Operation 365... Blog 135... Happy Birthday To Me!

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 143 JJ with Wes Davis & Blowski - "Running Out of Time" - 4-6-2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SexxlVCRHkg

I wish to start this birthday blog of mine with a thanks to all the folks on the Facebook and in real life who have gone out of their way to salute the anniversary of the day I was born. It's only 9:35 AM and I' ve already wrote notes back to dozens of friends on the Facebook and Nigel jumped or fell out the window of my moving car. Fear not. That pup is fun. Resilient little bugger, he is.

This "Running Out of Time" here, was one of my personal highlights on the tour for several reasons, the largest of which was the presence of my friend Peter Nairn at The Naked Lounge in Sacramento, that night. Peter and I co-wrote this jam years ago, after my "Songwriting and Collaboration" class that I was teaching at SDSU, finished. He was one of the students. In his fifties, Peter runs casinos and is a great British fellow. He and I wrote 5 or 6 tunes after the class was over and a couple of them made it to my CDs and still get played and we became pals as well. Hadn't seen him in awhile so it was great to catch up with he and his wife, Ingrid. It felt to great to show him we are still playing these songs.

"Running Out of Time" is one of my most significant songs by a landslide. My band played it twice as it changed years on New Year's Eve. Well, once we missed the countdown and it was awkward, but the next year we hit it spot on. Also, my friend Hugh Gaskins really liked this song and had his band learn it for his wedding last year. I sat in with them on it at the wedding and it was a really cool experience to play one of my songs with someone else's band. My friend's band and HIS wedding, no less. Very cool. As this was happening, my wonderful girlfriend Leanne fell in love with me, or so she claims, and that is the last thing on this planet that I am going to argue with. Hallelujah!

Today, our dear friends Steve and Tara are getting married. I am the wedding announcer, like I was for Hugh's wedding. It will be a fun affair. Huge congrats to them. Enjoy "Running Out of Time" from the Naked Lounge in Sacramento, CA, recorded on our recent tour, April 6, 2011.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 143 "Happy Birthday" by Patty and Mildred Hill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_sc-Fw7beo

So this tune is a big bunch of drama. Let's put aside my stirring and disturbing tribute to myself and Marilyn Monroe for a second. Did you know people are fighting about who wrote this song. Guess why? Money. How'd ya know?

Long story short. These two ladies, Patty and Mildred Hill supposedly wrote the melody for "Happy Birthday" in 1893. Some say they borrowed it from some even older popular song, called "Good Morning To All." Then the lyrics first appeared in print in 1912. So how is someone collecting royalties for this still? Glad you asked. Some company, The Summy Comapany, in fact, got a copyright on it in 1935, crediting authors Preston Ware Orem and Mrs. R.R. Forman. In 1990, Warner Brothers bought this company for 15 million dollars. It claims the copyright goes until 2030 and i'll bet you a tons they somehow finagle it that that's extended indefinitely. The reason is, these huge corporations have so much money that they feel the laws dont; apply to them. If they don;t like a law, they just lobby (or bribe) whoever is necessary to get it the way they want. This is the same reason Disney has kept Mickey Mouse from becoming public domain even though that should have happened years ago. It never will.

Thanks to wikipedia for all that info. SO yes, Warner Brothers, a company worth billions, felt the need to "acquire" "Happy Birthday", from someone it appears had nothing t o do with writing it, just so they can make even MORE money. Capitalism begats extreme greed. Is there any end? It's "Happy Birthday" from Christ's sake. Why do you have to own it? Or steal it? Or claim tro own it, when two ladies wrote it over 100 years ago and you paid them zero. Greed. It makes me sick and misses the whole point of existence. To share, love and celebrate life every precious second that you can. That is the point. Not being a greedy bastard.

Oh, yeah Happy Birthday to me. I hope this video disturbe you, but only a little but. Slight discomfort only. It's supposed to be funny. Ha!

NOTE: youtube thinks it's funny. They said add "funny" and comedy" to the tags, so congrats to them on their new great sense of humor.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 143 "They Say It's My Birthday"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDZ-CWTN2AE

So, I went and found a song that IS in the public domain to give me a little boost on my original song for today. Thanks to Mr. Traditional for his work on the classic "On Top Of Old Smokey." I was trying to re-post a "Happy Birthday Angel" song I made up for my pooch on her 9th birthday a year and a half ago, but I couldn't figure out how to rip it off youtube to give it the 365 treatment. I went back to the drawing board and found this future annual birthday treasure, "They Say It's My Birthday."

I can easily envision generations of elementary age student tributing each other on their special days with excerpts from this future classic. Crowning, homosexuality, caesarian deliveries, Facebook. I think it has all the push-button phrases that will frame children's perspectives moving forward. It is all very clear to me now. The future of birthday songs has arrived. It is here on the Operation 365. Happy Birthday. Me.