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Listening to this song today, you might say that most of Hank’s rowdy friends may have settle down a bit too much. Hank friends, in this song are George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. Of the four only Kris Kristofferson is still living. The other three may have settled down way too much. Just yesterday I was listening to music and a song by Johnny Cash came on the steaming service,  it was from a live performance at Asbury Park New Jersey. Johnny said a few words before he sung Sunday Morning Coming Down, Johnny said this next song was written by a good friend of his, Kris Kristofferson, who had a birthday the other day, Johnny then said, Kris was 81. Johnny Cash thought that was funny when he said Kris was 81. This might had seemed funny back it 1985 when Johnny said that, but I just looked up Kris Kristofferson on the internet and it said Kris Kristofferson is today, and you may had guessed this, Kris Kristofferson is now 81 years old.

I  was thinking back to my school days and come to think about it a lot of my friends that I when to school with have died. In my senior class there was about 450 students. I graduated high school in 1980, in two years that will be forty years ago! Back in 2000 we had our 20 year high school reunion. A few weeks before our reunion, we heard the news that Bruce Brown had died. Bruce wrote in our senior yearbook that it was his dream to become a doctor.  Bruce was one of the smartest people I’ve ever met and it turns out that Bruce did become a doctor it fact he was an obstetrician. Bruce also loved to fly. A little while before our reunion Bruce was flying his small plane when he experience engine failure, and crashed his plane killing Bruce, his wife and his young children. At his doctor’s office people  placed a long banner where a lot of the more than 3,000 babies that Dr. Bruce delivered into our world sighed their name and whatever else they would like to put on the banner. Since our 20th reunion many more of my classmates have died, I know of five that were at the reunion that had since died. Sad to say but I know there are more that I’m not aware of. A lot has changed since my 20th reunion, for instance there wasn’t face book way back in 2000. Today old people, like me, look on face book to find our old classmates, not because we liked these people in high school, we’re just wandering if they are still alive. —–Join me again tomorrow for another song and story. It may be a Christmas song or maybe not.

Today’s song the pistol is the Devils Right Hand would be a controversial song if it were out today. Imagine calling a gun the Devil’s right hand today, saying anything at all about gun control at any church of today. They would call you names like their favorite word, liberal then they would laugh at you. Today church people firmly believe in their 2nd commandment rights. Doesn’t everyone remember when Charlton Heston walked down the mountain at the end of that movie and gave the people the Ten Commandments. Then years later God made Charlton Heston the spokesman for the NRA. If you ask most church people, they will tell that Jesus joined the NRA, I can’t find that in my Bible so I guess next Sunday I will have to ask someone exactly where in the Bible this happened. Good ol’ Chuck Heston in a famous speech proclaimed they  will have to pry his gun from his cold dead hand, and the crowd went wild. I just feel sorry for that poor mortician you know he had to earn his pay on that job!

Back when I taught the singles class in Sunday School, there was an older man in his middle 60s in my class. Don had a lot of health problems, he only had one hand his other hand was a hook. One day my pastor called me and told me that Don had died. He said they found Don sitting in his living room chair holding his Bible in the one hand he had. I was wandering, Christian friend, how would you like for them to find your dead body holding a Bible or would you rather they find you holding your gun?  And I have another question I want you to think about. Suppose that the government put a ban on abortions but in order to get this ban their would also be a ban on assault rifles. I guess most would use the standard reply that the NRA has taught them. they would say assault rifles don’t kill people. It seems their pro-life beliefs only extend to unborn babies everyone else, well if they die then they die, the pro-lifers are not going to do anything to stop anyone but babies from being killed. Of coarse both in Las Vegas and the Texas church shootings there were pregnant women who both the women and their unborn babies were killed. I believe that life, all life should be protected any way we can. Before you answer maybe you should ask yourself would Jesus defend assault rifles? If you can find scripture that supports Jesus defending assault rifles I would like to read those scriptures, so just leave them in the comments where everyone can read them.

If you know today’s song you will quickly find that there is something wrong. Instead of the words,like a drifter I was born to walk alone, they say ,like a hobo I was born to walk alone. Why did they change the word hobo to drifter? Did the National Association of Hobos object to this song so they made them change it? Or did they change the word because they didn’t believe the kids of today would know what a hobo is, so they changed it to drifter? The answer to why they changed the words, and I find this a little funny, the song heard here was from an album Whitesnake recorded in 1982. It was in 1987 that Whitesnake re-recorded the song and made their popular video, which was when the song became popular. When they recorded the song in 1987, the lead singer, who also wrote the song decided to  change the word hobo to drifter because he was afraid that when some people heard the song they would misheard the word hobo for the word homo. He didn’t want any chance of that happening so he chanced the word to drifter. I’m not making this up!

Now I’m going to tell you about my favorite hobo movie. Not only is this my favorite hobo movie, it’s the only hobo movie I ever saw . I could be wrong but I  think their are more homo movies than hobo movies. But if you want to see a good hobo movie I would recommend The Emperor of the North. This is the movie trailer for this movie.

Isn’t it amazing how just by changing one word in a song could lead to so much discussion!

 

 

 

A Few years ago me and Granddaddy were sitting in his living room when Granddaddy just out of the blue said ” My daddy build that magazine rack” I said something back and then then Granddaddy said ” my daddy build that magazine rack out of orange crates”.  My granddaddy’s daddy was a country doctor in Keota, Oklahoma who made house calls in a horse and buggy. Dr. Bruce Inman would not gotten paid in cash, because no one had any money. People would pay my Great-Granddaddy with whatever they had that could be a chicken or a few eggs, maybe some vegetables out of their garden. That’s how people survived back in the Great Depression, Dr. Bruce ,that’s what everyone called him, made that magazine rack out of orange crates because he needed a magazine rack and the only he would get one is to build it himself out of anything he had. If I took the magazine rack to the Antiques Roadshow , they would tell that’s an example of the arts and crafts movement. It’s really an example of the if you want it, you have to make it movement. Todays song is one of the best examples of how it really was to live through the Great Depression.

The big problem with begging someone for a dime, during the Great Depression, is that whoever you asked for a dime would say “I was just abought to ask you for one.”  Today’s kids with their cell phones, video games, computers have no clue how it was living during the Great Depression, come to think of it I can’t imagine how it really was. I can tell one thing I’m sure of, that’s during the Great Depression there was not a bunch of preacher all over the country preaching that Jesus wants you to rich. How is it that today Jesus wants us to be rich but in the Great Depression he didn’t make everyone rich. Today the “People of Faith” do their best to take away health care from the poor. In the Great Depression everyone was “the poor” and they believed in taking care of each other. Has Jesus changed since the Great Depression like the “People of Faith” claim? I’m not a member of Trump’s “People of Faith” I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a born again Christian. I believe that we should learn from history not ignore it. If you will read yesterday’s song then you might see that I have a theme for this Christmas and the theme is to be thankful for what God has given to you and this Christmas give to others more than ever.

 

 

Today’s song is not a Christmas song but in the first few lines it tells what Christmas is really all about. Stevie sings about Christmas saying, even through somethings we would not get a thing, we were happy with the joy the day would bring. Imagine that little kids that wouldn’t get anything for Christmas.  Can you fit all of your Christmas gifts under your tree, or does the presents overflow into half the room?

Each year the local mall has what they call the Angel Tree. On this tall tree are tags provided by the Salvation Army of people in need, you are to take a tag and go buy what is on the tag then bring it back to the for the Salvation Army to give your gift to the needy people on that tag. A few weeks ago someone made a post on Face book that said,” I’m not going to get anything off the Angel Tree since those kids parents are walking around with I phone 10s!  Of coarse,the I phone 10 wasn’t even out yet when this person made their post which they were so proud of. Where do these people get this attitude about the poor. It’s sad to say but a lot of people get this attitude from church. If you go to what we call a megachurch or watch a TV preacher, there is a good chance that you are listening to what we now call a WEALTH & HEALTH preacher. Their entire doctrine is based on John 10-10 where Jesus says “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly  These preacher say that you can’t have an abundant life being poor so this means Jesus wants your to be rich.  People just love hearing how Jesus wants them to be rich, there are sport arenas that used to have the NBA playing in them but not are full, more than once a week. with  people who are being told Jesus wants you to be rich. This false doctrine that is being preached all over our country, but just because it’s popular, and millions of people believe this false doctrine, doesn’t mean that’s it’s right. If this doctrine is right what does it mean to poor people? If this is right it means Jesus must hate poor people — just like the Republicans! In order for this doctrine to be correct you have to ignore much of words of Jesus in the Bible, this bit of scripture is never read at any megachurch or on TV. Matthew 25;40 Jesus says Verily I say unto you, Insomuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. I think this destroys this person excuse for not going to the Angel Tree. If you are a Christian or call yourself a Christian, you are to give to others without excuse. I would think that it might be a good idea to go to the mall and take off a name or two or three,  from the Angel Tree because there are kids, close by in our city, just like little Stevie Wonder who this Christmas will not get a thing, but you can have something to do about it. And then maybe you could find the joy the day could bring.

Today’s another Christmas song, I’m not posting a Christmas every day because we all would get tried of Christmas songs. Todays song is  a Wonderful Christmastime  by Sir Paul McCartney, which will be one of many song of the day by the Beatles and other songs from all of the formal Beatles. In fact after Christmas I will devote a full week to the Beatles.

This is of mine favorite Christmas songs, even if Sir Paul repeats simply having a wonderful Christmas time 15 times, well at least there is not a danger that anyone will ever say “What’s the name of that Paul McCartney Christmas song?” I was a senior in high school when Sir Paul came out with this song but now it’s an old Christmas song.  OK I guess when you think about it 1979 was a long time ago.  I’m planning on having a wonderful Christmastime this year because unlike last year my whole family will be together. Just take  my word for it last year was a very bad Christmastime for my family, Christmastime without your whole family is not a wonderful time. This year God has once again was brought our family together so I trust that my family will have one of the most wonderful Christmastimes ever. I hope that you and your family will have a wonderful Christmastime.

Today’s song chorus says Just You and Me, simple and free. This Chicago song was wrote back in the 70s, the video may give you a clue that it was the 70s. This song was written long before the internet. Today we have the wonderful internet and the internet has changed the meaning of the words- simple and free. Love ,they used to say, is the most misused four letter word Today thanks to the internet that word would now be free.  Look at all of the free stuff you can get on the internet. A few weeks ago I was in need of a legal document. That wouldn’t be hard, just get one off the internet, I was able to find several sites that offered free legal documents. I clicked on one of sites and the home page displayed all of their free legal documents. So I made some chicks and came to a page that said create your document, I answered question after question after about 30 or 40 minutes then finally  create your document appeared on the screen. I Clicked on it and what appears well it wasn’t my document, it was a page telling I would have to pay $20 for my document. Now I wasn’t paying anything for the document, the$20 was for joining some kind of club or something I really couldn’t tell what the $20 was going for, All I was sure of, my free document was going to cost me $20. You may ask how are these crooks getting by with this? All of the free legal documents sites are ran by lawyers, oh, I guess that explains it. I think all this paying for free stuff on the internet was started by free credit. com they had a lot of commercials on television years ago where they claimed you could get a free credit report, but at the end of each commercial it would be said requires enrollment which was only $59. So the credit report was free all you had to do was pay them $59 to get your free credit report. Now there are commercials that say you can a truly free credit report but they don’t say how much you have to pay to get the truly free credit report. So the word free does not mean what it used to.

The word simple doesn’t mean what it used to before the internet. When I was setting up Jeff’ song of the day I found video after video telling everyone how simple it is to set up a blob. One video said that it was so simple and easy that it should only take 5 minutes to set a blog up. I been working with this blog for over a week and one thing that a blog is not, that’s simple. Who knew the internet could be so complicated? —- that would be me Simple Jeff!

I’m trying to understand the fascination people have with becoming an Uber driver. Do these people not  understand that they are cab drivers, not that there’s anything wrong with that. When I was in elementary school  I don’t remember anyone saying “when I grow up I want to drive a taxi”.  Back then I didn’t think that people wanting to be a taxi driver who ever be a thing. The way I understand it driving for Uber you use your own car and work anytime you feel like it. That sounds good it’s sorta like being your own boss, setting the hours or minutes you want to work, driving your own car. I could see how that would be someone’s dream job. But what happens when You pick up some drunk who throws up all over your back seat or maybe on the back of your neck, just saying, I still don’t see how this would be a dream job. Today’s song, Hey Mr. Taxi, is an Osmond song about a bad experience with a taxi driver.  In defense of the taxi driver, let’s say that your an Uber driver and your back seat is full of Osmonds, that may make you a little wacky.

You may ask me, Jeff if driving your own car with a bunch of drunk people in the back is not your dream job what is?  I’m glad you asked because a do have a dream job. A job that only a few have, but it’s the greatest job ever! I’m sure most of you also have this job as a goal in life. This job is, of coarse, getting in shopping carts at Walmart! Could you even imagine how fun it would be pushing all those carts together {I guess people that shop at Walmart don’t know that the shopping go together} then after you get then you can take your special rope, that’s right you get to use your special rope, then you drag a bunch of them back into the store impressing all of the babes along the way. But that’s not the best part of my dream job at Walmart. At Walmart there is a machine where you attach shopping carts to, a whole bunch of shopping carts, then you stand in the front with a remote and then you can drive that long row of shopping carts, it’s just like you become a train engineer ( that was my first dream job). I don’t want it to make it sound like I’m making fun of the hard-working people of Walmart, wait a minute, come to think of it back in 1988 I was one of the hard-working people at Walmart. I worked  at a Walmart distribution center, there wasn’t any shopping carts there just millions of shoes. What I’m about to tell you can only happen at Walmart. Back in 1988 I worked for a temporary agency at the Walmart distribution on Painter Road. I worked there a few weeks when the boss gave all us temps a job application. I took my application home and filled it out. The next day I went in for my interview , I sat down the interviewer took my application looked at it and said, and I’m not making this up, The interviewer said with a real puzzled look on his face, “You mean you  typed your application why did you do that you typed it why did you do that, you typed it?”  How exactly was I suppose to answer that? Yes I know it was just Walmart, then again it is Walmart I’m guessing that was the first application he saw that was typed and he just didn’t know how to take it. I guess  if I really wanted the job I should had used a crayon. But what if I choose the wrong color? It might be that I’m the first person ever who didn’t get the job because he typed his application!  Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and will have another story about another song.

There is always an attempt in the Sunday morning church service to have a coronation between the music service with that of the sermon. For instance, if is the sermon is on thanks then the music should be about thanks. Or if the sermon is about the Cross then the music should be about the cross.  This brings us to the song for today which is what is now an old song and one of Cher’s first hits. But if you listen to the song, it’s not a song of praise or thanks or a song anything about love. No it’s a song about hate, in particular it’s a song about racial hatred. Was there racial hatred in the Bible and did Jesus have anything to say about it? Now listen to todays’ song.

In the tenth chapter of Luke Jesus is having a conversation will a Jewish lawyer, imagine that a Jewish lawyer! Starting at the twenty fifth verse the Bible says:  25. And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tested him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26. He said unto him, ?What is written in the law? How readest thou ? 27. he, answering, said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and they neighbor as thyself. 28. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right; this do,and thou shalt live.  29. But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 30. And Jesus, answering, said,Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment, and  A certain man went down from Jerusalem to wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him. and passed by on the other side. 33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where  he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34.And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and  took care of him. 35. And on the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatever thou spendest more, when  I come again, I will repay thee. 36.Which , now, of these three, thinkest thou, as neighbor unto him  that fell among thieves? 37. And he said, He that showed mercy on him, Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. —   What do think that the priest would say if he was asked why he didn’t stop and help. He might had said that when he saw the man it reminded him of his favorite scripture; God helps those who help themselves. You do know that” God helps those who help themselves”is not in the Bible anywhere, you would think that as many pages that there are in the Bible that would be in there somewhere! Since this man didn’t look like he was doing anything to help himself, then he gave me no reason to help the priest would say. And then what about the Levite what would he say? He might would say when I saw the man lying there I thought by the way that man looked he was here in this country illegally, he looked like he’s from a country where everyone’s from that country are rapist! If he lied there and died then that would be one less illegal rapist in our country! Now it’s time to discuss the Good Samaritan, who were the Samaritans? The Samaritans were Jews who married Gentiles this made them and wait for it——–half breeds, thus today’s song. The Jews hated the Samaritans with all their hearts and with all their souls and that’s right they hated the Samaritans with all their minds. The Jews considered the Samaritans unclean and a good Jew would not even speak to a Samaritan. If you will notice when Jesus asked the Jewish lawyer which of the three were a neighbor to the man. He said it was the one who showed mercy on him, he didn’t say it was the Samaritan because a good Jew wouldn’t even say the word Samaritan. Who knew that the story of the Good Samaritan was so complicated?
HOW DOES THE GOOD SAMARITAN APPLY TO US TODAY?
Suppose for a moment that after he helped the man the good Samaritan felt that it was his life’s calling to give everyone healthcare, he could call it Samaritan-care. Who do you suppose would be the most against Samaritan-care or for that matter anything that a Samaritan would do? My guess would be the priest and the Levite, the leaders of the church. That’s what is happening today, the leaders of the church are standing up against Obama-care because of the same reason they would back in Jesus time, that is racial hatred. The Republicans are against Obama-care for one reason–Obama is black! They are against anything a black man does. Of coarse if you go to church everyone will tell you that because Obamas black has nothing to do with it, Jesus is against Obama-care!  They must know a passage of scripture where Jesus says to let those people on the side of the road die. And I’m sure they know a scripture where Jesus says not to give any of your money to someone just because they are in need. I would really like one of these church people tell me with chapter and verse exactly where Jesus joined the Republican Party.
SHOULD WE BE LIKE THE GOOD SAMARITIAN?
After the lawyer answered Jesus that the one who showed mercy was the neighbor , Jesus said Go, and do thou likewise. Jesus didn’t said, Go, if you feel like it, he didn’t say Go, if you have the time, he didn’t said, Go, if it will make you famous, Jesus said Go, and do thou likewise. This is what is know as a command of Jesus, A Christian does not have the option to leave someone on the side of the road. Maybe you have never looked on the story of the Good Samaritan like this, maybe you should. Tomorrow I will have another song that’s kind of a Christmas song.

Today’s the day that I promised to have the most annoying Christmas song ever.  Some may have thought that the most annoying Christmas song would be “Grandma Got run Over by a Reindeer” that’s just the second most annoying Christmas song. The Winner of the most annoying Christmas song is ” I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas”. I first heard this song a couple of years ago, then last year this song was on a commercial what they were selling I really don’t remember, but I can’t believe that someone thought this song could sell anything. This peaked at #24 on the Billboard magazine pop chart of December of 1953. Besides this song being annoying and this girl who thinks she’s so cute but she isn’t. There is something that is not, let’s say truthful, the little girl says that her mom told The hippopotamus would eat her but her teacher says that hippopotamus are vegetarians, but if you goggle hippopotamus killing people, you’ll read about how hippopotamus kill around 3,000 people a year. I could be wrong, but I think this is why Hippopotamus do not make very good pets. I’m sorry if I disappointed you if you was planning on giving on of your kids or grandkids a hippo for Christmas. So if you have never heard this song now you can hear the most annoying Christmas song of all time.

This is the video is from the Ed Sullivan show in October of 1953. I guess this song was popular for a while in the early 50’s but it didn’t stand the test of time like Rudolf and Frosty. The girl who sang this song is from Oklahoma City. When the song first came on the radio a Oklahoma DJ started a fundraiser to give this girl a real hippopotamus. The fundraiser worked so well that they raised enough money to buy a real hippopotamus. I guess in the early 50’s they would have bought it at Hippo-Mart. She donated the hippo to the Oklahoma City Zoo where the hippo lived for fifty years and as far as I can tell the hippo didn’t kill anyone at the zoo.