Mystery DJ

I like listening to music

Both recorded and live

Playlists are so cool

You can pick one to suit your mood

Some mellow jazz in the morning

Lively pop in the day

Rock n roll your afternoon away

A few golden oldies before bedtime

There is however one big problem

When I stop listening to music

There is always a song still playing

On a constant loop in my head

Its not always the same song

Usually something I listened to recently

These earworms can be annoying

I find the only cure

Is to play some different music

To drown them out

Peace at last

Until the music source stops

Then the mystery DJ in my head

Selects another song to play

He never consults me 

Nor does he listen to my suggestions

His most recent earworm song

Is playing in my head right now

Lovely Day by Bill Withers

I used to like that song

But now I am totally done with it

Time to consult Mr Spotify

Drown out Bill Withers for good

While the DJ in my head listens along

And unilaterally selects a future earworm

I have tried researching for a cure

As yet there is no earworm powder treatment on the market

But the earworm is not the source of the problem

Its that mystery DJ in my head

I am going to sneak up on him

While he is distracted listening to my music

And smash his turntable

Then every day will certainly be A Lovely Day

Inspiration

Listening to the Beatles today

She came in through the bathroom window

Written by Lennon-McCartney

Wondering what inspired that song

A quick internet search revealed all

Fans hung outside the home of McCartney

Saw his bathroom window open

Found a ladder and climbed in

Stole some memorabilia

So now you know

What events would inspire you to write a song today

Does the title have that number one hit potential

Here are my song titles

I cut myself shaving

My socks went AWOL again

My tea went cold

Its too cold for bike riding 

What shall I write in my poem today

 Oh dear I am running late again

Where are my car keys

The car is full of Amazon return packages

The guy in front is a really bad driver

This red light takes forever to change

Finally back home again

I need a drink

Red red wine

Have a drink on me

Whiskey in the jar

Plagiarism rules

A song can trigger distant happy memories

I grew up on Merseyside near Liverpool

I was around 11 years old during the peak of Beatlemania

I remember listening to vinyl records at home on a gramophone

as a teenager I fell in love with rock music

at that time there was no internet 

radio broadcasting was strictly controlled by the government

there was very little air time given to popular music

pirate radio stations started to fill that gap

Radio Caroline was a ship based pirate radio station

broadcasting from sea outside UK territorial limits

as a teenage rebel it was a thrill to listen to illegal broadcasts

the DJs were under no constraints about what to play or say on air

in the 1970’s I discovered local pirate radio stations

these were land based illegal broadcasters

hunted constantly by the authorities

they were very innovative in evading capture

sometimes broadcasting from a simple transmitter

powered by a car battery

connected to a cassette tape recorder

with antenna wires strung between trees in a field

I remember one land based local pirate station called Radio Jackie North

broadcasting popular music on the medium waveband at 217

urban legend said they broadcast live from tower blocks in my home town

lookouts monitored police activity at ground level

using walkie talkies they would give warnings to the broadcasters above

the station would go off air while the pirates hid the equipment

they would then move it all to an adjacent tower block

just to keep one step ahead of the raids

the Radio Jackie theme tune was Jackie Blue

a song by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils

whenever I hear that song today

it triggers distant happy memories 

The Loan Ranger and Spam defeat junk emails

Gioachino Rossini composed the William Tell Overture in 1829

I listened to that music Saturday morning as a child

I had no idea back then who composed the music

It was simply a stirring prelude the Lone Ranger

All the kids in my street watched it at the local flea pit cinema

In my adolescent years I binged on Many Python

Hilariously funny sketches about ridiculous subjects

There was one about a restaurant with Spam in every dish

A customer enquired if they had anything without Spam

There followed a singing chorus which repeated the word over and over

I would sing that song at home mostly to annoy my parents

Who would ever have guessed that Spam would become so famous

Its the word used to describe all your unsolicited emails

The ones that show up daily in your inbox

Somebody once used the name to describe them as annoyingly repetitive

Just like the Spam word in that Monty python sketch

I have tried so many ways to reduce my spam emails

Label them as junk or hit the unsubscribe link

They just keep on coming every single day

If you leave them for a few days they seem to grow like mold spores

I wanted to find a way of making the daily spam email delete activity more fun

I briefly thought about trying to recycle them

Collecting them all in a folder and forwarding to somebody else

Perhaps my least favorite politician or an annoying TV personality

But that in itself is too much work

Then I hit on the solution to make email deletion pure nostalgic fun

I now look forward to taking out the email trash daily

First I open a tin of Spam and slice it into bite size squares

Then I play a youtube video of the Loan Ranger

I snack on Spam while listening to the William Tell Overture

Its a race to the finish as I delete my emails at a super fast tempo

I can only win if the Spam and my junk emails are all gone before the end of the music

Solving the poetic equation of LIFE

I have always liked music

Literature plays a big role in my life

I am very fond of art

I always believed these were three completely different things

Each having its own unique place in the world

Something happened recently to change that

Upon noticing my music streaming App had a lyrics button

I started to read the lyrics while listening to the music

I discovered a new dimension

The singer was delivering a message with both words and notes

Allowing me to understand his feelings

I now listen to music in a different way

Searching for the feelings of the songwriter and composer

…………………………..

I have been watching lectures on the history of European art

All virtual thanks to the pandemic

So enlightening that art has been continually developing for centuries

Movements emerged as new artists experimented

Finding new ways to express their feelings

I now look at paintings in a different way

Searching for the feeling that the artist wanted to convey 

……………………..

Poetry warms my soul and make me feel different about life

The process of converting creative thinking into poetry is pure joy for me

I started to wonder if painters and songwriters felt the same way

…………………….

Then it hit me

Literature, art and music all have a common thread

They are all forms of poetry that convey feelings

………………………

Literature gives us poetry in words

Music is poetry with sounds 

Art is poetry with light

My Engineering background lit up the old gray matter

It can all be explained with mathematics

………………………….

Words = Poetry

Sounds = Poetry

Light = Poetry

Words + Sounds = Songs

Words + Light = Theatre

Sounds + Lights = Fireworks

Words + Sounds + Light = Life

Words + Sounds + Light + Wine  = Happy Life

Words + Sounds + Light + Wine + Chocolate = Very Happy Life

Bravo if you are now reaching for the wine bottle and chocolates while listening to your favorite music

Rock on

I like rocks

they are good to hold

rough ones are originals

bits of broken mountain

carried around by ice age glaciers

abandoned when the glaciers melted

buried in soil for thousands of years

a time capsule waiting for you

collect enough and you could 

rebuild that old mountain

smooth ones have been shaped

by centuries of tumbling in rivers

pick one up and examine it

feel the history in your hands

telling stories to your fingers

put it to your ear

listen to that ancient music

of roaring rivers and babbling brooks

collect a bunch of them

listen to them all together

have a rock concert

Silent Moon

I woke up in the middle of the night

no recollection of a bad dream 

no restless thoughts filled my head

not woken by a storm or a strange noise

I was simply wide awake and at peace with all

soft moonlight spilled through a crack in the curtains

something urged me to step outside and explore the night

the back door creaked like the reluctant bones of an old man

cool intoxicating night air filled my lungs

I held my breath for an eternity

fearing that I might wake up sleepwalking

I pinched myself to verify I was truly awake

the golden moon was low on the horizon

silently conducting his nocturnal orchestra

a light breeze propelled invisible dancers across the sky 

rustling leaves provided a choral backdrop

a flute soloist floated aimlessly down the the creek

twinkling stars plucked the harpsichord strings

wispy clouds played violins as they drifted across the moon  

a solitary owl performed a horn solo

the flock of geese joined in with their clarinets

bass drums from a startled deer crashing through the forest

playful mice pianists tickled the ivories 

beautiful calming sounds filled my ears

the entire orchestra fixed their gaze upon the conducting moon

waiting for his signal to play their piece

adjusting the tempo at his command

throughout the performance the moon remained silent

no need to express his thoughts 

his orchestra said it all

Mop and roll music

The wind and rain

Is here again

Too windy for a hike

Too wet to ride a bike

Morning exercise is now postponed 

Cancellation excuses not condoned

Forecast to stop raining sometime soon

I’ll ride my bike this afternoon

Filling my morning with routine chores

Doing laundry and cleaning floors

Playing really loud music while I mop

Rocking the house down with ZZ Top