In her brief lifetime, which was cut short by Leukemia, Kate Wolf became a major influence on the folk scene with songs like “Give Yourself to Love,” “Across the Great Divide,” “Green Eyes,” “September Song,” and many more. Kate’s audience has continued to grow since her unfortunate passing. As an example, I found her late in my life. Here’s my cover of “Green Eyes.”
“Girl From The North Country” is another one of those songs that popped into my head from out of nowhere. I can’t decide if it’s a message from the Beyond or just a little piece of my subconscious rising like a sunspot from the deep layers of my skin with aging. Whatever the case, “Girl From The North Country” is one of Dylan’s earliest recorded songs, written in England in 1961 and released in 1963. Listening to it now, I find the ballad enchanting.
As a young adult, I followed Dylan’s work tangentially only because it was prominent in the mainstream. Lately, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for Dylan’s music and the man himself. I’ve covered several Dylan songs in this blog, including “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “My Back Pages,” and now this one.
“Girl From The North Country” is a beautiful ballad recounting a lost love. Many believe the woman in the song is Suze Rotolo. At the time, Dylan had just dropped out of college to pursue his musical career in New York City. Rotolo had just graduated from high school and entered the Greenwich Village folk scene. Their first meeting took place at the First Riverside Church concert in New York City. Dylan described the meeting in his memoir: “Cupid’s arrow had whistled past my ears before, but this time it hit me in the heart, and the weight of it dragged me overboard.”
Eventually, the couple lived together in Greenwich Village and then grew apart when Dylan went to England, and Rotolo went to Italy to continue her education.
After some time passed, Dylan went to Italy to find Retolo. At the same time, Rotolo returned to New York City. The couple finally reunited and lived in Dylan’s apartment until their final breakup.
The album cover of Dylan’s second album, Freewheeling, features Dylan and Rotolo walking arm in arm down a Greenwich Village street.
Here’s my cover.
Even if you aren’t a fan of seventies music, you’ve probably heard Don McLean’s hit song, “And I Love You So.” What you may not know is that the song was widely covered by other recording artists, most notably Elvis Presley and Perry Como. Yes, I said Perry Como.
In a career that spanned decades, Don McLean wrote and recorded twenty-two studio albums, four live albums, and 16 singles. He is best known for his song and album of the same name, “American Pie.”
I’m constantly amazed at the way major recording artists create unique compositions to express their music. “And I Love You So” features an original picking method combined with interesting chord shapes. Learning to play a song the way the artist does is a great way to expand your musical scope and technique.
Here is my cover of McLean’s hit. I’ve re-recorded it one fret lower.
Take the next step that’s in your wheelhouse. This is the path to your success.
“Fields of Gold” is one of Sting’s most famous songs. It is a stunning and thoughtful track about the journey of commitment. The song first appeared on Sting’s 1993 solo album “Ten Summoner’s Tales.”
Sting wrote the track after he bought a house near a barley field. The sunsets and the colors of the field helped inspire the lyrics, along with Sting’s love for Trudie Styler, who he married in 1992.
“Fields of Gold” can be seen as a fulfilling romance from beginning to end. It is about courtship, marriage, and finally, death.
The romance of the couple in the song is so strong that even the sky and “its jealous sun” are envious of the relationship.
Before the male narrator dies, he tells his lover that she will never forget him and the time they shared. They will always walk and lie together in golden fields of sun drenched barley.
Here is my version of the song played with Eva Cassidy‘s guitar technique.
“The heart is always the place to go. Go home into your heart, where there is warmth, appreciation, gratitude and contentment.”
AYYA KHEMA
I had a good childhood compared to what kids are going through these days in a complex, ultra-competitive world. There was one weird thing about my upbringing, however, that I’ll always remember. I feel it bears mentioning because it’s something that parents can easily forget, even though it’s so obvious. I’m talking about the simple truth that children aren’t born with an a priori knowledge about the way things are in this world.
My father, Morton, was a good one as fathers go. He was a good provider, a mensch in every sense of the word. But I swear he had the idea that kids were born with a full set of instructions enclosed. Like a model plane. I don’t know how he acquired this orientation. Maybe he forgot what it was like to be a kid. He once told me his parents were “teachers.” Then why wasn’t he like them?
Morton grew up to become a super-busy entrepreneur with the responsibility of two growing businesses on his shoulders. There wasn’t much left of him when he came home after the pressures of a twelve hour day at the office. Really, though, Morton needed to make more time and save more energy to be a father. It seemed like he just wanted us to be around him and grow up straight and tall, all by ourselves.
Morton fully grasped the idea that things don’t happen by themselves. He built two businesses into thriving, large scale companies. Why, then, did he think that children can grow up properly without constant attention? My father died eleven years ago, so the answer will forever remain a mystery.
I imagine most parents are great teachers. They know how much fun it is to teach kids something new. Children love to be taught about mostly anything, especially by a caring parent in a gentle manner. I suppose, therefore, this article is intended for my Dad and the few high achieving, constantly busy parents who have missed out on the joys of bringing up a child.
I started saying things to my daughter when she was only two years old. I knew she wasn’t going to fully understand these things until later in life. Something told me to start pouring the positive instructions in as soon as she began to speak in full sentences. One of the most important things I feel she heard from me early on was this: “You can do anything good you put your mind to.”
I don’t think anything in the world can replace positive, enabling statements like this one spoken at an early stage in a child’s development. Simple statements like, “You’re so good,” “You are beautiful,” “You can do that,” and “Good job,” can make a huge difference in a child’s motivation, achievement, and sense of well being as an adult.
It doesn’t take much time to say something positive to your child every day. Keep it simple and keep it literal. Young children don’t barricade their minds. Whatever you say to them goes straight into their subconscious. If you have to correct your child, do it in a way that engages their cooperation.
From early on, I spoke to my daughter as I would to an adult, always respecting her feelings and intelligence. To be honest, it wasn’t that hard because my daughter is an only child, and she had good qualities to begin with (thanks mostly to my wife’s DNA). We are fortunate that our daughter began life with good characteristics. Most children do. Obviously, it takes more than good ingredients to make a happy and successful adult. It takes good bakers (parents) to make the cake.
Today, my daughter is happy, enthusiastic, and married to a great guy. She is a successful Assistant State Attorney. To extend the clichéd metaphor; “the proof is in the pudding.”
Looking back on my life, I ask myself: “What have you done that is truly important and beneficial to this world. I have to say my greatest contribution, by far, is my daughter.
My mother-in-law, Muriel Erens, was a simple woman. She died last week at the age of ninety-three.
We called her Merel.
Merel was special in her unassuming, fun-loving way. She never complained. She laughed easily. She never asked for anything. She lived independently with a positive attitude for thirty years after her husband, Marvin (Sonny Erens) died. She listened patiently to everything I had to tell her. She sincerely cared for her family and few friends. She thought of others before herself.
Merel joined us on every holiday and special occasion we celebrated as long as I knew her. In the last few years, I took her to the racetrack to split two-dollar bets on thoroughbred horse races at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida. We always had a good time, even when we lost, which was often. And Merel was a sore loser, but we laughed about it. I have decades of memories of the warmth, love, and laughter we shared. Merel was the best mother-in-law any man could ask for. The night before she died, I told her she was like a second mother to me.
Merel endured the loss of her husband, her son, and her daughter-in-law before she herself passed away. Her husband (Sonny) died suddenly of a heart attack shortly after my daughter, Danielle, was born. I think God timed it that way to reduce the blow my wife (Bonnie) and Merel suffered.
Merel carried the burden of these losses without complaining or souring on life. She kept on. She kept on smiling. She became a phenomenal grandmother to Danielle.
In a sense, Merel was the last remaining spoke in the wheel of an older generation, including my mother and father and aunts and uncles. Now, all of the elders of our tribe are gone. It can be a desolate feeling.
My wife and I plus a few long-distance in-laws are the elders now.
I am blessed with a wonderful wife, daughter, in-laws and friends, yet it remains a difficult transition to live in the world without the sense of security, guidance, and light the older generation provided. I will have to find a way to carry on with a smile, just like Merel did.
Merel Erens will never be famous, but she leaves an indelible imprint on those of us who knew her. We will remember her strength, her laughter, her light and her wisdom. Merel’s sudden death was a blessing because it spared her more suffering. I pray that my dear mother-in-law is enjoying peace and love in the world beyond this one. God knows she deserves it.
Heart Banter by David Gittlin 