July, Justice, Journey

Photo by Anna-Louise on Pexels.com

I made a playlist on Amazon Music for July 2019 “July, Justice, Journey”.  It currently has 19 songs (I might add to it later on), and runs about an hour.  The songs are at the moment ordered like this:

1. Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland
2. America, the Beautiful performed by Ray Charles
3. This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, performed by Peter, Paul & Mary
4. If I Had A Hammer by Pete Seeger
5. Alabama by John Coltrane
6. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel by Taylor & Dallas, performed by Nina Simone
7. Feeling Good by Newly & Bricusse, performed by Nina Simone
8. Song For The Morning Star by Carlos Nakai
9. One Tin Soldier by Coven
10. Where Have All The Flowers Gone by Pete Seeger, performed by Joan Baez
11. Untold by Matthew West
12. Welcome To Our World by Chris Rice
13. Concordia by Yo-Yo Ma and Dave Brubeck
14. Saturday In The Park by Chicago
15. Forever Young by Bob Dylan
16. On A Clear Day by Lane & Lerner, performed by The Oscar Peterson Trio
17. Higher Love by Steve Winwood
18. Happy by Pharrell Williams
19. On A Clear Day by Lane & Lerner, performed by Barbra Streisand

Many people would expect a playlist for July to include some patriotic hymns and Americana folksongs or even peace-and-justice protest music.  In addition to such as these, I’ve included some other instrumentals and vocals that you might find surprising.  My theme is the journey toward justice for “the common man”, which is all of us, each of us.  So, on this July 4th when Americans rightly celebrate our independence as a nation, I also celebrate my hope for justice, freedom, life for all people and every individual human-being ever conceived.

 

Looking Forward

I am looking forward to…

1. Having two days off in a row!  (Most of my career I’ve had only one whole day off per week.  When I had two days, they weren’t in a row.  Having two days off in a row is awesome!  It turns out two is different from one plus one!)
2. Having the weekend for my days off!
3. Going to family social events!  (They are usually scheduled on weekends.)
4. Having my summers off!  (I like having big swaths of time for creative work and special projects.)
5.  Traveling!
6.  Not being censored!
7. Being able to discuss “verboten” topics.  (Certain topics came up in class and the profs told us that they and we were “not allowed to discuss” some of them.  I thought that meant in class.  Later I learned that the profs couldn’t even discuss them outside of class!  I had never heard of an educational institution censoring discussions let alone prohibiting topics.  Plus, the Vatican really doesn’t want any Catholic discussing certain topics!)
8. Not concerning myself with local politics.
9. Not concerning myself with “tribal” thinking and parochial perfection.
10. Trying new things!
11. Growing!
12. Living!