(Gulp)

I’ll keep this simple: What songs make you cry? I don’t mean a full-on blubber; that shit is hard for dudes. I’ll settle for tunes that fairly consistently make you feel like you might, any second now, bust out into a good sobfest.

I don’t mind sharing: I had the iTunes on shuffle today and heard “Back To Living Again”, from Curtis Mayfield‘s final album, New World Order. Man, did I come close to losing my manly Cry Composure!

Yeah, I admit that I, Mr. Backstory-Is-Bullshit Man, was nearly felled by the notion that Curtis recorded this number while flat on his back, having to record each line individually because he was paralyzed from the neck down. I mean, just… well, God — just listen to those words. What a capstone to a 35-year career of (to steal from Mayfield fanboy Paul Weller) “upfullness.” The dude had been confined to a bed, paralyzed for 7 years. A year later, he’d have a leg amputated due to complications from diabetes, and a year after that, he’d be dead. And in the middle of all that, “Back To Living Again” is what Curtis had to say.

Shit!

But I gotta tell you, the thing that gets me every time is Aretha Franklin‘s performance. She adored Curtis Mayfield, and I swear you can hear it in her brief cameo at the end there. Shit!

RIP, Curtis Mayfield.

(Gulp)

So anyway — what songs make you cry?

HVB

Rejected by all right-thinking Americans

There are lots of pop artists out there that I’m supposed to like but don’t — and the ratio of pop idols I’m supposed to like versus pop idols I actually like diminishes with each year I advance in decrepitude.

On a recent outing to my favorite Bolivian restaurant, the correctness of my convictions about 1970s/’80s global megastars Boney M was soundly confirmed. That’s because I finally witnessed Boney M in concert, on the big screen usually reserved for soccer matches, while wolfing down my stew. These guys are the perfect distillation of everything that makes me sometimes think the rest of the world — but particularly Germany — is out of its fucking tree. This is what I saw:

Just wanted to make sure you all knew that it’s not like I’ve gone all Euro on you or anything. America still kicks the most ass!

HVB, Super-Patriot

p.s.: I still dig that Kylie song, though.

There are lots of pop artists out there that I’m supposed to like but don’t — and the ratio of pop idols I’m supposed to like versus pop idols I actually like diminishes with each year I advance in decrepitude.

However! While on my recent holidays in Uruguay, I rediscovered a global superstar I had long since tossed on the cultural garbage pile, and discovered that I liked her! In fact, I don’t just like this new, mysteriously improved Kylie Minogue — I really like her. And not just because of the INCREDIBLY HOT cat-suit she prances around in, or the panty flash we get at 1:50 into the above video. No, I actually really like this song of hers. Yeah, it’s derivative. Yeah, there’s nothing new here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t care. I love this song!

HVB

Okay, much as Mick Taylor’s leaving The Stones really never led to anything great, it did lead to several things that aren’t bad. This collaboration isn’t one of them. John Phillips ended up releasing the session as Pay, Pack and Follow, probably as a result of this bootleg getting out. The sound quality here was more than good enough for me so I never bothered to get the official release. I remember at the time getting up on my fanboy soapbox and loudly proclaiming, “The Rolling Stones are nobody’s backing band!”

Anyway, here are four tracks. I can get you the other two, including the icky “Zulu Warrior” if you really want. Just let me know and we can work it out. But I really think this is enough to burden the Hall members with. Do they all seem much longer than they really are to you? They do to me.

Enjoy!

“Mr. Blue”

“She’s Just 14”

“Wilderness of Love”

“Oh Virginia”