I fight off the snow
I fight off the hail
Nothing makes me go
I’m like some vestigial tail - Tom Waits

Hi kids,

Today's post is the last for now in this micro-mini-series featuring the elder statesmen of songwriting. Tom Waits hasn't hit his 70's yet, but we
won't hold that against him. His voice, both literal and metaphorical would be sorely missed in our musical landscape had he decided on a career in, say, pharmaceuticals instead of songwriting. He, too, is addressing mortality in his songs. 

The image of "the last leaf on the tree" is not a new one. The Oliver Wendell Holmes poem quoted above showed up in the Yale Book of American Verse in 1912. Writers are always re-working older archetypal/poetic images. I think its actually part of the job description. 

I will mention also that anyone who can use the word 'vestigial' in a song gets bonus points. And by the way, the 2nd old-dude voice on this recording is Kieth Richards... 

 If you receive this post via email, you can watch the video here.

Old Ideas. Don't you love it? What beautiful ambiguity. Old ideas as in those that have been around for a while and old ideas as in those of an old man. 

Here is another septeguenarian in our series on the elder statesmen of songwriting, At 77, Leonard is still hard at it, writing songs and touring. Fully employed as he likes to say. Like our other living legends his current work deals in part with mortality.

He begins, "I want to speak to Leonard/ He's a sportsman and a shepherd/ He's a lazy bastard living in a suit..." Here is God asking to speak with one of his prophets. 

Here is a live performance of his song "Going Home" recorded in Dublin:

If you receive this post via email, you can watch the video at Leonard Cohen.

Hi Kids,

I hope you're enjoying checking out some of the elder statesmen of songwriting. We visited John Prine yesterday. How about today we go just down the block a ways and see what's up with Guy Clark. Guy has been  writing and performing  since he was a pup and, like most of the others I'm sending your way in this short series, is still going strong in his '70's. His songs continue to be meticulously crafted, seasoned with a generous helping of soulful wisdom and served up hot with a dollop of humor. 

If you receive this post via email you can watch the video at Guy Clark, "The Cape"

I'm continuing this morning with a short series of posts that feature our elder poet/philosopher/songwriter folks. It is a prestigious chorus  that includes Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine, and Guy Clark. 

Today, I'm thinking about John Prine.  In  today's video, he sings: "You know that old trees just grow stronger and old rivers grow wilder every day/ Old people just grow lonesome waiting for someone to say: 'Hello in there. Hello'". The song is both a lament and an instruction. 

(Alert: I'm going to climb up on my soapbox for about one nanosecond). It sucks big time that we live in an upside down culture that turns pre-teens into sex objects and fails to honor the wisdom and gifts of those among us who have crashed or crawled through all the crazy shit this world can throw at you and lived to tell the tale. Thankfully, these songwriters are telling the tale. 

If you received this post via email you can view the video here.

There are a few older performing songwriters on whose shoulders we all stand: Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine, and Guy Clark to name a few of my faves. Most of these guys are in or close to their '70's and are still writing and touring. Some are still drinking good whiskey.  Some have written songs that deal with their increasing sense of mortality so, being an old mortal myself, I am listening with great interests to what these poet/philosophers/songwriters have to say on the subject. I figured for the next few posts I'd share a bit of what I've found. There's a sober humor in their songs I think you'll appreciate. Let's start with Kris Kristofferson who finds himself quite a few miles down the road from those windshield wipers slappin' time...

He starts with: "Wide awake and feeling mortal/At this moment in the dream/That old man there in the mirror/And my shaky self-esteem".

If you receive this post in an email, you can view the video here.

Photo of the young Kris Kristofferson by Colin Mcrae.