Nickleodeon

let me call you 'sweetheart'... 

like they sang back before the war...

before the battle of the sexes (and whatever that was came next) 

had us runnin' for the door...

...

I'm craving one 'true romance';

like some sweet old Tin Pan Alley song...

back when they'd put another nickle in ...that old nickelodeon...

and sweethearts would sing along...

...

I've spent my time among the 'modern lovers'

and I can tell you that's just not my style...

and that sort of callous game ...surely puts 'love' to shame

and misses the mark by a country mile...

...

so darlin', let me call you 'sweetheart'...

accept this song as a virtual 'valentine'...

or maybe even better... a musical ragtime love letter;

now tell me you'll be mine...

...

'cause I'm craving one true romance...

like some sweet old Tin Pan Alley tune...

where a cherubic Cupid hovers... over starstruck lovers

dancing beneath a paper moon.

     .. well ... on the topic of 'Tin Pan Alley'... this is a new song... ( like, 'brand new'... a work in progress) inspired by my current  'sweetheart' (dear heart) and a little 'lick' I stumbled across on the guitar; trying to figure out where I might use a particular chord that only ever cropped up (for me) in Fred Neil's blues classic 'Handful of Gimme'. My mom and dad would take autumn vacations, ( mostly affordable day trips) driving around Ontario marveling at the colours in the trees; stopping in little taverns to have an ale and play the jukebox (apparently Porter Wagoner's 'Carroll County Accident' was a favourite; though they were by no mean 'C&W' fans, as a rule...).      My mother would tell of a time when she approached some backwoods barkeep for change to  play the jukebox... "...for the 'nickelodeon'..." she said...he replied: "Lady, where have you been?" ... and that always encapsulated my parent's 'honky tonk' experience for me... and it seemed a highlight when I first heard my own songs on a jukebox... (or the radio, for that matter)... you may be sure that a copy of the Bandanna! 45 rpm recording got left anywhere it might get loaded onto the 'nickleodeon'...

 

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