Ah yes, this is Allen and I’m going to slide one by you once more, (Sorry Jerry Jeff, I had to borrow that line). The year was 1978. My brother had come down from Northern California for a visit. I tried out a new song on him and we recorded the following piece called Blue Eyed Bitches.
You may have heard this one some four decades ago or perhaps not. Anyway, here’s the original pre-production demo. Enjoy! And oh yes, my apologies in advance for any of my female readers with blue eyes.
For the complete lyrics, read Three A.M. – The Complete 1970s Lyrics. Three A.M. is the definitive lyric anthology for the 1970’s songs of Allen E. Rizzi. This collection contains 81 song lyrics written between 1974 and 1980, including many not previously released to the public. All song lyrics are accompanied with back scenes that comment on the songs’ origins, performance histories and other interesting facts.
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Indovina dove! Guess where!
Foto © Allen E. Rizzi
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As a songwriter with over four decades of experience, I would like to think that I know a thing or two about songs. Even as a youth of 14, I studied the “B-sides” of all the hit singles and got a pretty good handle on who was who.
Flash forward. In my kitchen here in Italy a couple of years ago, a friend casually mentions to me that Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” was written by Paul Anka. “No damn way!” I protest. “I’m a songwriter and I knew Paul Anka!” Well, apparently I don’t know what I think I know. Yes, he wrote the song.
But why is it that I can recall that a group named The Thirteenth Floor Elevators recorded “You’re Going To Miss Me” and that “How is Julie?” is my favorite Lettermen cut? Is time making me tone deaf or has the music shuffle mechanism in my head gotten stuck? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately but I still have no answers.
So, for the fun of it, let me pose this question to my readers: How many of you know who wrote “Cotton Candy Dreams”, “Sand Castles” and “Three A.M.?”
I did….
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Most of you know by now that I am a professional songwriter. I just released a book with my 1970s song lyrics, Three A.M. – The Complete 1970s Song Lyrics. It spills my soul a bit for those who might have heard some of my work. I am also a member of several internet groups of songwriters, where I have accepted my role as geezer par excellence. Yes, I’m the guy who used to actually mix records with an analog mixer (Oh my God!). Notice that I didn’t exclaim, “OMG.” Again, it’s the age thing.
In these various groups to which I belong I am always asked about what makes a good lyric. I carefully explain using my best high-stepping musical language. But when I am pressed for an example, I always go to Cole Porter’s In the Still of the Night. Why? I’m glad you asked….
In the Still of the Night was written in 1937. Yes, that is a long time ago. But consider the following lines:
In the still of the night
As I gaze from my window
At the moon in its flight
My thoughts all stray to you
In the still of the night
All the world is in slumber
All the times without number
Darling when I say to you
Do you love me, as I love you
Are you my life to be, my dream come true
Or will this dream of mine fade out of sight
Like the moon growing dim, on the rim of the hill
In the chill, still, of the night
Like the moon growing dim, on the rim of the hill
In the chill, still, of the night
In the chill, still, of the night …”
I’m sorry folks, it just doesn’t get any better. Cole Porter was a master of internal rhyming and could lay down a lyric like most of us lay down a newspaper. The guy was a genius.
Also consider the singers who successfully covered Porter’s song. To name only a very few, the list includes Della Reese, Perry Como, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, Dion and the Belmonts, Frank Sinatra, The Lettermen, Sammy Davis Jr., Neil Diamond, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Vinton and Carly Simon. That’s a pretty impressive list of covers from this songwriter’s perspective!
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Politics, family and friends – This seemingly innocuous combination has of late been the epicenter of social breakdown in our country.
When one’s brother turns on him because he doesn’t like Donald Trump, something has to be wrong. Did he bother to ask how his own brother was doing with stage 4 cancer? No! He instead chose to attach more importance to politics than his own dwindling family. This infantile behavior is now epidemic! The cruel fantasy has become reality.
A life-long friend of over 60 years now refuses to return phone calls. The reason? His politics don’t align! What a shame that six decades of friendship, cherished memories and shared compassion for the sport of surfing don’t collectively outweigh the politics of the moment.
Both of these cases illustrate not only the friction that exists in our society today but also the immaturity with which half or more of our population deals with their frustration at not getting their way. Much like a baby who tosses his rattle out of the crib because he can’t have more pudding, a good chunk of the people around us are just complete self-absorbed to the point of no return. Like the baby in his crib, they need a swift kick in the ass!
It is oddly comforting that those of us on the right in politics did not spend the Biden years tossing rattles and pouting. Rather, we worked hard to bring about political change through communication and activism. While we certainly did not like our prior president, we did not cut-off communication and love with our family and friends over politics.
Outside of family and friends, the baby rattle syndrome is just the same, especially in the world of entitled celebrities. In one great pout, many have announced that they are leaving the United States over Trumps re-election. Of course most of us don’t have private islands to run to in a temper tantrum. But private islands aside, what purpose does “leaving accomplish? Why not stay like we did during the disastrous Biden years and strive for change. But of course, just like friends and family it is much easier and requires no guts at all just to simply excommunicate from your life those you don’t agree with. How sad!
Nothing is forever. Certainly politics and politicians will come and go. But what about the people around you in the here and now? Do you really want to chuck them out of your life just because they don’t think exactly like you?
While this old dude certainly has his opinions, I have always allowed for others to have theirs as well. Many of my friends have views 180 degrees opposite of mine, yet we still cherish our relationship with mutual respect and the knowledge that politics of the moment pale in comparison to the friends and family that make life worth living. Something to think about the next time you are about to make your world much small and your life less richer…
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Whenever I’m out fishing I try to find a little humor in life, whether it’s on the water or on its shores. A couple of weeks ago, I fished the North Mills River with moderate success. When I left the stream to have a picnic lunch with my wife, I put my rod down on a wooden table and lo and behold, look what was staring back at me!
I thought the carving effort showed a fine hand. Perhaps Jessica will become an artist some day. Will she become an English teacher or writer? I tend to doubt it. I forwarded this photo to our state’s department of education…. no reply.
Whenever I’m out fishing I try to find a little humor in life. Thank you Jessica and thank you Norman wherever thou art.
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There is a saying here in the Val di Non: “attenti parenti serpenti” which means beware of your slithery relatives. It’s a cute saying that has some merit, however I have found this adage not to be true in my own case.
My relatives here in Italy are genuinely interested in me, my wife and our life in the USA. While I have seen situations both here and in the USA where relatives are in fact more like vultures than snakes, I must say my family are all gems for the most part.
This old proverb comes from the fact that families here in Italy often feel they have an absolute right to everything that belongs to their extended families. The mentality is “what is mine is mine and what is yours is also mine.” This is dominant thinking here. However, my personal experience has been the opposite. My 98 year old great-aunt wanted nothing of me aside from my love and respect. She got both in huge amounts. Sadly, she passed away a couple of years ago. This is how it ought to be; treating those around us with love and respect. Unfortunately this is seen as thinking from “una volta” (the past). Maybe the old days were in fact better. I’ll be wary of the snakes but always look better qualities from my family.
I have learned but one thing of family: Treat them well and they will do the same. Tell them you love them today; don’t wait for funerals. A little John Lennon goes a long way!
Photo: Zita on her 96th birthday.
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When I was a child of ten living in Southern California during the late 1950s, I was very typical for the times. Together with my friends, I would maraud our little middle class neighborhood looking for simple things to do, from catching butterflies to skateboarding. Most of our neighbors forgave our minor trespasses of property and calm because we were all living in the land of Ozzie and Harriet. We did no real damage as we were just kids being kids.
Sometime in 1959, a new neighbor moved in two doors up from our house. His name was Mr. Bruce and he was immediately completely intolerant of me and all children on our block. He would scrub and then hose off the sidewalk in front of his house daily and yell at us if we dared transverse the section of the public right of way in front of his property. Of course, we thought he was nuts. As we went over this piece of concrete daily with our skateboards, he would come roaring out of his front door to confront us. This cycle continued for years.
One day we heard that Mr. Bruce had died of a brain tumor. His untimely end aside, I swore that I would never let myself become him. Mr. Bruce was a loathsome and feared phrase in my vocabulary.
Years later I became a father and then a single parent but always with a deep tolerance for children of all ages. I was a Cub Scout leader, I coached T-Ball and often had my home full of my son’s hyperactive friends. But as the years advanced and my patience did not, slowly I became less of a fan of screaming children and mamby-pamby parents who refused to to discipline their broods. I’ve heard that this phenomenon is called “getting old.”
This process continued throughout my latter adult life. I am now way retired and living in the Italian Alps where things are normally very peaceful. However parents here set no boundaries at all for their children; it’s a European thing that ultimately manifests itself with sons living with their mothers until they are 50 or older. These parents turn their little wretches upon the general public instead of perhaps teaching them T-Ball.
Today, after a five hour onslaught of screaming in Italian and German, I finally lost it. I leapt to my balcony and bellowed, “Basta, halt deine klapper!” (Enough, shut up!) As I went back into my house, I gasped aloud, ” Oh crap, I’ve become Mr. Bruce!” I then began checking my skull for any noticeable bulges.
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Indovina dove! Guess where!
Foto © Allen E. Rizzi
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allenrizzi 
Our Linguistic Downfall
Everyone has heard that America is the great melting pot, That being said, why is it that Americans are the most linguistically bereft people on the face of our planet?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 20 percent of Americans can converse in two or more languages, compared with 56 percent of Europeans. Experts estimate that about half of the human race is bilingual at the very least. So what gives?
On the European side of things, yes it is true that their countries are nestled closely together necessitating a modicum of of linguistic diversity. However Europeans don’t just speak the language of their neighbors. According to a survey published in 2006, 13% of EU citizens speak English as their native language. Another 38% of EU citizens state that they have sufficient skills in English to have a conversation, so the total reach of English in the EU is 51%.
In my own experience as an American living in Italy for 20 years, I found that virtually everyone I met spoke at least two languages (Italian and German) while many spoke three languages or more, including English. It’s not considered a big deal especially with younger people.
The United States is one country from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. The majority of Canadians to the north speak English, so there is no real need to learn a second language of theirs, save French. Mexico has long been marginalized politically so there has been no urgent need to speak Spanish in the United States for international reasons. Spanish that is spoken is chiefly among Spanish speaking residents whose first language was already Spanish. There has been a slow shift of retailers and the like to accommodate this group by offering a Spanish option for everything from Lowes to ATT. However, I have personally tested these folks (I am fluent in Spanish) and I would rate them an epic F. Their efforts are more for show and lack substance.
Add to that the fact that our schools are quite timid about teaching foreign languages, with the exception of Spanish. When I was in high school, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Greek and German were standard elective offerings with at least one full year of one foreign language required for graduation. Sadly, that is not the case today. Since 90 percent of the internet is available in English, today’s youngsters don’t have the need nor the inclination to learn another language.
So where does that leave the home of the brave? Linguistically, it leaves us up Shit Creek without the proverbial paddle. How will we compete in a world where language is so important while lacking the most basic skills to fully communicate with other countries? These are things to ponder as we continue to dumb down our kids, replacing foreign language instruction with nonsense like gender identification classes.
If you do speak a foreign language as an American, I would make the same suggestion to you as I do for my English students in Italy. Put aside one evening a week to get together with those studying the same language and ONLY speak that language (no exceptions). Language cannot be learned in a vacuum or on the internet; real life interaction in that language is needed!
By the way, translators including some of the most sophisticated fall way short and are a crutch at best. A friend once wanted to know how to say, “I want to book a room” in Italian, The translator result was “Voglio libro una camera.” Nice try, but libro is the book you read! 😂
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