any.

Coming to his senses he thought,

‘How many of my father’s hired workers

have more than enough food to eat,

but here am I, dying from hunger.

I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,

“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

I no longer deserve to be called your son;

treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’

So he got up and went back to his father.

While he was still a long way off,

his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.

He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

His son said to him,

‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;

I no longer deserve to be called your son.’

But his father ordered his servants,

‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;

put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.

Then let us celebrate with a feast,

because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;

he was lost, and has been found.’

Then the celebration began.

Now the older son had been out in the field

and, on his way back, as he neared the house,

he heard the sound of music and dancing.

He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.

The servant said to him,

‘Your brother has returned

and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf

because he has him back safe and sound.’

He became angry,

and when he refused to enter the house,

his father came out and pleaded with him.

He said to his father in reply,

‘Look, all these years I served you

and not once did I disobey your orders;

yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.

But when your son returns

who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,

for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’

He said to him,

‘My son, you are here with me always;

everything I have is yours.

But now we must celebrate and rejoice,

because your brother was dead and has come to life again;

he was lost and has been found.'"

~Lk 15:1-3, 11-32

Fr. Geoffrey Plant has a great explanation of what a parable is, and what this parable means. 

I thought it insightful that this parable in Chapter 15 of Luke is the culmination of a series of parables, three in all, where something lost is found.  As to what a parable is, Fr. Geoffrey quotes a C.C. Dodd on the four aspects of a parable:

·         A metaphor or simile

·         Drawn from nature or common life

·         Arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness

·         Leaves the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought

I would add something else from my reading of Jesus’s parables over the years.  A parable is so simple a narrative construct that we can apply it to our lives rather than project a self-contained story.  The meaning is only fulfilled by projecting our lives into the story.

There is so much other good information in Fr. Geoffrey’s homily, such as who were the Pharisees, what should the name of the parable be, and the concept of shame and honor.  Also Fr. Geoffrey questions the sincerity of the returning son.  Do you think the son was sincere?  I think so, but I can see Fr. Geoffrey’s point.  What do you think?

For the pastoral homily I really liked Fr. Joseph Mary of the Capuchin Franciscans with his vlog, A Simple Word. 

 

 

Sunday Meditation: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son”

 

For the hymn I may shock people with this selection.  It’s from the Rolling Stones—yes, the famous rock group that has a number of songs idolizing intemperance.  But they also recorded a cover version of a Gospel/Blues song, “Prodigal Son,” written and performed by Reverend Robert Wilkins.    Here is the Stones’ version.

 

If you didn’t catch the lyrics, here they are:

 

Prodigal Son

(Wilkins)

 

Well a poor boy took his father's bread and started down the road

Started down the road

Took all he had and started down the road

Going out in this world, where God only knows

And that'll be the way to get along

 

Well poor boy spent all he had, famine come in the land

Famine come in the land

Spent all he had and famine come in the land

Said, "I believe I'll go and hire me to some man"

And that'll be the way I'll get along

 

Well, man said, "I'll give you a job for to feed my swine

For to feed my swine

I'll give you a job for to feed my swine"

Boy stood there and hung his head and cried

`Cause that is no way to get along

 

Said, "I believe I'll ride, believe I'll go back home

Believe I'll go back home

Believe I'll ride, believe I'll go back home

Or down the road as far as I can go"

And that'll be the way to get along

 

Well, father said, "See my son coming home to me

Coming home to me"

Father ran and fell down on his knees

Said, "Sing and praise, Lord have mercy on me"

Mercy

 

Oh poor boy stood there, hung his head and cried

Hung his head and cried

Poor boy stood and hung his head and cried

Said, "Father will you look on me as a child?"

Yeah

 

Well father said, "Eldest son, kill the fatted calf,

Call the family round

Kill that calf and call the family round

My son was lost but now he is found

'Cause that's the way for us to get along"

Hey 

 

It’s not exactly a well-known Stones song, but it’s a great rendition.  Actually it’s better than the original.  You can find the Wilkins’ version on the internet.  The Stones version is condensed into a sharper song structure.

Personal Note: I got Covid, Urgh

Today is Monday the 10th.  So last Wednesday night (the 5^th) it felt a little funny in my chest.  I thought I might be coming down with something.  I woke up Thursday nauseous with dry heaves.  I even teleworked in the morning and took the afternoon sick.  Eventually I was just out of it.  It became hell.  The fever wasn’t high (less than 101F) but I wonder if I was even reading it right.  I was in a delirious state.  Waking up at one point I thought it was the next day. I noticed on Friday morning from my daily pill box that I had already taken Friday's meds.

It felt like my body was encircled by some electric charge and was just trying to survive.  He was ready to have me go to Emergency Room. My screaming out scared Matthew, who had come in the bedroom to check on me. Probably should have sent me to the ER. If it were me watching someone else in that state I would have too. I don’t think my wife ever realized what state I was in.  I had crawled into bed in the middle of the day and time seemed to vanish. 

I felt better on Friday morning but someone suggested I check for Covid. I had my wife pick up a test kit and sure enough I tested positive. I called my doctor and we set up a telehealth visit as they call it. He asked about my temperature (which was oscillating between normal and 101F), looked over my recent blood test on file, asked when I felt it come on, and prescribed Paxlovid.  Doctor said I should quarantine through Tuesday.  I still had recurring chills but after the first dose of Paxlovid that night I started to feel better. There was no fever on Saturday, Sunday, nor today, but a general weakness. 

Today even the nasal congestion seems to have let up.  I feel pretty well.  I happen to speak to a nurse today—about something else actually—and she said that today the flu might be harsher than Covid.  Hmm, I would agree except for what I experienced on Thursday afternoon.  When I spoke to the doctor on Friday, he seemed surprised this was my first time getting Covid.  Is it that common that everyone gets it now?

###

The story has more to it than my experience.  My wife had been sick before me and was still coughing and occasionally feeling run down.  I told her she should check herself for Covid, so she got herself a test kit and also tested positive.  So this was beginning to make sense.  Her mother has been in a nursing home for over a month and a half.  More on that below.  But the floor of my mother-in-law’s room had a Covid outbreak last week, and still does.  My mother-in-law didn’t get Covid but my wife must have picked it up in one of her daily visits.  Nursing homes are just germ magnets, depositories, and dispensaries. 

My wife’s symptoms were nothing as severe as mine, though hers seem to be lasting longer, probably because she has not been prescribed Paxlovid.  This makes me wonder why my body reacted so to the Covid initially.  It reminds me of my first reaction to the Covid-19 vaccine which I detailed here several years ago.  That post was titled, “Knocked on My Butt By the Vaccine.”  Perhaps I’m more reactive to Covid than others.

###

My mother-in-law fell at the beginning of the December.  She fractured her skull, had a brain bleed, they resolved the bleed, but that developed into blood clots, blood clots got into her lungs which nearly killed her, but they resolved that.  You can see I've honed that story down to its bare elements from frequent retelling.  She was three weeks in the ICU.  The day before Christmas Eve she was discharged to a nursing home, and she's been there since.  As you can imagine, this was pretty challenging, especially for my wife, and it still is. 

As it happens, the nursing/rehab facility is very close to our house.  It's less than a mile.  We go back and forth regularly.  The first time she seemed out of it but in time her brain seemed to be getting sharper. Initially she responded very slow and deliberately but now seems to have total comprehension. It took her a while to get up out of bed.  There was nothing physically wrong with her body but perhaps atrophy from being in bed so long.  After a good month of rehab now she has been able to walk up and down the floor with a walker and a cane, go up and down stairs, and fully function as a solitary person.  Today we even got the great news she will be discharged from rehab facility at the end of next week.

###

So let’s end with a song that came to mind as I reflected on my Thursday afternoon delirium.  It’s a song that came off the Rolling Stones’ album that came out last year, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” of the album Hackney Diamonds.   Many of you know I’m a big Rolling Stones fan, and, while I would agree their later years have been of mixed quality, this album is a glorious return to what I think is just short of their all time great ones.  I highly recommend Hackney Diamonds and perhaps one day I’ll have a post on it.

For now I’m going to highlight “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” a gospel tune that is uncharacteristically Christian in outlook for the Stones.  Featured on the record are Lady Gaga (vocals), Stevie Wonder (piano and organ), and saxophonist James King.  Wow is not nearly expressive enough.  Here’s the song first, but then I’ll explain why this song came to mind after.

 

Here are most of the lyrics as well.

 

Sweet Sounds of Heaven

(Jagger/Richards)

 

I hear the sweet, sweet sounds of Heaven

Fallin' down, fallin' down to this Earth

I hear the sweet, sweetest sounds of Heaven

Driftin' down, driftin' down to this Earth

 

Bless the father, bless the son

Hear the sound of the drums

As it echoes through the valley

And it bursts, yeah

Let no woman or child

Go hungry tonight

Please protect us from the pain

And the hurt, yeah

 

I smell the sweet scents, sweet

Sweet scents of Heaven, Heaven

Tumblin' down, tumblin' down

Tumblin' down to the Earth (Oh)

I hear the sweet sounds, sweet sounds

The sweet sounds, ooh, the sweet sounds of children

And they're praisin', praisin'

The land of their birth (No)

 

No, I'm not, not goin' to Hell

In some dusty motel

And I'm not, not goin' down

In the dirt (Yes, yes, yes)

I'm gonna laugh, I'm gonna laugh, I'm gonna cry, I'm gonna cry

Eat the bread, drink the wine

'Cause I'm finally, finally quenchin'

My thirst, yeah

 

You can't have a light without a little shadow, yeah

Always need a target for your bow and arrow

I want to be drenched in the rain of your heavenly love

Oh, yeah, c'mon (Oh)

 

Let the music, let the music play loud, play loud

Let it burst, let it burst through the clouds, through the clouds

And we all feel the heat

Of the sun, yeah

Yeah, let us sing, let us shout, let us shout

Let us all stand up proud

Let the old still believe

That they're young, yeah

 

Sweet, sweet sound

 

Sounds so sweet, oh, so sweet

Sounds so sweet, so sweet

Heaven, Heaven

Down

Fallin' down, fallin' down

To this Earth

 

That’s pretty religious for Mick Jagger.  You know he supposedly had converted to Catholicism for his first wife, though he’s never spoken about any religious upbringing, so I doubt it was much.

So why am I reminded of this song?  Well, lying in bed in a delirious state felt so isolating, so other worldly that it felt the end was a possibility.  The verses, “No, I'm not, not goin' to Hell/In some dusty motel/And I'm not, not goin' down/In the dirt” resonate.  If you’ve ever been a way alone (business trips for me) in some crappy hotel, the isolation feels overwhelming with perhaps a sense that if I died here no one would really know.  It’s actually a horrible feeling that I’ve had more than once.  Perhaps in that delirious state, eyes half open in a darkened bedroom, alone and feeling almost out of body, might be as close to a premonition of death as one gets.  At least as I’ve gotten.

But then the sweet grace, the sweet sounds, the sweet sense of heaven came down and revived me.  Thank you Lord.

Edit: It's unclear whether Mick Jagger converted to Catholicism or even had a need to convert.  From what I found on the internet, Mick Jagger's father, Basil Fanshawe “Joe” Jagger, had a Catholic funeral.  There are places that claim Mick was raised Catholic.  Still I doubt religion was a big part of his upbringing.