Operation 365 2... Blog 123

Operation 365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 123 “Rock and Roll Girls” by John Fogerty

I’m trying to get a day ahead in my mind on the covers. “Rock and Roll Girls” did me a favor by popping in my head last night before I went to bed. It was fun pulling up the old video for this jam and learning it today. Nice tune.

“Rock and Roll Girls” was on John Fogerty’s 1985 album “Centerfield.” There were many cool tunes on it in heavy rotation on MTV, back when that was important. Fogerty got sued by an old label, who claimed John Fogerty’s new tune, “The Old Man Down the Road” sounded too much like John Fogerty’s old tune, “Run Through the Jungle.” They said they owned the rights to the old tune and therefore, he ripped them off.

Silliness. Glad Fogerty won. He even set a Supreme Court precedent in 1993 by getting the folks who sued him to pay his legal fees. I’m glad we have the right to play songs that sound like ourselves. Fogerty played all the instruments on this record too. That’s awesome.

Hail Fogerty! What the heck. Hail all Johns!

Operation  365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 123 “Flip the Script (to a Brighter Tomorrow)” by Jefferson Jay

Day 123 is a fun one on the 365. There is something very reassuring and soothing about the elementary nature of the number. It’s like That Jackson 5 jam, “ABC,” of the Seuss book. Perhaps subconsciously this song, I wrote this morning turns the page ideologically to a simpler time. First grade, maybe. Second. However old Michael Jackson was when he was cranking out those first hits with his brothers. Back then, we teach children basic ways to live in the world. Be kind. Share. Love. We teach them how to make friends. Not to hit. Be nice to animals. Play well with others. Honestly that’s the same advice the adults who rule the world need to take now. All of us do, actually.

It’s no magic trick. There’s plenty of ways to make the world OK. We have plenty of everything. Some folks just aren’t ready to share yet. We leave our room, the Earth, a shambles, but we don’t need to do that. We can change the way and care for our space, our home.

I had intended to make up a tune from scratch for you today. I am trying to warm up that skill. I started playing what would become the initial chords to this tune. I realized I liked it a bit more than my average progression, so I set about writing some lyrics and another part or two. It took about a half and hour. Then a played it in a couple of keys and finally, I sped it up. Then it was a bit more snappy and dance-y, a bit less weepy and melancholy.  A nice song, either way.

When I was done, I named it “Flip the Script (to a Brighter Tomorrow) ‘cause that’s what its’ about essentially. Like what Bernie Sanders is trying to do for politics, we need to make the world one we are less ashamed of. We need to make ourselves this way. We can. It is simpler than it sounds. We must embrace change. We must walk toward the light. It’s not a magic trick. It’s far from impossible. It’s remembering, remembering what we teach our children, and then rebuilding our world in that image, one open heart, body, mind… soul, at a time.

It is believing this can be and making it happen each day. It’s not rocket science and even if it was, people can do that, so I know we can do this.

Operation  365 2 - Jefferson Jay - Words - 123 “Buddy Film”


I always thought it would be cool to be in a buddy film, like "Rush Hour" or Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal in "Running Scared,"a male Thelma and Louise, if you will. The trick to a great buddy pic is chemistry and there's no smoother running buddy for me, these days, than my pooch cohort, Nigel.

So here we are, in a trailer, of sorts, palling around, kissing a little... Hey, if I'm going to down this well-tread road, I';m going to have to do it a little different. somehow. Imagine the possibilities.

Thanks to Apple for the "Peach Cobbler."