On Paul Anka’s birthday
By Steven Brodsky
… Paul Anka was born on July 30, 1941.
Happy 85th birthday wishes go out to Paul Anka!
Posted 7-30-26
Dion (Dion DiMucci) turned 87 years old today
By Steven Brodsky
… Dion was born on July 18, 1939.
Happy birthday wishes go out to Dion!
Some of this column’s readers will be singing the lyrics of “Runaround Sue” when they listen to this audio embed (as will I):
Posted 7-18-26
Personal independence
By Steven Brodsky
… is the theme of Bruce Springsteen’s song “Independence Day.”
The song was performed by Bruce Springsteen in Paris, fittingly on July Fourth (in 2012).
Independence Day 2026 draws very nigh, especially opportune to watch this video of that performance:
Have a happy Independence Day.
See Galatians 5:1. You’ll find this verse at: https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb20/gal/5/1/s_1096001.
Posted 7-1-26
Which legendary songwriter, recording artist, and performer turned 83 years old today?
By Steven Brodsky
… Anticipation arising from this question ends now.
It’s Carly Simon, who was born on June 25, 1943.
Happy birthday wishes go out to Carly Simon!
Posted 6-25-26
I could tell you about my old man
By Steven Brodsky
… In advance of Father’s Day (which will arrive on June 21, 2026), though, I’ll let Steve Goodman’s autobiographical song “My Old Man” tell us about Goodman’s dad.
Steve Goodman was more vulnerable than most of us want to be.
I’m grateful that he was.
A 2017 interview that I did with Clay Eals, author of Steve Goodman: Facing the Music, includes discussion about Goodman’s “My Old Man.” That interview is posted at: Conversations With Clay Eals, author of ‘Steve Goodman: Facing the Music’ – delcoculturevultures.com.
Posted 6-10-26
On Bob Dylan’s 85th birthday
By Steven Brodsky
… Happy birthday wishes go out to Bob Dylan!
Bob Dylan was born on May 24, 1941.
The meaningfulness of this song hasn’t aged out at all for many longtime Dylan fans:
May Bob Dylan be forever blessed!
Posted 5-24-26
‘Gotta Serve Somebody’
By Steven Brodsky
… penned by Bob Dylan, was recorded by Dylan on May 4, 1979.
That recording appears on the opening track of Dylan’s 1979 album Slow Train Coming. It garnered Dylan the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male.
In commemoration of the 47th anniversary of Dylan recording “Gotta Serve Somebody,” enjoy:
Posted 5-4-26
Haunted by that summer feeling?
By Steven Brodsky
… Yes, it’s spring in the Northern Hemisphere, but no matter the season where readers are located, that summer feeling has a way of haunting people.
Perennially enjoyable for many of us, Jonathan Richman’s “That Summer Feeling”:
Posted 4-11-26
Prime spring picnic weather is coming to many regions in North America in the coming weeks
By Steven Brodsky
… Hopefully, a song character that we last visited here in spring 2023, the self-referenced “sad sack Sir Galahad” from Harry Chapin’s “If My Mary Were Here,” will be able to truly enjoy “cheddar cheese and wine” or another picnic food and non-alcoholic beverage with the woman he spoke of as “my Mary,” and if not with that Mary, with someone whose presence will help ensure that a picnic will be mutually enjoyable during spring 2026. His unenviable situation was no picnic.
Happy picnicking.
Posted 3-22-26
Leonard Cohen and Billy Joe Shaver drew upon the same Bible verse
By Steven Brodsky
Note to readers: This article appeared at: https://delcoculturevultures.com/2025/03/10/conversations-about-faith/. Does Isaiah 64:6 raise questions for you? You may find answers to those questions at: https://www.gotquestions.org/imputed-righteousness.html.
… The verse is Isaiah 64:6. As translated in the King James Version, the verse reads: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
I’m writing about Leonard Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will” and Billy Joe Shaver’s “If You Don’t Love Jesus.”
Most people who’ve heard the songs haven’t encountered the verse directly (and most of this column’s readers haven’t heard the Billy Joe Shaver song).
In the Leonard Cohen song, Isaiah 64:6 is alluded to in the line: “In our rags of light, all dressed to kill.”
In the Billy Joe Shaver song, an allusion to the verse appears as: “Take your rotten rags of righteousness and stuff ’em up your self.”
“If It Be Your Will”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXoqQAvkLfQ&ab_channel=LeonardCohen-Topic.
“If You Don’t Love Jesus”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MbF0bc7iEs&ab_channel=Boofitts. The song is “strident,” as I described it during a radio interview that I did with Billy Joe Shaver a number of years ago.
Posted 8-2-21, Reposted and Revised 3-11-25