This is a two part feature. Link to Part I here. ———- before long, i was subject to the same unspeakable, unbearable impulses, the same that drive many people –…
Variations on a Theme
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This is a two part feature. Link to Part II here. lately, it’s been getting late, but i’m not tired, and no thanks to sleepless nights spent burning with…
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Stardust Willie Nelson April 17, 1978 Columbia Records On the back cover of my father’s copy of Stardust, Willie Nelson smiles, soft-focus mountains rising in the distance. It is magic…
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MUSIC AS MEDICINE Cancer, all over Doctors prodded, tested Overwhelmed, smothered, lost And then the piano played Breathing deepened Tension released A soft smile * MUSIC SOFTENS US…
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FamilyMusic
Variations on a Theme: Precious Moments Found Through Singing
by Guest Contributor June 10, 2021Throughout most of my life I have sung, mostly sacred music in choruses, and some opera. Singing has offered the opportunity to convert emotion into harmony, a warm, joyous energy.…
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MusicQuarantine
Variations on a Theme: How a 50 Year Old Song by a Fake Band Broke My Brain
by Guest Contributor June 8, 2021The Partridge Family — a real (fake) musical act with a real (fake) tour bus — had an actual hit record in 1970 with I Think I Love You, and fifty one years later…
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MusicPoetry
Variations on a Theme: Lover Playing Guitar II / Dream Journal: a single note
by Guest Contributor May 13, 2021photo by the author, 2015 * two poems by Rosalie Hendon * LOVER PLAYING GUITAR II The other night you were playing guitar, bare-chested, looking like a rock god, your…
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IntrospectionMusic
Variations on a Theme: The Soundtrack of Social Distancing
by Guest Contributor May 11, 2021Everything within me died as my relationship ended. I was afraid I would not be able to leave him. I was afraid I had no value as a person, as…
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I was 17 when I first heard Liz Phair in the backseat of a boy’s car with my much cooler best friend. We were aimlessly driving around when the boy…
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It is the tenth anniversary of my husband Kevin’s death. Each year, I acknowledge the date by posting memories and updates along with a link to a favorite song. There…
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The author and her mother Outside my window in the August heat, the highway blurs by, liquid. As CDs rotate through the player, I’m suddenly alert at the first strains…
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FamilyIntrospectionMusic
Variations on a Theme: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
by Guest Contributor March 23, 2021July, 1967: I am twenty-four years old; my brother is twenty-six. My wife and I are spending a week in California, a break in the intensity of my last year…
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drawing by Debra Galant * two poems by Heather Newman * SING-ALONG I’m invited to drink and sing around the piano. I’m that standby you call when you need a…
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Creative Nonfiction / EssayCultureFeaturedMusic
Variations on a Theme: Danny vs. Frankenstein
by Guest Contributor March 16, 2021The author’s senior photo The first thing you need to know about Danny is that Danny wasn’t punk. I mean, Danny wanted to be punk. Danny wanted to be…