We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, regardless of country of residence.
Although it’s not as risky as when artists were far more dependent upon radio exposure to make a living from their music, it is still a risk to put energy into generating a ten-minute song. Most music consumers are like us – short attention-span listeners. But there are always those few songs that break through the barrier. Music historians give credit to The Doors’ “Light My Fire” (1967) as being the first. The song by The Doors was “only” seven-minutes long, but the demand for the uncut version forced radio stations to reconsider commercial scheduling in order to maintain their market share of listeners. As songs got even longer (Iron Butterfly’s seventeen minute “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” in 1968), commercial stations had no choice but to either crop the songs or ignore them. As a consequence, a viable listening audience surfaced for the “underground” stations.
Fast forward to 2013 - Stephen Kellogg releases a ten-minute song entitled “Thanksgiving.” Kellogg was born in Pennsylvania, was a member of the Sixers (the band, not the basketball team), and now lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. “Thanksgiving” is part of a solo effort.
“Thanksgiving” can be broken down into segments, but we aren’t sure if we have it right. Still, when it comes to lyrical poetry, it doesn’t matter if you are hearing what the songwriter originally intended. All that matters is that the song speaks… Yes, "Thanksgiving" speaks.
Two easily identified segments are defined by the church-like choir at the start and end of the song. Between the choir segments, Kellogg tells his story. The lyrics are pasted below. There is a setup to the story, with the story starting after the statement:
"A melody, floating just within your grasp, it goes…"
The longest segment follows. The story starts with a statement of the appreciation for Thanksgiving, especially as a boy. The boy grows, meets a woman, marries her, and has children. Initially, the wife functions as his axis. But the relationship ends in an ugly divorce.
Today, he has perspective. He doesn’t feel shame regarding the past, but he knows he was the cause of his current situation. Then, there is a John Lennon “Imagine” segment that leads to the church-like ending segment.
Currently, Stephen Kellogg is permitting free downloads.
The Lyrics of “Thanksgiving:”
The Choir:
Oh Thanksgiving, the harvest draws to a close
Pride of man will swallow him, for he reaps
what he sows
Oh living, it’s harder every day
Only in the darkness can you see you’ve lost
your way
Stephen Kellogg:
I recollect the Rose of Sharon had come back
again
The trees were blowing in the breeze all high
above my head
When a cavalcade of memories appeared to me
in words I wished I’d said.
From that point on a song stayed in my
thoughts most of the time
But when I tried to sing it out loud it would
always leave my mind
Like the things you know are true, but never
can explain when you get asked.
A melody, floating just within your grasp, it
goes…
When I was a child, I always remember
The way I would feel, 4th Thursday November
My uncles would play, there would be music
And I was taking it in.
Only much later, I noticed the drinking
The feeling my family was growing and sinking
St. Petersburg Palace stain glass in sun
They were well on their way I had only begun.
So boy meets a girl, Venus and Adonis
Friendship on fire, adulthood upon us
They teach you to fly, then spend all of
their time
Standing over you, clipping your wings.
Where there was a me, there could be an us
I dreamt about money, she talked about trust
She is my axis, death is by foxes
And we were well on our way.
In America, this is home
Stories, everybody’s got one
This is mine, you will have your own
Nothing like the real thing, nothing like it.
Cleaner than Christmas or our wedding day
I knew her father was pissed, though he
wouldn’t say it
I would be too and someday I will be
No kid could be good enough.
Taking on Sunday, taking on owls
Catching a glimpse of the wolf as it howls
Got a lot of nice things, got a really nice
house
Done is so beautiful.
On Father’s Day, I’m thinking of mothers
I can only suppose they’re thinking of others
Insurance is up, it came in the mail
Yeah it kills me what they’re charging for
little white pills.
I blow through the years like a mother
defending its own
And I fear, I’m driving on spare tires
Seems like I’ll never get home, like I’ll
never get home
Like I’m getting threadbare.
I can’t find my way, she showed me the map
I still can’t believe I acted like that
Just follow your heart up past most of the
brain
If you get lost at reason, move down past
pain.
I’ll see you in court, bring your raincoat
I’m keeping the kids, I’m keeping the house
It takes minutes to make us a baby
And years to remember what that was about.
America, this is home
Stories, everybody’s got one
When we die what will we have done?
Nothing like the real thing, nothing like it.
It’s snowing in April, something’s changing
in me
That’s the sound of a heart getting clean,
baby
I traded in booze for loads of caffeine
And my friends they traded in me.
Another Thanksgiving and I’m all alone
My favorite holiday and nobody’s home
No shame in the past, no pride in the future
I know, believe me I know.
Those years we spent talking, learning to
agree
The truth is I’m just thankful you tolerated
me
There’s so many thorns, not enough roses
My girls as they sleep, the eye as it closes.
This year for Thanksgiving I’m keeping my
list short
No one gets married, no one gets divorced
Can you imagine?
What if the world could stand still for even
a day?
If there was no crime, no rape and no killing
Addictions suspended, no cutting or drilling
If everyone took the day off and hung out
with their friends
Their favorite friends.
I know what you’re saying, it’s not realistic
I’ve heard it my whole life, look at the
statistics
But lucky for us, I’m not a guy that gives up
I never give up, ‘cause I go…
The Choir:
Oh Thanksgiving, the harvest draws to a close
Redemption is a bugle humility composed
Sweet forgiveness, thawing across frozen
ground
Casting light eternally, carrying its sound.
Last week, GoldieBlox filed a DJ action (a declaratory judgment action) in the Northern District of California. As a result of the filing, a judge in San Francisco will determine the issues relevant to copyright law. Is the commercial a parody? Is it a “fair use” as defined under copyright law? 
We read that while one member of the band (Callie Noakes, we think) was visiting San Francisco, he bought a book of poems by Eleanor Rees (the cover is shown to the right). The name of the book and its last poem is Eliza and the Bear. There seemed to be a connection between the work of Ms. Rees and the themes of the early songs of the band. So, Ms. Rees was asked for permission to use the name and, happily, she consented. For more information about the book, visit the site: CLICK HERE. 
It was luck that brought us to the Rudimental performance. They were at the Outside Lands Festival in the middle of the afternoon. Options were limited, so we migrated to the stage with Rudimental. It was supposed to be a five-piece band, with one member being a DJ. But more than five talented people showed up. Two keyboard players, the charismatic DJ personality, a drummer, a trumpet player, a guitar player and three “lead” singers. The 45-minute performance was not enough. So, later in the day we went to their scaled-down performance in a fifty-person tent. This post includes three pictures of the stages at Outside Lands, in addition to a Youtube video that was uploaded by someone we would like to thank.
