Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Loudon Wainwright III Doing "Homeless".
CD Review
Last Man On Earth, Loudon Wainwright III, Red House Records, 2001
Okay, I have written plenty of prose stuff about the trials and tribulations, political or otherwise, of my generation, the now aging children of the "Generation Of '68. But who will chronicle in song or verse the "not going gently into that good night", as Dylan Thomas would have it, of that generation? Well, I have at least a contender for that position in the songwriting division, Loudon Wainwright III. For those who are unfamiliar with the name Brother Wainwright was something of well known, if secondary, figure on the 1960's folk revival circuit. If that is not enough information then he was once married to Kate McGarrigle, one of the accomplished folk- singing McGarrigle sisters. If that is still not enough then he played, in several episodes at least, the guitar- strumming GI in the television series "MASH". For the younger set, Loudon is Rufus Wainwright's father. There, I think I have touched all the bases.
Why is Brother Wainwright my candidate for the oracle of the swan song of our generation (it appears that he is an almost exact contemporary of mine)? Well, just take a listen to this CD(or read the lyrics)," Last Man On Earth", and you will know. Sure, it is a little light on the need to continue the political struggle that we started in our youth but on the questions of losing parents, reconciling with the lost of parents, reflecting on that fact that some issues between the generations never got resolved (and now never will) and dealing with the inevitable, if sometimes humorous, medical questions, of our own aging process he is right on.
That list of issues further includes the whys and wherefores of a lifetime of frustration about artistic endeavors (or whatever road we traveled), the little question of immortality and the now really big question of how to get through to the next day. It is all there. I want to say that this is a man's CD, and as to subject matter and "feel" it is, but I think Brother Wainwright has captured many a dilemma that we can all, male and female, relate to. Hell, Rufus can sing to the kids, Loudon is ours. That is the "skinny" here from one "last man on earth" to another.
Last Man On Earth Lyrics
In the year 2000
my age was 53
born in the first half
of the last century
I always was post-modern
but that's ancient history
Now I'm the last man on Earth
that's what the matter is with me
I guess I'm old fashioned
Retro to a degree
you could say I'm a throw-back
anachronistically
air conditioning is here to stay
and that makes me unhappy
cause I'm the last man on Earth
that's what the matter is with me
I don't have a portfolio
I gotta pleed guilty
the best things are the worthless now
that's just because they're free
and if your not a millionaire yet
boy, you better be
Now, I'm the last man on Earth
that's what the matter is with me
I should be optimistic
and go buy some bonds and stocks
They'll find a cure for Cancer soon
we may get trigger-locks
existence is no picnic
as statistics all have shown
we learn to live together
and then we die alone
everybody's got a website
but that's all Greek to me
I don't own a computer
I hate that letter "e"
I don't pack a cell phone
or drive an SUV
Yes, I'm the last man on Earth
that's what the matter is with me
I'm the last man standing
save the last dance for me
I've taken the last train to Clarksville
I'm the fifth monkey
nice guys always finish last
no one's nicer than me
Yeah, I'm the last man on Earth
That's what the matter is with me
Kid's used to say their prayers at night
before they went to bed
St. John told us that God is love
Nietzsche said he was dead
this thing we call existence
who knows what it all means?
Time and Life and People
are just glossy magazines
I sat and watched those guys
debate each other on TV
politicians, wrestlers
they're all the same to me
hey, I don't give a damn
which idiot runs this country
Since I'm the last man on Earth
It don't matter to me
In the year 2000
my age was 53
I know that I'm grumpy
middle-aged crazy
but if you are a woman
you might have to sleep with me
Since I'm the last man on Earth
and I can guarantee
I'm the last man on Earth
and there ain't nothing wrong with me
White Winos Lyrics
Mother liked her white wine
She'd have a glass or two
Almost every single night
After her day was through
San se chardonnay chaiblie
Pinot gris jiot
Just to take the edge of
Just to get the glow
You've got to take the edge off
If you wanna get the...
Mother liked her white wines
She'd have a glass or three
We'd sat out on the screen porch
White winos mam and me
We'd talk about her childhood
Recap my career
When we got to my father
That was when I'd switch to beer
We got to the old man
And I'd always switched to
Mother liked her white wine
CHORUS:
I go to the graveyard where we all must go
Among the dead & the buried there just so I will know
What it's like beneath those trees listening to that wind
I go to the graveyard & I'll be back again
I played in the graveyard when I was just a boy
I'd run among the headstones myself I would enjoy
But I was young & hardly knew what would happen then
I played in the graveyard & I'll be back again
I walk through the graveyard I read the headstones
So many dead & buried there, each one all alone
An old man and an infant & a little child of ten
I walk through the graveyard & I'll be back again
My father's in the graveyard, my dear mother too
I viit them with flowers what else can I do
I go to the graveyard to remember them
I'm an orphan in the graveyard & I'll be back again
CD Review
Last Man On Earth, Loudon Wainwright III, Red House Records, 2001
Okay, I have written plenty of prose stuff about the trials and tribulations, political or otherwise, of my generation, the now aging children of the "Generation Of '68. But who will chronicle in song or verse the "not going gently into that good night", as Dylan Thomas would have it, of that generation? Well, I have at least a contender for that position in the songwriting division, Loudon Wainwright III. For those who are unfamiliar with the name Brother Wainwright was something of well known, if secondary, figure on the 1960's folk revival circuit. If that is not enough information then he was once married to Kate McGarrigle, one of the accomplished folk- singing McGarrigle sisters. If that is still not enough then he played, in several episodes at least, the guitar- strumming GI in the television series "MASH". For the younger set, Loudon is Rufus Wainwright's father. There, I think I have touched all the bases.
Why is Brother Wainwright my candidate for the oracle of the swan song of our generation (it appears that he is an almost exact contemporary of mine)? Well, just take a listen to this CD(or read the lyrics)," Last Man On Earth", and you will know. Sure, it is a little light on the need to continue the political struggle that we started in our youth but on the questions of losing parents, reconciling with the lost of parents, reflecting on that fact that some issues between the generations never got resolved (and now never will) and dealing with the inevitable, if sometimes humorous, medical questions, of our own aging process he is right on.
That list of issues further includes the whys and wherefores of a lifetime of frustration about artistic endeavors (or whatever road we traveled), the little question of immortality and the now really big question of how to get through to the next day. It is all there. I want to say that this is a man's CD, and as to subject matter and "feel" it is, but I think Brother Wainwright has captured many a dilemma that we can all, male and female, relate to. Hell, Rufus can sing to the kids, Loudon is ours. That is the "skinny" here from one "last man on earth" to another.
Last Man On Earth Lyrics
In the year 2000
my age was 53
born in the first half
of the last century
I always was post-modern
but that's ancient history
Now I'm the last man on Earth
that's what the matter is with me
I guess I'm old fashioned
Retro to a degree
you could say I'm a throw-back
anachronistically
air conditioning is here to stay
and that makes me unhappy
cause I'm the last man on Earth
that's what the matter is with me
I don't have a portfolio
I gotta pleed guilty
the best things are the worthless now
that's just because they're free
and if your not a millionaire yet
boy, you better be
Now, I'm the last man on Earth
that's what the matter is with me
I should be optimistic
and go buy some bonds and stocks
They'll find a cure for Cancer soon
we may get trigger-locks
existence is no picnic
as statistics all have shown
we learn to live together
and then we die alone
everybody's got a website
but that's all Greek to me
I don't own a computer
I hate that letter "e"
I don't pack a cell phone
or drive an SUV
Yes, I'm the last man on Earth
that's what the matter is with me
I'm the last man standing
save the last dance for me
I've taken the last train to Clarksville
I'm the fifth monkey
nice guys always finish last
no one's nicer than me
Yeah, I'm the last man on Earth
That's what the matter is with me
Kid's used to say their prayers at night
before they went to bed
St. John told us that God is love
Nietzsche said he was dead
this thing we call existence
who knows what it all means?
Time and Life and People
are just glossy magazines
I sat and watched those guys
debate each other on TV
politicians, wrestlers
they're all the same to me
hey, I don't give a damn
which idiot runs this country
Since I'm the last man on Earth
It don't matter to me
In the year 2000
my age was 53
I know that I'm grumpy
middle-aged crazy
but if you are a woman
you might have to sleep with me
Since I'm the last man on Earth
and I can guarantee
I'm the last man on Earth
and there ain't nothing wrong with me
White Winos Lyrics
Mother liked her white wine
She'd have a glass or two
Almost every single night
After her day was through
San se chardonnay chaiblie
Pinot gris jiot
Just to take the edge of
Just to get the glow
You've got to take the edge off
If you wanna get the...
Mother liked her white wines
She'd have a glass or three
We'd sat out on the screen porch
White winos mam and me
We'd talk about her childhood
Recap my career
When we got to my father
That was when I'd switch to beer
We got to the old man
And I'd always switched to
Mother liked her white wine
CHORUS:
I go to the graveyard where we all must go
Among the dead & the buried there just so I will know
What it's like beneath those trees listening to that wind
I go to the graveyard & I'll be back again
I played in the graveyard when I was just a boy
I'd run among the headstones myself I would enjoy
But I was young & hardly knew what would happen then
I played in the graveyard & I'll be back again
I walk through the graveyard I read the headstones
So many dead & buried there, each one all alone
An old man and an infant & a little child of ten
I walk through the graveyard & I'll be back again
My father's in the graveyard, my dear mother too
I viit them with flowers what else can I do
I go to the graveyard to remember them
I'm an orphan in the graveyard & I'll be back again
It is a very nice and good post. Keep up the good work.
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