Music is where you find it. Often in a park, lakeside or side street, and/or its pavilion. Impromtu too. Often, again, in a place you would not normally think to look. So no need to buy tickets, swiftly, to something like Taylor. (Though she, too, is popping up everywhere, even at Target Center/US Bank Stadium in the Twin Cities, but sometimes a no-show in the end, and is obviously a very big sports fan, with her look-alikes also locally lauded. More on that in a future post.)

I saw, way back during the pandemic, a man in the downtown River Falls park, as the concert bar biz was on hiatus, down the way a bit from the mainly main drag, just shredding the old Jimi Hendrix (typed right this time unlike my colleague who also used the Skynyrd name with its convention spelling) classic jam on the Star Spangled Banner, with just a little of his own mix. This park was between main segments of buildings, with lots of benches for fans built in, near a Cripple Creek? Like so many times, over time, I expressed my appreciation. And like numerous of them, he thought it not to be anything special, just him doing his thing.
Now, a couple of years later … less speed. A guy seated at the side of the front of the Hudson dike road, as it traipsed to the back, was kicking a similar song — on a (this time unplugged) cello! Was it a Jimi redo, sitting by the rocks or dock of the bay? I just had to ask him. No intention prescribed by him, he said, but as is so often the case, the parallels were there, in the (more lightly humming though still complex) solos. His tip jar/hat/suitcase was active. Spread out on the squares of cement.
But again, not all of this musical beauty is parkside. You can, more and more, see it playing out on Second Street with its many musicians positioned in club-area doorways, even in the coldest of weather, (but not below zero, merely freezing we can do), to make a buck as best you can. With gloved hand(s) via the late Michael J. or locally, Kyle K. At Mr. Zs, Hudson form. Have not seen any bongos though.
Then come a cool September night. The guy was laid out in the midst of the downtown, at the far edge of the sidewalk, plugging and plucking away. Gear in cans, that includes bunches of soda before him. What song choices? I said that I, at times, sing Iron Maiden as a cameo with a band. He added that he too, but via his buddy as a trooper who was at a different given gig at the time, does such songs in some way, somehow, on acoustic guitar, minus of course the speedy virtuoso solos. Can the other dude do Dickinson?
But the real star of the show was his laid back dog, laid out next to a small speaker, and attracting attention from all-comers-by. I think his name was some form of Buck, not eye or shot, or Barfie, but it doesn’t matter. Hair of the dog? However not short-shorn, as the owner is a somewhat rocker.
But, we in recent times have seen the bad side of street living, sleeping out on these same downtown stoops because of nowhere else to go, several times over. Sometimes these are the same players, of music, after the show stops. (More on this later).
But back to the positive, via my new bud at a downtown retail store, and also like his wife a piano plinker, though cool, even at church, (don’t know if it was Gospel). At times he has trekked to the other end of St. Croix County for a quite big gig, bolting over there right after his shift would end on a Saturday night, and hit this show that while at an area club was impromptu all-comers-friendly. Could I pipe in on vocals? Common ground? We talked about this band and that, as my fave sound and what-I-know-the-words-to is a harder sound, but we broke bread, so to speak, on Ted Nugent. Motor City not a strangehold on mid-county. Not so pop-ish after all.

Twenty-one of you readers, the number of years you often need to get into a show, chimed in the other day, wanting to know things like how they could get more information, if I had other websites, and even if they could serve an apprenticeship or share links.

You have been writing and now I have answered.
I will soon be offering a secondary website for exclusives, more detailed and comprehensive information on concerts, and “the rest of the story,” as well as supplying a link to receive a handbook for writing your own song lyrics.
I will also go so far as to give my email for feedback: joewint52@gmail.com.
Here’s another snippet of what you can expect soon.
In lyrics, there is always the play on words, and cautiously forming new ones, ala Dani Filth. And in enters, sorry … religion. Write say, Hymncognito. Or Himcognito. Notice the distinction?
And the dichotomy? After all, incognito means not to be seen as a person, but the prefix “him” produces irony as it indeed establishes oneself as a person. And the prefix “hymn” implies a title given.
Some ideas are OK, but really pretty easy. Maybe just in essence, lyrical filler. Until they are extended. But then they can become virtuosic. I will, later on, show you the difference. I’ll start with generalized warfare lyrics … and there are many examples to pick out, but here’s one. “In the fields the bodies burning, as the war machine keeps turning.” Why not sing, on alternating choruses, to get in a series of stronger words that say basically the same thing, “singe with both barrels, with aim to maim and harrow,” and then change it to, “churn with all barrels, take aim to rip up the marrow. As we plunder, lives go asunder. Your’s too, bloody now sliced flesh extracted from bone.”
I borrowed that intro line from War Pigs, to give my example, and that’s the title of the Black Sabbath anti-war anthem, (hey they only had two words to choose from in naming it), and it starts out in that rather simple vein but then goes much further.
And then there is what I term generic insight. As an example, about the fiery crash of a slow-moving hydrogen blimp with untested design, citing what led to it, “and the engines did run, to the moon and the stars, what have we done?” Especially at the the phrase’s start and finish, it just fills wording gaps.
How about expounding further: “Plod southward newly leaking pod, put your best foot forward, but after the craft rises to full arch, it’ll arc and burn. Keep everyone on their toes, from an even-keel-heal?” Note the five-fold podiatry wording. (I must say that with both examples, there is the constraint of referencing well-known but cliche phrases. But these do produce a grounding effect for the lyric lines.)
Songwriters also play with plurals, or not.
Enter classic Iron Maiden: “Spy you with his eye.” Or is it eyes. As in that case, they are farther open, with more than one. And could be sung, to see more than just a single thing: “The eyes, they peered separately, perplexed with a pair of scenarios.” Notice that I did not say “and they were perplexed,” as those would be unneeded words.
Then there is more “secondary rhyming,” as also shown in the Iron Maiden line, “a terrible curse, a thirst had begun.” Not just at end of each line, but two such tricks in three words.
You don’t say just horse and horsemen, as in those often referenced Biblical four, but maybe steed and stallion, or to throw in terms I have written — I will give you this bit of a teaser, that being ponymen or even better Shetland-small-squires, as a difference.
Then to again invoke the spiritual, there is brilliance but also what is sometimes just simplistic prayer stances — and I’ll show you the difference in the upcoming handbook.
For instance the line, “get on my knees and pray,” from The Who and others. (They do save it a bit by adding, they hope, “We won’t get fooled again.”) It can go a lot deeper then that. Rather from Judas Priest and one of their messiah songs, “Down on your knees, Repent if you please.” A bit more poetic, and biting and punchier. And I’ll go even deeper with you.
So much more coming. Thanks. Joe.

Unless you are capable of time travel, and you’d still need to punch an olden-day with parchment, fittingly, ticket to Europe, this might be your best way to experience something truly Picasso-esque!

As you will need to use that time, since the popular Hudson location of Cheers Pablo and its multi-faceted painting classes is closing after a several-year run, and a liquidation sale of all kinds of art supplies and merch is being offered through Sunday. But don’t fret if you are a Hudson person, and especially if you have enjoyed their classes over time, as a main reason for this piece is to remind people in this locality that there is a Woodbury location, which is not far, to continue the experience of doing your art in such a way and prime your creative juices, and if you care to trek the other direction, also hit the Eau Claire studio. (Or even make it a true trek and hit their locations in Coon Rapids or Burnsville). Make it a (very short) road trip with you and a bunch of your buds! (And maybe at the same time have a Bud, although OK, maybe not that brand). And yes, the locations have a distinct style/libations, but we’re sure almost all the same offerings.
But for now, all people can come in and get great buys of the liquidated stuff, from canvas and painting boards and even wooden bases and ceramics, to all the various painting supplies and such in numerous colors to decorate them with. Need easels too? Have your own party with them at you own place! Just snap them up before they are gone, as at liquidation prices, they will go fast … But right now the place is quite full of the supplies, and buyers with whom you can hobnob over art.
But for now at the current Hudson location, depending on where you set your easel, the quite large Cheers Pablo art studio can be sun-drenched — and L-shaped so your group can branch out and meet with others and create a more social setting, or opt to keep a distance and make the experience fully and personally your own. And pick up this vibe, now, in Woodbury and Eau Claire.
The Hudson location as well as the others — this one in a roomy studio at 2421 Hanley Road — is not smashed into a tight strip-mall-style for their artists cove, but still not far from the beaten path.
The owners some time ago opted to include ceramics as a physical base for your artwork, something you don’t find offered regularly at any other class in the area, and one that can let loose even more your physical and emotion spurred creativity. And to restate, if you are elsewhere in western Wisconsin, you might want to consider their Eau Claire studio and its such stone as a hub, which includes all the other artist’s amenities, but not that far away from say, Dunn, Eau Claire and Chippewa counties, and even Barron and St. Croix. Worth the trip. Pack up the van full of friends who are art fiends. So the local art fair is not your only option.

– But there was that guy painting a picture, literally, outside the Smilin’ Moose the other noon hour, taking advantage of its lodge bar theme. This easel held a big white sheet and on it was drawn with dark, sparsely spaced lines a portrait of landscape, like the ones you would see back in an olden day from again, Europe. Closer to curbside was another example of his work, this one showing warm orange and blue hues. What are the prices for his art? Maybe like a sign a couple of blocks down at a boutique that said 50 percent off as a close of summer — or is it early autumn? — sale, as the lettering was hard to read and both words have six letters. It wasn’t blurry enough that one letter blurred into another. –

What you can still get, Cheers Pablo style, going east and west.
Come on in and enjoy the one-of-a-kind Cheers Pablo experience in-studio(s) during their signature Paint and Sip classes — as these bring in fun for adults not just the kiddies, packing those of any age into that van — or one of the other signature events such as using wood signs, or again, ceramics painting.
They also host all kinds of private and public events outside of their studios at partner locations throughout Hudson and Hastings, New Richmond and Stillwater, Prescott and other surrounding areas, some still close to Woodbury. View their calendar to see what’s coming up and register online or by phone. The studio showed its viability by remaining open through virus limitations and thus provides an option that had been scarce, even all along offering adult-style fun and food fare, and thus building a base for later.
Or, simply call them when you are ready to explore ideas for creating, whether they be a different style of fun for a bachlorette party, an infrequent twist on gift parties for newlyweds, a way to involve intergenerational folks in a true family bonding endeavor, a trip with your kids of all ages, or simply to let loose as a lady’s night out, especially after a stressful work week. And kudos to your guy if he wants to go with you, and discover another side of himself that requires him putting feelings on canvas, ceramics and the hard-to-find real wood board canvases, all by your side. And staffers at Cheers Pablo could give guidance and expertise, to smoothly help patrons fulfill their full artistic selves. Also, the libations of all types contribute to the fun, get creative juices going and are very inexpensive.
To wit: Cheers Pablo says you can let loose your inner Picasso and the ideas that flow from that, and they make this more than a cliche, adding that if you can dream it you can paint it, and that the instructors not only engage their students and make strong recommendations, they make a point of it to understand and even encourage. Photos online show tables chock full of tools for decorative options. They just want to make you part of their growing family. This is so also when groups of 10 or more have the time of their lives, and they might include mostly kids, and as a parent knows, keeping the young ones entertained and on task that long requires a fascinating subject. They say: Paint. Share. Connect.
One of the most touching recent creations depicted the howling of a lone wolf, including trees on either side, a big bright moon in back and other strong tones on top that reveal streaks of color. There are many more such works of art that have been created.
Back to the eats and drinks: Coming soon to fuel all that creativity, in addition to what’s already offered, are gooey treats, perfect for various holidays. Buttercream cupcakes — as a part of their trademark name — and cake slices, and all occasion cakes.
Patrons can register online or by calling (715) 808-0336, in an added way to check on the liquidation status. To wit: Walk-ins are also welcome, and of course private parties. Hours are seven days a week, noon to 6 p.m. So get there by Sunday! (On that day they close at 4 p.m.) But yes, they are open all seven days at their place, in the same roomy parking lot as Aldi and other stores to maximize your shopping experience.
They host many private events at their studios, at venues around town, (or other towns too), or at a location of your choice. They even are a differing-than-the-norm presence at many local and area festivals and other such events.
Some examples of private events include:
– Birthday parties: At Cheers Pablo, the instructors use their experience to work with with artists of all ages and skill levels, so when it comes to birthday parties, they are masterful at making fun an understanding of art principles, styles and techniques.
– Corporate team building: Such outings bring being corporate to a new level of interest that doesn’t take a lot of time or money, running past the cubicles and into the studio. The instructors learn about your team and personalize a Cheers Pablo experience. Don’t limit your creative expression to a whiteboard or PowerPoint presentation.
– Design your own: The Cheers Pablo people can come to you, and give them a call to brainstorm. From distracting kids with a friendly paint event, to being the main event, they say they are up for anything.
The staff has several wine and beer options, consisting of non-alcoholic selections, that vary by location, such as soda, juice and water, available for purchase before and during your class, along with a variety of snacks and appetizers you can buy and enjoy while you paint. Store-bought cake can be brought for birthday parties.
The very affordable food menu, (these prices are from back in their Hudson heyday), includes single deep dish pizza, $2.95; large soft pretzel, $4; State Fair mini-corndogs, $4; mozzarella sticks, $6; chips, $2; and candy, $1.50. In addition, there can be an offering of Cheers Pablo’s Turkey Panini.
Instructors take clients through step by step, choosing various colors and personalizing them. One such client has painted six times, and brought different friends and family — to catchup while being creative. Such a bonding experience was fueled by friendly and energetic staff. One additional client who had also used other such services, for sake of comparison, called Cheers Pablo picture perfect.
As for Paint and Sip classes, they feature those with an about 1.5-2.5 hour group, and you can fill an entire class with friends.
No experience necessary, for this is FUN art! On their calendar each month, are posted classes with painting styles being taught, or you can browse a catalog and select one just for you and your group (view the entire gallery to select what you’d like to paint). Clients can create art at their leisure during open studio for far less than a Benjamin, to do their Picasso, as the sun-filled studio(s) are open to all who want to experience the joy of art.
Paint and Sip sessions often produce colorful images of various animals, frequently in their habitat. Consider becoming a teaching artist, and show your stuff!

This happening is the heart of the heartland, considered the heart of the county. Not cowardly, via Kenny, with their musical covers, but roaring lyrics like a lion?

The music includes, yes, Heartbreaker. As in bringing Benatar. Pat patently comes to the pavilion. And more tunes said to be heartfelt, and hearty.
But take heart, no more puns, just substance, as Hammond Heartland Days has heaps of hot licks, too, with its lyrics.
They’ve happened onto Hailey James on Friday night, Aug. 11, who has performed a lot around the region, and now has taken it to the central heart of St. Croix, via the hub of Nashville.
Alongside Hailey, on Saturday night, is the “sideshow” and more of Side Hustle.
And befitting the themes, a good old fashioned truck and tractor pull, between shows, thusly, on Saturday late afternoon and early evening. Its gotta be 5 O’Clock somewhere, and that is this spectacle and its many machines, A Vulgar Display of Power beyond John Deere with its rumbling. Like an ol’ threshing hoedown, with hundreds and more of horses in power, before the night’s speakered amps even take hold. The tractor classes sound impressive, with about a dozen-and-half different four and five digit numbers as style IDs, and they throw around terms like not only Farm, but Turbo, Improved and Pro. So this isn’t just your daddy’s old basic green gizmo or red ride. There is a toned down, garden tractor pull the day before.
I do have to ask about some of these local festivals and their music. Where do they get these guys (and gals)? In a very good way.

– So what else is there on the Eleventh? Back to the Willow River Inn in Burkhardt, is the unveiling in the area, for the most part, of new band Herdes End, (kinda spelled like Hermes, but we can assume they’re country not, say, classical). Preps up the sheep dog trials at Badlands recreation center over Labor Day weekend, as spelled out by a sign in the ditch — is that not country? — near to the saloon. Makes me harken back to days of yore when such doggy tricks were first getting going, and included state-of-the-art obstacle courses much like horses in steeplechase and beyond and the Hudson area was Ground Zero, led by one local lady who moonlighted at Dick’s bar and grill selling shots. Are you viewing Rhonda?

Also on the Eleventh, we revisit again another W word, the Wild Badger in New Richmond, where they will host Samantha Grimes, on the patio, and display her take, as I announce it, on the auburn hair of a younger and — dare I say it? — hotter Peg Bundy. But not from Chicago. Closer to Milwaukee. –

Back to Hammond, starting with Hailey James, though not of the James Gang, who is a talented, obviously, singer/songwriter/performer/recording artist from neighboring Cottage Grove, Minn. She has garnered recognition as a four-time AWARD WINNER from the Midwest Country Music Organization, receiving thus-called prestigious titles such as 2022 Female Vocalist and Songwriter of the Year, as well as the 2021 Midwest CMO New Artist and Song of the Year for her track “Wide Awake.”
Having started her musical journey by playing local shows near her hometown, Hailey’s entertaining, as is said, performances have allowed her to captivate audiences throughout the Twin Cities, western Wisconsin, and even in the renowned music hub of Nashville. At just 14, Hailey found her place on stage as a weekly featured artist at Country Nites Saloon in Hastings, also just over the border in Minnesota, where she honed her skills/passion for performing in front of a live audience.
As an active member of, trifecta, the Midwest Country Music Organization, Songtown, and the Minnesota Music Coalition, Hailey continues to expand her musical horizons. She draws inspiration from esteemed artists such as Carrie Underwood, who you have No Doubt heard of, and Kelsea Ballerini and Lauren Alaina, channeling their influence into her own authentic sound.
When we talk about Heartland Days and heart, this is what we’re talking about.
Hailey’s dedication to her craft is shown in collaboration with up-and-coming Nashville artists and accomplished, chart-topping hit songwriters, shaping her unique musical style. Her dream is to, through her original songs and not just covers, become an integral part of the singer/songwriter scene in Nashville. Her original compositions have gained significant traction and can be heard on radio stations across the Midwest, making her a rising star in the abundant country music scene.
My new two-track album focuses on the things learned over the course of growing up and also reflecting on her younger self. “They’re an inside look at who I was and who I’ve become. I hope that when you listen to these songs that you reflect on who you were and what you’ve become, and that these songs inspire you to keep growing into the person that you’ve always wanted to be,” she expounds.
After the truck and tractors stop pulling, more music hits a couple of hours later on Saturday night.
Come that stated Saturday, just what is that Side Hustle from The Cities, aside from the obvious? We’ll let them tell it …
“We are Side Hustle. A collective of musical talent with an unconventional sense of style and taste.” Broadly hard rockin’ via funk, too, and also rock.
“When you’re on your ninth (but keep it in single digits) Coors Banquet at Applebee’s and some millennial jerkoff (not that there’s anything wrong with that) says that Van Halen is ‘dad rock’ …” They are there to defend Roth and rock, as a rollin’ band, via tunes and tonic.
Aside from that, take this into account. A single on YouTube shows them ripping through an amped-up covering of Separate Ways by Journey and Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar. So even more guitar for you, as the outro pumping solo really rocks!
Music starts at 8 p.m. both nights.

Something new, or maybe not, referenced before in cursory form on posts on this channel, or just call it a blog, is how to write lyrics in a heavy metal style that simply transcend. Even spiritually. Epically.
Below is an example of my own composing of such, a bit Iron-Maidenesque. Not everyone rhymes words in a single verse like aristocracy, animosity and atrocity. Or understand the reams of background that got these brilliant lyricists where they are today.
I’d love to show you how to make this your own, and write such lyrics yourself. (With all sorts of variations that I’ll explain at length, and numerous in-depth and specific mental exercises to bring you there, coming from sources used creatively that are unlikely for such applications, until you stop to think about it.) All through a DIY handbook and its followups that I soon will make available on this website. I will likely update this, as there is so much to say, with monthly installments of new tips in the inside departments, such as Killer Metal Lyrics. (You may have seen some of them listed alongside the homepage, and right now they are (unintentional) duplications of other posts but over time will delve into all kinds of new topical stuff).
For this deep stuff, most people need it explained — so here we go. My metalhead friends say I’m taking it to another level. A lot of this style goes deep into theology.
Some easy interpretations
I chose some of the easier-to-understand messiah references down toward the end as examples, only because the thought can be condensed. As some of this stuff is so deep it is almost beyond human comprehension on just one time around. I hope to provide a framework for the numerous references that are even more complex and open to different interpretations. Am I sometimes barking up the wrong tree when I see all these different layers that only a few others have ascertained — but likely the writers themselves? A very learned and successful man I talked to — he got off on U2′s The Joshua Tree — said this about even the basic messiah-mongering stuff that is described down below: “This is way over my head.”

Filth meaning
(But first an aside: Bands like Cradle of Filth, although edgy, are worthy of example because they are in another universe with their songwriting, and many others have copied it in lighter tone. The band title? The frontman is named Dani Filth.
And besides, for a variety of other metaphor reasons, do you think that the Bible’s manger was just all clean straw? Artsy.
I maybe, or may anyway, break from the rest, in how I write lyrics about such things, because I’ll not go to that degree with my symbolism; is there really a need to mention it just because it’s probably true? Or is that why this is truly art.
I’ll just get more poetic instead. A new friend says: By their fruits you will know them. Their points of emphasis are shown by the songs they choose to cover. It might seem odd, but Cradle of Filth is one of many bands to cover Hallowed Be Thy Name, the Iron Maiden prayful classic of a man going to the gallows that got the whole music reaction thing started in the first place.)
Word choice
Like not many others, to re-emphasize, I will rhyme in a single verse words like aristocracy, animosity and atrocity. That will set people apart.
And at times it is not really profound — a very overused word — just artistic word play. They write scapegracing rather than scapegoating, I say analog to make a point versus analogy.
Grand ideas
Some writers just tweak the concept — their combining words to make one is said to be like Paul in the New Testament, and that’s all fine and good but do they bring forth original thought? I think a better route is forming grand ideas, as opposed to simply word play that may just involve a very high vocabulary and use of phrases. Without further ado, see my example below, and I’ll share scores of these types of lyrics over time.

(The backstory of the lyrics that follow, I wrote them in five minutes, is that what if, all those macho men who bed hundreds of women, leave a spiritual piece of themselves behind with each one, and could not just sever the ties clean and go blithely forward. Imagine the cost).

Thoughts and prayers for me
and my betrothed, more than one?
And for most all of us, it will be
as we reach the deepest bowels of our souls
and into them dwell

What if you give away,
so many pieces of yourself
that there are no pieces left
many pieces, big and small,
but in the end, they all … they all

Those who you have actually known
The connection stronger will be shown
and what if that perfect one
was made more perfect, how?
that is the way it is done

Woe to you
who’ve bedded a hundred women
on all of you the wrath
of isolation and eventually ..
scorn will be given

Not a thousand needed
but merely a hundred
it will do, as well, to
a tinged soul plunder

Such seeds are sown in a holy place
But in that space, fell from grace

A thousand warriors I have known
not Perfect, wounded veterans all
and it’s not just in battle that they fall
for the very soul of your Queen awaits
and its absolute longing pervades and spreads
since what is fruitful will multiply

For the need to be complete
in a truly spiritual form
will never go away
once you’ve lorned
regardless of your loins

Though some baggage with women will remain
it’s not too late to change your wonton, wanting ways
But to backtrack, religion intentional?
Is all the theological imagery in metal especially, although overt, actually done on purpose? “The smoke of her burning,” again Dani Filth-written, a song with dozens of very-specific analyzed references — starting with the 70 A.D. Jerusalem siege — to all sorts of views of Revelation, Matthew, Daniel and such, answers the question flat-out, or is that just how I see it? One online explanation to the song goes on close to an hour. Too long for here.
These writers often just play off each others songs, in what early-on was like a closed club, with just a few bands that often mixed and matched members, so there is a body of work to reference and patterns to be seen, using song references few people understand, but love to find out about. This depth is like comparing Michael Jordan to a high school player.

Only Jesus can do
Also, in both metal and I’m sure many forms of literature, there is a metaphor where Jesus is the one who can do what no other can. And because he was part human, he’s also said to be the world’s best lover, and has even brought speculation about being its most well-endowed.
(Will I go into that territory?)
But how about this, by a group with a religion-themed name, Deep Purple, so that gives you a hint: “Sweet Lucy was a dancer, but none of us would chance her, because she was a samurai. She made electric shadows beyond our fingertips, but none of us could reach that high.” There can be many interpretations of “reach that high,” such as the height of a stage, or a lunge heavenward, or a superior spiritual state. But get this last line, a one-word changeup: “ONE of us could reach that high.” Guess who that could be?
Are these things important, or just mental gymnastics? But if they make people more comfortable with God and yes, bring about their understanding of theology and faith …
For grace of God go I
But another topic. There is a frequent metal metaphor, misunderstood, that can be summed up as “but for the Grace of God go I.” So how about this line, in a song about a hit man with a conscience. “Shot in the dark, one step away you. Shot in the dark, nothing you can do.” Meaning? If not for fate and God’s providence, you or I could be that person having to shoot, and then live with the consequences of our actions.
These lyrics writers often play with numbers, mostly three and seven. There’s even a style where one person in the Holy Trinity is being addressed in some songs, more than the other two, since they are in the best position to address the human need being presented.
Two Minutes to it
Some would say all this is a reach. But Iron Maiden has been asked to explain this satirical ending lyric in an antiwar anthem, about the atomic doomsday clock: “The killer’s breed are the demon seed, the clamor the fortune the pain. Go to war again, blood is freedom’s stain, don’t you pray for my soul anymore. Two minutes to midnight, the hands that threaten doom. Two minutes to midnight, to kill the unborn in the womb.” First, there is the Bible verse that says God will visit the father’s sins on the sons. But this is what they said about that last line: In what’s apparently a rather obscure reference, the Bible makes the comparison between the destruction in the final stages of war, and the pain a woman goes through in childbirth.
Dio and whose words
And this from Ronnie James Dio: Once the words of a song leave my lips, I no longer own them. They become yours to interpret however you see fit. So over and over, they give the listener free will to make such choices in meaning. And if there is one takeaway I have about metal lyrics, hundreds of times over as those in the last paragraphs, if you get stumped, think Biblical. Thus, the lyrics have almost exclusively been said, if such singers are pressed in an interview, to be of a “Christ figure.”
I think my handbook would be a perfect way to introde this school of thought, as its just this kind of empathy and intuition and similar subject matter that’s driven so many heavy metal songwriters since their beginnings, (once you really get behind the thick symbolism). They have been just as tormented as I with things like crazy strong emotional connections, shown in the “Easter Eggs” in dozens of songs.
(In the following “theory,” which could also be spun off of into song lyrics, I present what I now see — based in part on a song I just heard — as parallels to the warlike effectiveness shown during the sieges of Jerusalem as described in the Bible, which some of those people brought on themselves by being ungodlike. Do you think the analysis has merit? Or is it overstated? Would you offer another layer or line of reasoning?)
Jesus as uncaring?
As I have gone through excessive ruminations about theology, and the role of God in Three Persons in it, I began thinking about the lack of a Messiah at times, apparently, to protect the very weak, even though that is what He was all about.
Christ on the Cross died the most horrific death a person, even a (half) deity, could imagine. That is a matter of record, to a degree I’ve checked out from theological concern, that only gets worse as you explore further. But what of the hundreds of rotting corpses that the Romans left hanging from crosses as people ventured into Jerusalem, as a method to control the populace through fear the same thing could happen to them.
So why did Jesus not put His money where His mouth is, call all those legions of angels to come and as part of the picture free the Israelites from the tyranny of the Romans? Did Jesus not care so much about all those who befell the same fate as He, although maybe not as torturous? Or was He simply working within the constraints of the culture in which he lived.
But there’s got to be more to this, and I have prayed for answers — something I always default to — that are not angry and aggressive. And now maybe these answers are now here.
If all those angels (check out the metal band Armored Saint) did take down the Romans, there would have been the horrible deaths faced by tens of thousands of their soldiers, and maybe a few innocent angels in the process. Not as bad as being crucified, but the sheer difference in numbers affected has to speak to you. And once a dictator is overthrown in this manner in a given province, other peoples are emboldened to also act, with a domino effect.
And further, and more importantly, such a coup by Jesus would have put the entire ancient world and its long-established-and-still-evolving systems into turmoil. Consider the positioning of these countries in the overall region. Caravans of food and other marketable and very valuable goods across Asia and much of Europe and even Africa, which dealt with more then just newfangled spices of ther Orient, though that’s what you hear about most, would have been disrupted, and with that the meager food sources of the general populace would go asunder. And thus, the barter system so many replied on for an again, meager, sort of income, would be compromised. Or that’s my take on it, Coming From A Land Of Plenty.
Invoke Alexander
So what’s the end run here? I check out not only the Bible but also my Biblical metal music. The logical source of such commentary? An Iron Maiden song I’d long been wanting to check out, Alexander The Great, would be a source of insight.
The rub: Alexander started as a regional leader wanting to overthrow (tyrannical) governments, but he was so skilled he eventually conquered almost all of the known world. And Maiden pointed out what you might not normally hear, all this spread of culture and ideas along a fast track allowed the later establishment of an (enhanced) version of Christianity throughout the land. Certainly, this new religion would not have spread as broadly and as fast.
The politics of Jesus
So when considering that many Jewish leaders viewed Christ as a political failure, I need to revisit the words of rock groups like (very aptly named) Nazareth and Oasis on the politics of being the Christ, and all-in-all they are very much apologists, and I’m thinking more and more that’s OK. My friend who is a (lowkey) metalhead, concurred with my interpretation. Here are the two intros:
– “Heartbreaker, soul shaker, I’ve been told about you … what they are saying must be true … times come to pay your dues. Now you’re messing with …” That’s Nazareth, but later Oasis really got into it:
– “Today is gonna be the day when they throw it all back to you. Somehow you got to realize what you’ve got to do … Nobody feels the way I do about you now … Backbeat the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out. I know you’ve heard it all before, but we never really had a doubt … Today was gonna be the day, but they’ll never throw it back to you … Maybe you’re the one that saves me. So after all, you’re my wonderwall.”
The singer says it’s about a hidden inner and possibly divine voice that guides him. A truism in metal.
Only a messiah, lyrically.
So tell me if I’m wrong, but who else in human history could the following phrases have referred to except Jesus, (the Ozzy lyrics come from Iron Man and what could be seen as its sequel Bark At The Moon). However, the critics, unchurched, have called the main character a killer robot or a vengeful werewolf. The lyrics are not to be taken as literal, and artistic license is taken with numbers, and Jesus can be shown even in the Old Testament to be a vengeful messiah, to prove a point about what we as sinners could be seen as deserving. (I do have this concern, what would Jesus think about such a presentation, after what he is said to have done for humankind. But I do like the idea that the pharisees and other hypocrites are skewered). A sampling of these lyrics:
“He was turned to steel, in the great magnetic field, when he traveled time, for the future of mankind.”
“Vengeance from the grave, kills the people he once saved.”
“They killed and buried him alone in shame, and thought his timeless soul had gone … But he’s returned to prove them wrong, so wrong.”
“Years spent in torment, buried in a nameless grave, now he has risen … Iron Man lives again!”

They were the men that woulda, shoulda, coulda been king, in their own way, limited but still boundless.

When is a touchdown more than just another six-point into seven score?
When it propels a fullback named Franco into the annals of football history. He grabbed at knee-height a wayward fourth-down throw after a ricochet of far more than one yard-marker’s length, the longest we have seen, then snaked his way into the end zone to win an early Super Bowl for the Pittsburg Steelers. But although he beat the football odds hands down, he could not cheat death, as was seen earlier this year.
And the name Franco just keeps on popping up since then. (More of that below, in the next sentence and beyond).
It happened that the following day after his death, I saw a video of a singer, not sure if its rap or salsa, who is a third piece of the lookalike puzzle. And three more are listed below the pullout that follows.

– So now we’ll also list this. The Wild Badger in New Richmond is again adding to its already well-stocked lineup of deejays, with the mainstays being Kris Holiday and DJ Kurt. But now in one of his relatively new engagements at The Badger, DJ Winn is onboard upfront on Saturday. And after seven days and nights follow, its the band Theory, which despite the theme of this overall post does not necessarily invoke the rockers Theory Of A Dead Man.

Two blocks north, on Thursday at the Friday Memorial Library, its the first of the summer’s Let’s Get Trivical, with the questions asked being much more specific than usual and featuring a summer recreation vibe with a “beach” theme. On July 20 the topic will be “hydration.” And there regularly are many of the tools for yard games available for checkout. So go for the trivia and stay for the Jarts and more. –

 
It could be said that the man behind the “Immaculate Reception” is larger than life. The same has been said of a man who would, suddenly, foretell to the world and then go out there and sell the concept, to the benefit of many people, as he hawked and helped so many with his uncanny abilities as yes, a psychic. Though not models, they share a similar distinct look that demands attention, and begs for ongoing requests, formal and informal and journalistic, for re-visitation. Just like their defining and sometimes seeming supernatural ability. And they pass muster, even if they are based on mostly a single “pass.”
Franco H. was black and Joe M. dark-skinned Greek, with also the same hairstyle in an uncanny number of fronts, build and beard. Franco H lived for quite a few years longer, chalk it up to an athlete’s training regime. They have the same length of legacy, especially among those who loved them. Even if only a lowkey sports fan, you had to watch that infamous catch and even longer run every once in a while. Turn on again, and tune the replay back in.
(And Joe M has other lookalikes, from diverse walks of life. A guy in a Goodfellas-type hospital bed get-shot scenario. The man in a commercial wrapped in only a towel, running down the street to chase down a delivery truck, and I think it was of a fave pizza. I saw this on TV again yesterday, and was reminded of Joe M, as in his wide girth, making his presence even more felt. And even the expressive with hands — like Franco’s catch — lead singer in a band called Metaklapa, a choir of five Croatian men applying their traditional style of a-cappella folk music to heavy metal cover songs.)
As I prepared this post over time, I kept on stumbling across the name Franco in various artistic endeavors, from movies to music. Putting a perpetually poignant face on my post.
But back to that infamous TD, which took far less then a TO to play out, but still long for a pass play. Even after what already seemed a miracle, there was that nagging doubt of whether he would actually get to the goal-line. Or get tripped up at the one-yard-line as time expired. Similar questioning of the eventual outcome for Joe M although he never really had a fear — but became so immersed in other peoples’ lives that he expressed a yearning to simply go meet his maker — it was a matter of when not if. The definitively defining day in the sun, or son, for him that set him well upon his course, and riding on his horse, was more like 19 minutes of the total 20 he used, in their exactness of meaning, as he defined for me my life, and so uncannily and accurately what was to come. Another turn of 180. Both set and/or viewed at a sports bar, with some circumstances we can all relate to, but still in other ways completely their own thing.
Simply put, he read the handwriting on the wall and palm after being pulled away from a game of pool, of a situation that had not been seen before, in that initial conversation of less than a half-hour, then predicted with stunning ability what would happen in that realm, for me and many others, for many years afterward. Joe M was a longtime psychic who said he’d never seen anything like my circumstances. He got wrapped up in this revelation and it was his bittersweet joy and his demise. He did not see 50, dying of what was officially termed a heart attack, but brought about by terrible stress, essentially giving his live for his newfound cause.
I have been vague, but this is The Never-Ending Story with many dozens of chapters to cover, so for another post. Suffice it to say, he stumbled into the much-needed helping along of a very tight relationship that had been sabotaged, and the emotional pain trickled down into a broad network of like-minded people that was represented in what looks like an old-school computer flow chart, and worked to eventually right the ship through a very long and arduous process that sucked him in, via a scenario that could change the conversation involving some of the basic tenets of psychology.
I was one of those he helped “save.” We assume its been — and coming up again through death and eulogy — the same necessary though vicarious result for his lookalike. Although not someone I would spend my every minute with, let it now be known Joe M, you are my Blood Brother.

Joe W thus says a true goodbye to Joe M. Rest In Psychic-ness, as best you can.

Four different and diverse ways/deals/offers/specials. Some seasonal, as we have spring/summer. Some shandies, or quite shady as from Sam Adams.
The 4 North salon, as it says on its signs, will get you as tan-ready — multiple times already — as my new, fresh-off-college, friend/twice-a-week bartender at The Agave, only nights, and doing service as a day server once a week, giving her a window of time for tanning. To mash some of the 4 North messages together and paraphrase: “Let” us spring forth and get your hair set for summer with a new do, since you needed a break after we did you up for spring break. Lest you stay too light in skin tone. To avoid this, just leave it all on the floor, veer left and go in the door. But not for lettuce. That would be up on The Hill.
When Winter turns to summer and its shandies, seasonal varieties need to be discounted, as known by this average Joe, whose last name is Winter. Leading the way is the dark Winter-named variety by Sam Adams. (Do Gomez and Morticia know about this? Wednesday is not of age, until her Thursday birthday. If it makes her 21, that will be the ultimate rager.) So hey, when I found that for a short time, you and/or I can get it in the sign-on-it-says shopping cart up-front at The Spirit Seller, for only $5.99. Dangerous bit of knowledge.
The Kwik Trip last chance Friday delivery is/was at 50 cents, and in this new summer season you could get a gallon of ice cream for under five bucks — minus said fee. Right Said Fred on a good Friday. He adds on his social media site that what goes round (like his small tush) comes around, so there will soon be a revisiting of this special, as well as a new concert tour, (just embellishing very broadly). This ice cold treat was billed as a hot deal to melt for. So much so, for need of further explanation, that the minimum was listed at $5, followed by a plus sign, followed by an asterisk, followed by a period.
Also shown on a sign. “Waiting for a sign? This sign might be that sign.” Come on in and take advantage of what the specials on their sign say — they being Bennett’s. You don’t even have to sign up. This effort was earlier announced with chalk on the sidewalk; much like had been done years earlier when this building housed something far different, the Dibbo’s rock club.

Here are two WWI-tuned tearjerkers for you too, from YouTube, that aren’t simply anti-war rants, and come from metalheads when they tone down the guitar and ramp up the emotion along the lines of what soldiers are thinking while their collective lives are on the line. And do a tribute to those who faced the unfaceable.
“Paschendale” by Iron Maiden is lyrically superb, verse after verse. They get at the guts of horrible trench warfare and spill it out in front of you. And after the ’80s, their war themes became lyrics fodder for so many other bands.
Then of course there’s “1916,” and the brand new Sabaton version (and they have so many vital historical lessons like this one that focus on the little known) is impossible to view without being touched, but I like better the far-earlier one of the late Lemmy of Motorhead, who normally is a rather raspy screamer, engagingly a bit hoarse, but still has soul. This track is just beautiful, even the strains of Lemmy’s toned-down vocals.
At first I thought that this song, like some war epics, was too romanticed with the soft lilt in their otherwise strong voices, as war is just plain ugly. But it gets into the psychology of the soldier’s mind, and what they need and invariably don’t get, then tells the tale of the horrors of war in a way that’s not really graphic, but in its simplicity still has powerful lines. And Iron Maiden’s many anti-war anthems are more palatable because of their theatric and operatic, high-energy nature, making them seem almost like advocacy. But people still say such songs just make them inexplicably joyful.
These are, first and foremost, a call to not only pay tribute to the fallen warriors, and the loved ones left behind, but make sure their stories will forever be told. And coax others, listeners and artists, to do the same. Never forget.
Not since Metallica’s masterpiece video, One, has there been such an overwhelmingly strong case made for a cause and belief (euthanasia). One that will turn you into a blubbering mess of tears. And you might not last a minute.
I recognize that chiseled-chin, slightly turned-up look. I’ve seen it when saying goodbye to friends. Trying to be stoic only moments before completely falling apart. So here is an exercise: Look at 1916 all the way through, to see if you can identify the musical reactor in a transition period, and squirming and fidgeting with things like fingers touching face and even forehead — at the moments when the singer delivers an especially poignant line.
As I wrote earlier, every generation has its own strengths, and moreso challenges, some more trying then others. But here’s been nothing like this, and its ilk.
Adding to it are the motions of the singer with his arms, and the occasional fist, closed or extended, that seem to be just pleading for a better way, honoring the dead as demonstrated by leading a filmed march through a street of one of the England towns that literally lost all its men of service age in just a day or two.
Even bad-ass metal guys, like reactor David Heretic, can have an emotional meltdown.
How’d it play out?
At the second word of the second line into the song, Heretic is tearing up already.
A few minutes later, eyes at length not dry, he noted there’s 3:41 still left, even if mostly credits. But it is cool to give length credit to those other than creditors.
This reaction became a well-chosen rant, among the three types of analysis he cites during intros.
As a fitting counterpoint, the cello as soft lead is maxed out, again, in a still minimum way.
In the depths of the evening, I looked at more reactions to 1916. The reactor was so touched that she wasn’t just misty-eyed, she was sobbing. And even a GERMAN couple was left speechless, and in the final minutes of analysis had a meltdown. I’d never seen a European with eyes so bloodshot from tears. The same for a “Viking,” even though he comes from a culture that formerly practiced cruel war and raiding methods.
I’m sorry, said some of these reactors, especially the Germans, when their eyes grew moist. Sorry for what? Being human?
It’s powerful with a cathartic subpoint that gets you revved up, but at the same time it leave you disgusted and angry and even a bit sick to your gut, not the norm of such songs which usually are oddly inspirational.
A reactor’s takeaway on why to view: Do it for me. And do it for you.
Just looked at the “1916″ video and historical commentary again, multiple times. Interesting just how spot-on it is as far as historical fact. Also, although a tribute to fallen soldiers, it is tinged with sarcasm. And it turns out that part of the song is a criticism of enforced conscription — “we added two years to our ages.” When those 16-year-olds did that so they could sign-up, rules were bent and they were accepted. Regarding their race to take up arms, even though not yet men, their piss and vinegar just took them in, but not like a mother’s arms.
Until you look at history, you more fully understand the line, “we were food for the gun.” To start the battle, 10,000 untrained volunteer soldiers were marched for strategic reasons — I hate that — into a barrage of machine gun bullets. “Plunging on into certain death,” to again bring in Maiden lyrics and Up the Irons.
Noteworthy, too, is that in the cover art for Motorhead’s version, there are almost a dozen flags, the biggest a British, but also even Chinese and Russian. Also noteworthy is the absence of a U.S. flag, only one for Lemmy’s Motorhead.
Shown were a slowly marching Muslim, laid-flat black man with scarred and scared face looking skyward, helmeted Roman soldier/Centurian, four men on horses, young women bucking the trend with very short hair, and Orientals, but not a ninja. There also were shown twice, when it comes to those Japanese, and even a British fighter pilot who is a woman and looking dapper in her uniform to get a Madonna vibe as she emerges from a bombed out building. (Lemmy as such, has been accused of being a Nazi sympathizer, but in truth he just collects their attire and related items because he thinks that many military uniforms present a striking, how should I say this, professionalism. He is a complex man.) Air and ground elements brought together. And there’s a guitar guy decked out in, theme here, Revolutionary War garb.
At times a score of 11 is given by a reactor, maxing out beyond the top ten. When: Let Vin and Sori tell you: Only when the song is required listening for all human beings.
Over a million lives were lost, in total, in this battle and the 1916 video clip gives a breakdown of when and how fast. One startling figure was that more than 300,000 were killed in short order just to gain a few miles of turf. I think it was only the equivalent of five kilometers. One soldier died every 4.4 seconds.
I sent a message to a friend, about her father, and said while getting ahead of myself that he was killed in battle. But still, a set of war injuries sent him on a long and slow, downward spiral that led to death, even if not directly or immediately. Our takeaway: If he had fallen right away, she never would have been born.
What is a life worth? Apparently in this case, one-50,000th of a mile, Heretic said.
Or it might be asked, of all oppressors, what cost is a person’s soul worth?
No form of music has more power to transform than metal. Even if done in ballad form.