WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Boomer Anthems: Paper In Fire
byVanderleunonJuly 12, 2022
From back when folks sung a song about how to get along — how to take a glass of whisky neat, how to dance that swerve out into the street, how to smoke smoke smoke that cigarette, how to puff and huff that deep bong hit, where to grab an ice-cold beer, and rock it all down to the ground. Without a care. I been there.
I pity the fool who don’t have those moments to spare.
There’s a good life Right across the green fields And each generation Stares at it from afar But we keep no check On our appetites So the green fields turn to brown Like paper in fire
Paper in fire Stinking up the ashtrays Paper in fire Smoking up the alleyways Who’s to say the way A man should spend his days Do you let them smolder Like paper in fire
Johnny Cougar! Remember when Beavis and Butthead made fun of him as John Cougar Mellonballs, good times.
A Sri-Lanka or Netherlands moment in Chiquitastan? Bwahaha! LMFAO!
VelocimanJuly 12, 2022, 2:35 PM
Huffing those cigs isn’t so swell after the esophageal catches your ass. We all must adapt at some point.
VanderleunJuly 12, 2022, 2:44 PM
I undeerstand that all too well. I quit by having my heart stop. Woke up after 10 days in a coma with no more desire to smoke cigs. Great cure.
VelocimanJuly 12, 2022, 2:41 PM
JCM filmed the Paper in Fire video in Savannah, 1987. I hung out by his tour bus during lunch until he came out. Bruh was the size of the Mayor of Munchkinland, which was interesting.
Snakepit KansasJuly 12, 2022, 3:48 PM
In 1979 John Cougar opened in Wichita for KISS. He did not fare too well.
Auntie AnalogueJuly 12, 2022, 4:13 PM
In life every action, every activity, is a trade-off. Even zealous exercise and “healthy” diet do not exempt one from mortality and can have their own in-life downsides.
Here’s my cigarette theory: the upsurge in drug abuse has been inversely proportional to the War On Smokers & Smoking. The more people who’d smoked affordable cigarettes, the happier – and more tolerant and mutually forgiving – we were as a people; cigarettes served as a rather innocuous kind of soma. On the other hand, without affordable cigarettes to serve as soma, the upsurge of resort to affordable (more affordable than cigarettes are today) drug abuse has made us neither happier, nor more forgiving.
Almost every man in the Depression/WWII generation smoked and so did a considerable proportion of women, and were they nicer, pleasanter, more tolerant and forgiving fellow citizens than today’s anti-smoking, drug-abusing, abortion-insisting, anti-fossil-fuel, Gaia-worshipping, America-smearing, blame-Whitey-for-everything, finger-wagging, SCOTUS Justice-harassing, in-your-face nags?
The Cloud People made a bogeyman/enemy of tobacco, while turning a blind eye to inversely proportional, massively increased drug abuse.
I don’t think my theory lacks merit. But, as they say, your mileage may vary.
Thank you! That was awesome, Mellencamp, is an American Treasure, his style, is right out of the Blues.
ghostsniperJuly 13, 2022, 4:49 AM
Cougar’s a local boy, born and raised south of here in Seymour, currently lives in a big crib west of here in Bloomington. I hired a carpenter to help me build my office-garage-workshop 16 years ago. That dood was the lead framer on Cougars new crib in B-town. Said he was a flatdik and suffered from the little man complex. He’s slow making payments. Never met him but I believe he and I would have a personality conflict. In past June 21st’s my wife and I always go to the Sonic in Seymour and rip up foot long chili dawgs (there’s no Tasty Freeze around here). Then we drive around the area a bit. We found a 19th century train station that had been converted to an everything Cougar museum and we went inside. We spoke to the proprietor for about 15 mins and left. I don’t remember much about the contents but do remember the detailed wood trimwork through out. He needs to get his bottle, his shotgun, and his mutt and go sit on the porch and shut his ass.
CCJuly 13, 2022, 6:07 AM
Never got into his music, considering him a wannabe bruce strinkstream.
Their politics are about the same though.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Johnny Cougar! Remember when Beavis and Butthead made fun of him as John Cougar Mellonballs, good times.
A Sri-Lanka or Netherlands moment in Chiquitastan? Bwahaha! LMFAO!
Huffing those cigs isn’t so swell after the esophageal catches your ass. We all must adapt at some point.
I undeerstand that all too well. I quit by having my heart stop. Woke up after 10 days in a coma with no more desire to smoke cigs. Great cure.
JCM filmed the Paper in Fire video in Savannah, 1987. I hung out by his tour bus during lunch until he came out. Bruh was the size of the Mayor of Munchkinland, which was interesting.
In 1979 John Cougar opened in Wichita for KISS. He did not fare too well.
In life every action, every activity, is a trade-off. Even zealous exercise and “healthy” diet do not exempt one from mortality and can have their own in-life downsides.
Here’s my cigarette theory: the upsurge in drug abuse has been inversely proportional to the War On Smokers & Smoking. The more people who’d smoked affordable cigarettes, the happier – and more tolerant and mutually forgiving – we were as a people; cigarettes served as a rather innocuous kind of soma. On the other hand, without affordable cigarettes to serve as soma, the upsurge of resort to affordable (more affordable than cigarettes are today) drug abuse has made us neither happier, nor more forgiving.
Almost every man in the Depression/WWII generation smoked and so did a considerable proportion of women, and were they nicer, pleasanter, more tolerant and forgiving fellow citizens than today’s anti-smoking, drug-abusing, abortion-insisting, anti-fossil-fuel, Gaia-worshipping, America-smearing, blame-Whitey-for-everything, finger-wagging, SCOTUS Justice-harassing, in-your-face nags?
The Cloud People made a bogeyman/enemy of tobacco, while turning a blind eye to inversely proportional, massively increased drug abuse.
I don’t think my theory lacks merit. But, as they say, your mileage may vary.
Thank you! That was awesome, Mellencamp, is an American Treasure, his style, is right out of the Blues.
Cougar’s a local boy, born and raised south of here in Seymour, currently lives in a big crib west of here in Bloomington. I hired a carpenter to help me build my office-garage-workshop 16 years ago. That dood was the lead framer on Cougars new crib in B-town. Said he was a flatdik and suffered from the little man complex. He’s slow making payments. Never met him but I believe he and I would have a personality conflict. In past June 21st’s my wife and I always go to the Sonic in Seymour and rip up foot long chili dawgs (there’s no Tasty Freeze around here). Then we drive around the area a bit. We found a 19th century train station that had been converted to an everything Cougar museum and we went inside. We spoke to the proprietor for about 15 mins and left. I don’t remember much about the contents but do remember the detailed wood trimwork through out. He needs to get his bottle, his shotgun, and his mutt and go sit on the porch and shut his ass.
Never got into his music, considering him a wannabe bruce strinkstream.
Their politics are about the same though.