I’ve written a few songs about my childhood, and this is another one. I grew up in a Midwestern town where most people conformed to fit in and not stand out, and I just always felt so out of place. I loved to wear and make very different clothes; I loved fashion even as a young girl. I think so many kids go through this. I always knew I would leave there for a place where I could just be myself with others who felt the same.I ended up in Los Angeles, where weird thrives. In LA, I was actually pretty “Midwest boring”, not at all different or strange. But I was living my best life and met so many lifelong friends.I always say it’s harder to make a video after writing the song. I really don’t like making videos that tell exact stories. I prefer an abstract representation that allows the viewer to interpret it any way they want. I made a video a while back using this style reference with these strange faces, and for some reason, I thought of using them again. The way they stand out against the people walking around them. I love how it works with the song.Thank you to Marshall Altman for the guitar and synth he added to the song, and for the additional production and mixing. This is for sure one of my favorite songs I have written. Working with Marshall has been so wonderful. We had our first co-write a few weeks back and made a song together that will come out in the next few weeks.This whole process with Nettwerk Records has been really amazing. If someone had told me four or five years ago that I would be writing songs, getting signed to a label, and doing a TED Talk, I would have thought they were insane. NONE of this was even on my radar as a path I would follow. AI has opened doors for me I couldn’t have even imagined. When an artist finds their perfect tool, it can open creativity inside them they never knew they had. Pretty wild.Not Made For The Cage[Verse 1]I was born with paper skinLetting all the feelings inWatching my entire world unwindLeaving all the rules behindTheir strict rules fit like borrowed clothesOn my strange and tender bonesI never felt like I belongA half-remembered, distant song[Pre-Chorus]So my heart I rearrangeEven when they call me strangeIf this world feels hard and vastI will try to move right past[Chorus]I am not made for the cageI don't mind if you find me strange(oh, I am strange)I bloom where the wild wind staysI am not lost, I am trueA star with a different hue(I am true)I was made to outgrow you[Verse 2]The room is full of polished facesAll their smiles in perfect placesI move like rain running down glassA little shy, a little brashMy mind is a sprawling tideWith secret currents locked insideAnd when the night begins to bloomI am the fever in your room[Pre-Chorus]And I hear, beneath the noiseSome soft and ancient joySaying, child, don’t disappearYou were written to be here[Chorus]I am not made for the cageI don't mind if you find me strange(oh, I am strange)I bloom where the wild wind staysI am not lost, I am trueA star with a different hue(i am true)I was made to outgrow you[Bridge]If I am odd, then let me beA little ash, a little seaI do not need their neat designMy broken edges are divine[Final Chorus]I am not made for the cageI don't mind if you find me strange(oh, I am strange)I bloom where the wild wind staysI am not lost, I am trueA star with a different hue(I am true)I was made to outgrow you
“People say each of my albums sounds just like the previous one,” says J.J. Cale. “I’ve tried to change, but whenever I finish something, it just sounds like me.”
Lots of fans—including Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler and Neil Young—are happy that’s the case. Beginning with such songs as “After Midnight,” “Cocaine” and “Call Me the Breeze,” Cale has adhered to a laid-back, economical style centered on groove-oriented guitar lines, low-key vocals and a country-blues vibe. Countless high-profile artists have covered his songs—sometimes injecting them with a heavy dose of blues-rock fuel—but Cale himself has, by choice, remained largely under the public radar."I suppose the biggest compliment a songwriter can receive is when somebody else sings your songs. I’m more proud of the long list of people who have done my songs than, say, the money or the records I’ve made. When someone cuts your song—whether it’s good or bad—you feel great."Source: Performing SongwriterPhotograph by Jay Blakesberg
Speaking of youngsters who restore our faith in humanity, music and creativity, this is a whole family of ‘em . . . I recall these guys from when they were much, much younger but aww heck are they growing up and then some!? So I might just sign off with some classical and this wondrous family and refer you to Isata’s Mr Sandman variations . . . . . .
A huge thank you to WORLD FAMOUS V.I.P. RECORDS IN LONG BEACH, Tavis Smiley, and of course all of the wonderful fans who came out to Taj & Phantom Blues Band's celebration of the 'Time' album release on May 3!
It was amazing to be able to celebrate with such a strong community of fans. 🕰️❤️Listen to their new album 'Time' at the link below.
Listen to Taj Mahal : TIME here. . .
You know after the wonderful sign off from the Polish National Orchestra and Keb Mo in tribute to Taj, I mentioned TajMo and someone asked me what that meant . . . . . ‘ere ‘tis
If you listen to one piece today here listen to this . . . oh and TURN IT UP!
THE HOUSE OF PAIN - JUMP AROUND
Happy birthday to Brian Eno, born in Melton, Suffolk on this day in 1948.
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Throughout this Rolling Thunder 1976 anniversary series, I’ve emphasized all the ways this iteration of the tour differs from Rolling Thunder 1975. And there are many. But today might be the day that feels the most in the spirit of Rolling Thunder 1975.
Just like he did near the end of the ’75 tour, near the end of ’76, Dylan and the band played at a prison. This time, though, the appearance has nothing to do with Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. It doesn’t have anything to do with anything that I could figure out. For reasons that remain murky, Dylan and co. set up shop at a juvenile detention facility, the Gatesville State School for delinquent boys.
The show was a last-minute affair. Two Dallas shows were originally on the printed itinerary, according to a couple participants. But those were cancelled. Then plans were made for a free show in Austin at legendary music hall Armadillo World Headquarters. But that got scrapped too, in favor of this shortened performance for 300 juvenile delinquents.
Professor William Bush, who wrote a book about the history of the Texas juvenile system—where this Gatesville facility was particularly notorious—explains that this show came about because of a new boss tasked with fixing things up:
Ron Jackson was the executive director of the Texas Youth Council, the state agency that oversaw all of the state’s ‘training schools’ for juvenile delinquents. He ascended into that role thanks to a major class-action civil rights lawsuit that concluded in 1973-74. Jackson was considered much more progressive than his predecessor, and he was younger and clearly open to hosting a show like that.
Stage manager Gerry Bakal remembers that certain kids there, the worst offenders, were not going to be invited to attend. When Dylan heard about that, though, he objected. “Bob insisted that everybody sees the show or nobody’s going to see a show.” So they were all invited.
Bandleader Rob Stoner recalls the performance:
It was an admirably altruistic act of social conscience but terrible conditions. The poor kids at the institution didn’t know who Dylan was, sort of like at the NJ prison gig, where the inmates only attended because it was break from their daily routine. The daytime event was hot as hell and there was no canopy to shield us from the Texas sun.
As Stoner notes, this was the Rolling Thunder Revue out of its element, performing for an audience that did not necessarily care about Bob Dylan. “Play some Led Zeppelin,” someone yelled at one point.
They did not. Rather, they played a curtailed version of their usual show—just two hours, rather than four. Dylan played a shortened but otherwise unsurprising set, with no songs he hadn’t already played on the tour. The day’s big surprise Dylan song wasn’t actually performed by him. Joan Baez sang Dylan’s prison-themed folk song “Walls of Red Wing” for the occasion.
Another song from the newly surfaced soundboard recording made available just yesterday via the Dylan newsletter "Flagging Down the Double E's".Taped by David Hendel (thanks!!!), soundman during the second half of the '76 Rolling Thunder Tour.
