I've had quite a few busy days in a row, so I haven't been keeping up sharing my music...so I'm continuing that now.
Thanks for anyone who reads and listens. :)
Music Series #4 - Tracy Chapman "Gimmie One Reason" "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" "For My Lover"
Tracy Chapman is an artist I hold very dear to my heart. And here is a story about the wisest man who ever lived. :)
My grandfather was an ill man from smoking too much, among other things. So during the last segment of his life - which is the bulk of mine - he lived in his room. He was bound to a wheelchair, so he lived in his room with a TV, stereo, word processor, Omnichord, and his bed.
He had no teeth, had dentures but never wore them. Never stopped him from eating though, he even ate Doritos with us, lol. He had Parkinson's disease, and so even though there was a time he could play guitar and piano, he couldn't play because of the shaking, so he learned to play the Omnichord. It's hard to describe just what an Omnichord is. But it was the last thing my Grandfather was able to play, and we loved it.
It's worth noting that my Grandpa was the pillar of the family, and all of our family's inspiration and mentor. Losing him changed our family's dynamic forever. To me, he was the wisest man who ever lived, and I have based every decision I have ever made on what he would do, or who he was.
My Grandmother had four children with four different men, and when my Grandpa asked about dating her, he was told that she had a lot of kids. My Grandpa didn't care. He walked right up to her door, saw all four of them - including my father - through the screen door, and proceeded to ask my Grandmother out in front of them. He never once saw it an issue she had kids, and my dad and aunt and uncles never felt fatherless.
That speaks volumes about a man.
That four young children would get together and go ask a man if it was ok if they called him "Dad."
I never knew my Grandpa was not my flesh and blood until HE told me that story. And with tears streaming down his lovely face. He had a dozen grandchildren that loved him more than the world, and we never knew the difference.
We would oft go back into his bedroom, (because he was 95% confined to a wheelchair, and the hallway was very narrow) and spend time talking to him. A group of us children, or any of us individually. Our parents, and even their friends would travel down that hallway to sit on his bed and spend hours talking, learning, and regaling old and wise stories with him. He was a master of raunchy humor, and wrote a collaboration of short "dirty joke" stories called "Pissing in the Wind" that my brother (comic, author, publisher) has since published. He would sometimes say to me "I don't like kids." "I love em." The first line he was so good at saying he always sold it, then the next line would induce the giggles. He used to start counting my freckles at some random number in the millions, always gradually increasing the numbers over the years, lol.
He wrote letters to presidents and politicians and received personal letters back. He helped me write political speeches and honed my political knowledge and my articulation and vocabulary.
He emphatically made us kids cringe when telling us about the birds and the bees, and demanded we be sex positive, and argued with our parents for not talking to us and being lame and teaching us to feel shame. I'm a far better Mom, and an LGBTQ warrior because he gave me the vocabulary, dynamic, and bravery to speak for people so they wouldn't be exposed and denigrated.
He taught me about God, and he was the wonderful person who introduced me to the Blues. <3
Many years after he died, my Grandmother and I happened upon some of his cassette recordings one night, reminiscing through boxes of pictures and memories, and of course we dusted off the cassette player and popped it in. He did some covers of a beautiful Jules Sonnier song, and a few gospel songs. At one point he started to record a song (Lorelei) with his Omnichord; and he's singing away and Grandma and I are lost in it and enjoying the song and I guess his shaky hand hit the wrong key, and he huffs and says "Well, SHIT!" My grandmother and I both just busted into laughter and weeping at the same time.
It was like a piece of his humanity was shown and in that instant it reminded us both of how much we loved him and missed him.
Grandpa wrote music too. He wrote a song called Lorelei, about a WWII soldier who goes off to war and leaves his beloved Lorelei behind. The first verses are letters, and the last verses are them communicating through ghost lament and prayer. It's absolutely beautiful and my Grandma sang the female part. My sister Lorelei is named after that song. I think it's worth mentioning the girls' names in my family:
Melissa - Sweet Melissa - ABB
Jessica - Jessica - ABB
Lorelei - Lorelei - Frank Charboneau
I was born into music, and I feel blessed for that, and for getting to know the great man that was Frank Charboneau, descendant of Toussaint Charbonneau: rebel rouser, bullshitter, and womanizer, expeditioner and trapper extraordinaire.
And it would come as no surprise that he showed me the raw beauty that is Tracy Chapman. Sitting on his bed; talking, joking, singing and listening to music, was the first time I ever heard her music. He showed me "Gimme One Reason," and I instantly knew that even though I was just a 14 year old girl, this song would always have an importance in my life. I have since performed her song several hundred times at dozens of bars. And afterwards I would have people come and ask me "What is that song?! It reminds me of a memory." (sigh)
Her music is incredible, so bluesy and folksy. And raw honesty about life, love, God, and the times. Listening to her music has shaped my political narrative, and made me a smarter woman.
As a kid of a musician slash boilermaker slash bar fly, I wholly related to her music about love, foolish men, and stubborn women. I get it honest.
Ahhhh…music is beautiful.
I'm extremely lucky to have such an enriched musical appreciation and history, and I love that my memories always have a soundtrack. And that my wonderful Grandfather existed in this universe and in my life, even if only for the first 17 years.
For anyone who read this far, thank you. To me, being able to share my stories of him like he did makes me even more proud to have been his grand-daughter, and proud of who I have become.
His life deserved recognition and respect, and sharing his love of music does that for me, and I appreciate everyone for reading and being able to share these snippets of my life, love, and music.
<3
edit: book title correction