Flash From The Past: Peace, Love and The O'Jays "Love Train"

I have a very long commute for my next project, so I am incessantly channel surfing to while away the hour-plus drive to the theatre. It's a nasty habit, but I bore easily. So this afternoon, on my way home, I happened upon some station that was playing an oldie but goodie that I fondly remembered from my youth: the O'Jay's 'Love Train'.

Flash back to the chaotic 70s- apart from the economic recession and the gas woes, we were still in the midst of the Vietnam War and the Cold War. There was the Yom Kippur War and the shift from modern secularism to Islamic fundamentalism in Iran, including the Hostage Crisis. We had the Indo/Pakistani War, and Idi Amin's brutal reign in Uganda.

The longest, most divisive conflict was the Vietnam War which, as it dragged on into the 70s, spawned a slew of anti-war tunes from Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On?' to Cat Steven's, pre-Islamic 'Peace Train'. All great songs, regardless of your politics or your stance on that particular war, or any other war for that matter.

Flash forward to 2008, and nothing much has changed. We are in what some people claim is a recession, our gas price woes have tripled, and there is even more chaos in this world then there was back then. Global conflicts abound, the problems in the Middle East have skyrocketed, Russia is poised to create another Cold War, and China is, well- China. Nothing much changed there.

As we continue to live in a world at war, a world that seems unable to embrace anything other than disharmony and discord, those songs about peace will continue to resonate as much today as they did back then. And although there are those who are so enmeshed in lives full of hate, or greed, or so full of desire for power that they've somehow lost their humanity, I still believe, at the core of most civilized beings, is an unquenchable thirst for peace; a desire to live in harmony with our neighbours.

Listening to 'Love Train' again, after all these years, was disarming in some ways. Most of the countries mentioned are the same ones we are having problems with today. But what I like most about the song is its simplistic, implied message: that love can conquer all.

So in the words of the O'Jay's "People all over the world, join in, start a love train, love train."

Aussie Patriot Beccy Cole- country singer puts Dixie Chicks to shame

Happened upon this video of Australian country singer, Beccy Cole, who wrote this song after a trip to Iraq to visit the "Diggers" (soldiers). Grab your box of kleenex... well, maybe not the guys. It's a beautiful tribute.

Granted, we have had our fair share of patriot entertainers, but nice to see it happening across the seas.

Liberal Idiocy- Sheryl Crow and her 1 "square" per

Sheryl Crow is the talk of the radio talk shows with her oh-so innovative ways to help curb the impending global warming crisis. Sheryl and Laurie David (whoever the heck she is) are on a 2 week "global warming college tour", scaring the doodoo out of impressionable young minds, and blogging their way across America in their bio-diesel bus. In her own words:

"I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming. Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. One of my favorites is in the area of conserving trees which we heavily rely on for oxygen. I propose a limitation be put on how many sqares {sic} of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required. "

Yup, that's right. 1 piece 'o "t.p." per person, except for those special "pesky" occasions. One square, that's about the size of the palm of my hand. I don't even want to think about the health implications of one square. I'm taking rubber gloves when I go to public restrooms!

She does now, however, claim it was all a joke. Uhuh! That's what Keith Richards said about snorting his Dad, several days after people balked at that comment! Who knows what she was snorting when she wrote that, but I have a nasty suspicion she more than likely meant what she said. Which just re-affirms how loony the left can be. Her brother ( whose judgement she trusts completely) took it one step further by saying: "how bout just washing the one square out." If anyone was joking it was him. At least I hope to God, he was, because that's certifiable.

Not only is she loony, she (like many libs) is a major hypocrite. Even though she's riding a diesel bus for this particular tour, her normal tour transportation consists of 3 tractor trailers, 4 buses and 6 cars! This is the problem with most of these celebs who cry "global warming", they say one thing and do another. And although many of them drive energy efficient cars at home, they have no qualms about flying their private jets around the world, including John Travolta (who has 5 planes), Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and many others. One trip abroad uses the same amount of fuel that you'd need to run a Hummer for a year. I won't even get into Al Gore's use of more than 20 times the amount of electricity that the average citizen uses in a year.

So that's the poop on Crow. For another interesting earth-saving idea check out her blog. She has a great design idea for detachable "dining" sleeves, to save on paper napkins!

P.S. I googled Laurie David... as many of you probably already know, she's Queen of the Global Warming activists and producer of Gore's "AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH". Who knew.

P.P.S. My Dad says we should grow more corn, use the kernels for ethanol gas and the cobs for... well, you know....., but, I think I'll pass. I'm grabbing my Charmin and using however many squares I darn well choose, thank you very much.

Yusuf Islam-the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens

PEACE TRAIN

"Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is

Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train

Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again."

Remember Cat Stevens, or should I say the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens? Some of you might be too young to remember him. His career, albeit wonderfully prolific, was short-lived. Unfortunately. A mere 12 years. But his music lived on, thankfully, in spite of a request to record companies to stop distributing it. I adored Cat Stevens. Bought most of his albums, when those things still existed. I have them socked away somewhere, probably gathering mold and dust. But he has always been one of my favorite vocal artists. His mellow, folksy often spirited sound touched a chord with most people, in those days, who connected with the spiritual, everyman aspect of his lyrics.

I think I loved the film "Harold and Maude" (one of my faves), first and foremost, because of its appealing soundtrack, which prominently featured Steven's wonderful music. He truly was a musical genius, writing most of his songs in his late teens and early 20s. But a year-long bout with tuberculosis in 1968 and then a near-death drowning experience in 1975 led him on a spiritual quest that ended with his eventual conversion to Islam in 1977, his final performance in 1979 and a 28 year absence from the secular musical spotlight. Cat Stevens, figuratively speaking, 'died' in 1978 and re-emerged as Yusuf Islam. He spent the next several decades dedicating himself to educational and humanitarian endeavours relative to Islam.

I had no idea he had ventured back into the musical field until I saw a recent video of "PEACE TRAIN", and a BBC interview where he discusses his life and his come-back, both on You Tube. It took him all these years to finally come to terms with the idea that his music and Islam could peacefully co-exist. There are factions in Islam that consider music and instruments haram (forbidden).

Yusuf considers himself a moderate Muslim, although there was some criticism of him when, in response to media questions about the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, he agreed that blasphemy was a capital offense. He contends, however, that he did not condone the execution of Rushdie. Gray area, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

In the interview with Alan Yentob, he says of Islam that "Peace...... that is the heart and soul of the religion. Alot... the majority just want to live a happy life and be at peace with the rest of the world. That's the reality." I wish I could believe that, but what I see every single day on TV and in the papers and on videos and on blogs indicates, in no uncertain terms, that it is the antithesis of what he says. Maybe they want to live a happy life, but they don't seem to want peace amongst themselves, let alone the rest of the world. And it's ironic that when he sings "PEACE TRAIN" now, the words "why must we go on hating", ring hollow. Hatred is the catchword for that religion. They hate each other, they hate the west, they hate anything non-Muslim.

Perhaps Yusuf Islam can influence, through his music and his actions, his fellow Muslims to follow a more enlightened, tolerant path, but it seems unlikely. It will be interesting to see what kind of music he does create, after all these years. He finally released a new album of original pop songs, in 2006, but I've only heard one song. I found something missing in his recent performances, some spark of life lacking. Maybe he just needs more time to get his bearings back. Time will tell.


The following is a new rendition of "PEACE TRAIN".



This is the Cat Stevens I remember and loved, also singing "PEACE TRAIN"