Smooth as Tennessee Whiskey

When I was five years old, my daddy bought a white boat (I don't recall the maker), it was a ski boat. I remember vaguely the day I saw it. When I was five, daddy handed me a life jacket, and I learned how to swim. But when I was 8 years old, I recall (if it was just yesterday), the day he bought a brand new Glassport @ Marine Myers in my hometown, Corbin, KY. I remember standing on the boat trailer and looking into a beautiful interior of red and gray that matched the exterior of the water machine. It was the colors that I knew, and later grew to love...Corbin Redhound red. As I toured that boat...admired it with daddy, I had no idea what memories that we would make from that moment on. The thought of those times, to this day...are sacred. From the time I saw it, I loved it...adored it, (almost as much as I have adored him), on that hill that led to our home, 11 Skylark Drive.
Daddy and I took in out on Laurel Lake to run it on the water that same night (mother didn't join us,she didn't care for the lake). It was a picturesque evening, and the sun was brilliantly reflecting off of the most beautiful body of water I'd ever seen...the only current, was the one we carved in the water.
Daddy had brought a cassette tape with us, one that @ that the time I didn't appreciate, but have grown to love. George Jones, from the album, I Am What I Am. That eve, we listened to George, as he sang to us...If Drinking Don't Kill Me, Good Hearted Woman (w/ Waylon and Willie), I'm Not Ready Yet, but, one stood out, more than all the rest of the tracks..."He said I"ll love you, til I die"... of course it continued... playing out, He Stopped Loving Her Today.
I have never asked daddy if he remembers our first venture in/on the brand new boat, but its a venture that is chiseled in my mind. I'll love Maurice Ronald O'Connell til I die, not for that day...but everyday before that day and since. He has loved me, through it all...perhaps, I should underline it in red... single, I love you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggkyQ8RqOvc

Just To Die For

Music can have an intrinsic or extrinsic meaning. It is heard and perceived by individuals however they believe it to be...what it means to them. I have always loved songs that were "storytellers"...but, I also have a tendency to enjoy songs that seem to have an obscure message or seem quite meaningless. We all love genres, artists, songs that WE relate to. All of us.
So, what if a song makes you feel like doing something? A drinking song? A love song? A cheating song? A song that is uplifting or heart wrenching? A dancing tune? Something that when we hear it, makes us cry?
Yep, we all have particular ones that we love or love to hate, guilty pleasures...if you will. So, how bout a song...to die for?

"Suicide Solution" was a cut from Ozzy Osbourne's 1980 album, Blizzard of Ozz, and this very track landed Osbourne in court, January 1986. The parents of 16 year old, John McCullen, blamed Osbourne's lyrics for the death of their son. Not only the lyrics, but the subliminal messages within, when the vinyl was played backwards. Their son shot himself, while listening to the song. Osbourne was cleared of any wrong doing. Osbourne claims that the "solution" he referred to in the song was alcohol. It was a musical tribute to another hard rocker, Bon Scott of AC/DC. Scott, who died of alcohol poisoning.

Of course, there are other artists/songs that have been accused of lyrically influencing their listeners within their recordings, and even legalities for these artists (in some cases).

* 16 year old, shoots himself while listening to AC/DC, Shoot to Thrill
* 18 year old, hung himself from closet door listening to the Pink Floyd album The Wall
* Marilyn Manson's music (in its entirety) was publicly linked to the Columbine High School tragedy. The shooters were known as "Emo's". It was later revealed that the two gunman really weren't fans of Manson, nor his music. But, did like KMFDM, a "dark" type of band.

Undoubtedly, these are horrible tragedies, death too young, too soon...at their own hand. BUT, if you or I listened to Ice-T's, Cop Killa (which I don't)...chances are we would refrain from planning and following through with killing a member or members of law enforcement. I am a huge fan of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters...it doesn't indicate that I am suicidal. I love AC/DC's, Shoot to Thrill...but, I've never fathomed the use of a rifle to end my own life. With that being said, I cannot imagine the mental or psychological problems that these young people were suffering from. Only they know what influenced them to make the choices they made and act on those thoughts. What was their heartache, thoughts, disappointments, the internal madness within each of them? We may never know the answers to many questions. Only they knew what was buried within themselves, and that was taken along with them...to the grave.