Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
She says, baby everything is alright, uptight, out of sight / Baby, everything is alright, uptight, clean out of sight
She’s a pearl of a girl, I guess that’s what you might say / I guess her folks brought her up that way / The right side of the tracks, she was born and raised / In a great big old house, full of butlers and maids / She says no one is better than I, I know I’m just an average guy
No football hero or smooth Don Juan / Got empty pockets, you see I’m a poor man’s son / Can’t give her the things that money can’t buy / But I’ll never, never make my baby cry / And it’s all right, what I can’t do / Out of sight because my heart is true
Stevie Wonder’s “Up Tight” has always signified unrest. The first notes bring back childhood memories of ’60s and ’70s New York City driving through Harlem in my parents car, eventually playing football in Franklin Park, the only white kid on the East Harlem Chargers. I never thought of myself as a tough guy or was much for fighting, but I smoked some of my first joints in Central Park with Vietnam vets.
Something about those shell-shocked Nam vets. I guess they felt more comfortable hanging with hippie kids. Many still whore their army jackets. Some had an unforgettable distant look in their steely eyes. There were those too who came undone on the basketball court. We knew on those occasions to stand back and keep our mouths shut.
I guess I really can’t image if the Russians are coming towards LA. God help us. In the meantime, keep calm and listen to cool tunes.
Idelic Single of the Week: Aldous Harding – Fever
