We’re all a part of God’s great big family
I think the main lesson we have been learning (or, more accurately, re-learning) during this pandemic is that we need to be more mindful about putting others’ needs ahead of our own. Some of us may find it uncomfortable or think it unnecessary to wear masks while out in public, but once we see how we might be infecting others even if we are not sick ourselves, it behooves us to do the right thing and follow the recommended public health guidelines.
So we’re all in this together here in the U.S., but we’re also all part of a global community as co-inhabitants of the same planet. As the virus has made its way from one continent to all the others, it’s been an appropriate time to think about other peoples, other cultures, other climates and life circumstances, to count our blessings and do what we can for those who are suffering.
In past posts on this blog, I have assembled playlists of U.S. states, American cities and world cities, but I’ve yet to compile a playlist of songs about other countries…until now! I have selected 15 songs by popular artists with music and/or lyrics that pay homage of some sort to other nations as well as the U.S.A. Perhaps once the virus has dissipated, we will continue to give more thought to how our actions can affect others, wherever they may be on Earth. This is my hope for what we all get from this challenging experience.
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“Panama,” Crosby, Stills and Nash, 1994
CSN’s “After the Storm” LP was pretty much a dud critically and commercially, but there are still a few decent tracks buried in there. One of them is Stephen Stills’ “Panama,” an ode to the Central American country where he spent time in his early years: “Have you seen Panama, where I first fell in love, it will forever be an emerald necklace set between the seas, so clearly I recall the magic of Panama, and surely never will it let me go, Yo Soy Panameno…”
“Cedars of Lebanon,” U2, 2009
From U2’s earliest records, Bono and The Edge of been writing songs about the injustices and suffering in countries all over the world. From the “No Line on the Horizon” LP, Bono wrote this song about his observations from his seat at a cafe in a village struggling to recover from the presence of war: “Child drinking dirty water from the riverbank, soldier brings oranges he got out from a tank, waiting on the waiter, he’s taking a while to come, watching the sun go down in Lebanon…”
“Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” Gordon Lightfoot, 1967
The CBC TV network commissioned Lightfoot to compose this marvelous song as part of Canada’s Centennial celebration in 1967. The tune tells the story of the Trans-Canada Railway’s construction, balancing the optimism of the 1860s railroad age with the cost in blood and sweat of the “navvies” who labored to get the project completed: “We are the navvies who work upon the railway, swingin’ our hammers in the bright blazin’ sun, layin’ down track and buildin’ the bridges, bendin’ our backs ’til the railroad is done…”
“Mexico,” James Taylor, 1975
Taylor brought a new air of positivity to his sixth LP, “Gorilla,” vividly shown in the irresistible leadoff song, “Mexico.” The lyrics to this buoyant, Latin-influenced tune seem to describe his enjoyable experiences south of the border, but we eventually learn he has been fantasizing about the country and has yet to go there: “Woh, Mexico, it sounds so sweet with the sun sinking low, moon’s so bright, like to light up the night, make everything all right…”
“France,” The Grateful Dead, 1978
Guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart collaborated with Dead lyricist Robert Hunter to write a tribute to France for their “Shakedown Street” LP. Hunter had traveled to the Riviera the previous year and found it every bit as delightful as he anticipated it would be: “Way down in the south of France, all the ladies love to dance, clap their hands and walk on air, yeah, the feeling’s really there, won’t you take a little taste, raise it to your charming face?…”
“Ethiopia,” Joni Mitchell, 1985
Mitchell’s “Dog Eat Dog” LP is full of angry diatribes, a far cry from the emotional heartbreak that made her famous throughout the Seventies. She was moved to write “Ethiopia,” she said, because of the too-brief concern shown by first-world countries during the terrible famine that has plagued the African nation: “Betrayed by politics, abandoned by the rains, on and on the human need, on and on the human greed profanes, Ethiopia, Ethiopia…”
“Never Been to Spain,” Three Dog Night, 1971
This tune, written by Hoyt Axton, may have been a big hit in the US for Three Dog Night, but as the title states, he doesn’t know much about Spain, since he’s never been there. But he knows enough to know that the indigenous music is lively and the native women are friendly: “Well, I’ve never been to Spain, but I kinda like the music, say, the ladies are insane there, and they sure know how to use it, they don’t abuse it, never gonna lose it, I can’t refuse it…”
“Postcards From Paraguay,” Mark Knopfler, 2004
Since the breakup of Dire Straits, songwriter-guitarist Mark Knopfler has quietly yet reliably put out intelligent albums marked by his trademark slow-burn guitar stylings, English folk structures and well-crafted storytelling. On “Postcards From Paraguay” from his “Shangri-La” album, he describes the life of a criminal on the run: “I robbed a bank full of dinero, a great big mountain of dough, so it was goodbye companero and cheerio, I couldn’t stay and face the music, so many reasons why I won’t be sending postcards from Paraguay…”
“Vietnam,” Jimmy Cliff, 1969
Cliff, was among the first reggae artists to have success with U.S. audiences. Like Bob Marley after him, Cliff combined a deep spiritual love of life with a fierce message condemning injustice and war. At the height of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, he released this song on his debut album: “His mother got a telegram, it was addressed from Vietnam, now mistress Brown, she lives in the USA, and this is what she wrote and said: ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ she told me the telegram said, “But mistress Brown, your son is dead…'”
“Little Italy,” Stephen Bishop, 1976
“Careless,” Bishop’s remarkable debut album, is full of gorgeous melodies and polished production. The #11 hit “On and On” got most of the attention, but I’m also partial to “Little Italy,” Bishop’s appreciation for the Italian neighborhoods that bring spirited cultural life to many major US cities: “Ah mama, am I holding on to the wings of a prayer, waiting for Rosie, tell me, do you think she cares, ah, dancing in the streets, in little Italy, ah, they’re all dancing in the streets in Little Italy…”
“Made in England,” Ian Anderson, 1983
Born in Scotland, Anderson also spent his formative years in England, and has lived in both countries off and on his whole life. His love of native folk music is visible through much of the lighter acoustic numbers in the Jethro Tull catalog, and this song, from his debut solo LP “Walk Into Light,” celebrates England’s natural beauty and traditions: “Somewhere in a town in England, could be Newcastle, Leeds or Birmingham… and were you made in England’s green and pleasant land?…”
“Far Afghanistan,” James Taylor, 2015
This is a powerful piece about a land most of us will never know or understand. Taylor’s lyrics do a superb job in giving a mini-history lesson and a look at what U.S. soldiers found during their tours there: “They fought against the Russians, they fought against the Brits, they fought old Alexander, talking ’bout him ever since, and after 9/11, here comes your Uncle Sam, another painful lesson in the far Afghanistan… I expected to be hated and insulted to my face, but nothing could prepare me for the beauty of the place…”
“Move to Japan,” The Band, 1993
The Band had dissolved in 1977, but they reunited without Robbie Robertson to record the LP “Jericho.” On “Move to Japan,” drummer/singer Levon Helm was inspired to write about a friend who gave up on the U.S. job market in favor of Japan’s: “From the unemployment line I see lots to be done, and they’re taking all hands in the land of the risin’ sun, I love my mom and my apple pie, but sayonara Uncle Sam, hello Samurai, hey, we’re gonna move to Japan, the home of the working man…”
“Bangla Desh,” George Harrison, 1971
Natural disasters and a military crackdown by the ruling government had brought about hundreds of thousands of deaths in East Pakistan, soon to be known as Bangla Desh. Harrison’s friend Ravi Shankar, a Bengali native, solicited help from the sympathetic former Beatle, and the result was the “Concert for Bangla Desh” charity event and album, and the “Bangla Desh” single: “Bangla Desh, Bangla Desh, where so many people are dying fast, and it sure looks like a mess, I’ve never seen such distress, now won’t you lend your hand, try to understand, relieve the people of Bangla Desh…”
“American Tune,” Paul Simon, 1973
This amazing song from Simon’s “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon” LP turned out to be prescient about what we’ve been facing here in 2020, and I thought it would be the perfect song to welcome us back home after our trip around the world: “Well, we come on a ship they call the Mayflower, we come on a ship that sailed the moon, we come in the age’s most uncertain hour and sing an American tune, oh but it’s all right, it’s all right, we can’t be forever blessed, still tomorrow’s gonna be another working day, and I’m trying to get some rest, that’s all, I’m just trying to get some rest…”
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Honorable mention:
“China Girl,” David Bowie, 1983; “Give Ireland Back to the Irish,” Wings, 1971; “Angola,” Ambrosia, 1978; “Bermuda Triangle,” Fleetwood Mac, 1974; “Jamaica Say You Will,” Jackson Browne, 1972; “In Germany Before the War,” Randy Newman, 1977; “Panama,” Van Halen.
In the rock era, songwriters in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s made ample use of rivers in dozens of songs, be they #1 hits or obscure deep tracks. The Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water” and Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary,” while not using “river” in their titles, aptly describe life on the paddleboats that navigate the Louisiana waterways.
Influenced by the forlorn music of Hank Williams’ “Long Gone Lonesome Blues,” Springsteen wrote his 1980 title song “The River” as the story of a young couple whose hopes for the future must take a back seat to the realities of life. The river, once the scene of romantic interludes, has now run dry, much like their dashed dreams: “Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse, is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, or is it something worse that sends me down to the river, though I know the river is dry…”
England’s Simple Minds was a hugely popular band in their native UK (five #1 albums), but they struggled to make much chart success here beyond “Don’t You Forget About Me” in 1985. Too bad; US listeners have missed out on many choice tracks on their other dozen album releases. The opening tune from “Good News From the Next World” does a sweet job of pointing out how rivers and people’s lives both take many turns as they progress: “Shadow let go, there’s something you should know, I just found my new direction and I hope you like the key, she’s a river and she’s turning there in front of me…”
Eager to set a new course for himself and his music, Dylan contacted Leon Russell in 1970 to help him produce his next album. He had been struggling with writer’s block as he tried to avoid the political lyrics of his early work, and then during a recording session covering older songs, he had a epiphany about how a river’s current could be likened to the creative muse when it kicks in. “Right now I’ll just here so contentedly and watch the river flow…” The result was a spirited blue tune carried by Russell’s piano, which stalled at #41 when released as a single that year.
Soul singer Al Green wrote this fine tune in 1974 while visiting Hot Springs, Arkansas, located along the Ouachita River. The lyrics make reference to the time-honored tradition of cleansing one’s soul by immersion in the river like a baptism, which Green evidently felt he needed after entertaining lustful thoughts of his first girlfriend. Once he became a pastor, he deleted the song from his performance repertoire for many years. The Talking Heads used a slower tempo and a swampy arrangement in their cover version of the song, which reached #26 in 1978.
“I was raised by a river, weaned upon the sky, and in the mirror of the waters, I saw myself learn to cry…” Fogelberg was born in Peoria, Illinois, which sits on the banks of the Illinois River. Among the songs found on his 1972 debut LP “Home Free” is this tune that presaged the many tunes he wrote about nature and environmental concerns. Fogelberg was best known for the ballads that did well on the charts, but each album had deeper tracks (like this one) that showed he knew how to rock out as well. He died of prostate cancer in 2007 at age 56.
For three or four years, Creedence could do no wrong. Everything John Fogerty wrote and everything the band released turned to gold, albums as well as singles. They came up with a funky rock sound that came to be known as swamp rock, bringing a bayou vibe to rock ‘n roll roots. I’ve always thought “Green River” epitomized the CCR groove, with lyrics that paint an evocative picture of carefree rural life: “Well, take me back down where cool water flow, let me remember things I love, stoppin’ at the log where catfish bite, walkin’ along the river road at night, barefoot girls dancin’ in the moonlight…”
“Exile on Main Street” was viewed unfavorably upon its release but now is considered one of their top three albums. I find it technically sloppy, and I don’t think the songs are as strong as they could be. They could’ve deleted a throwaway like “I Just Want to See His Face” and inserted the sublime “Following the River,” which had been shelved and didn’t surface until the 2010 re-issue as a bonus track. “Oh, if I can’t have you, I’ll be dreaming all about you, ’cause you always brought the best in me, I’ll be following the river, gonna join hands with the sea…”
One of the great unknown bands of the early 1970s that should’ve made it was Lazarus, a folk rock trio from Texas led by the great singer-songwriter Billie Hughes. Their debut LP is truly stunning, with gorgeous soft melodies, soothing harmonies and a fine blend of acoustic guitar and piano.” The album closer, “Rivers,” creatively uses piano to resemble the flow of a river, at first gently flowing and then more aggressively as it hits rapids. In the lyrics, Hughes urges us to live like rivers “which flow freely into the sea, joined in happy congregation.”
Written by Arthur Hamilton in 1953 as a bluesy jazz ballad, this tune was first made famous by Julie London when her smoldering version was featured in the 1956 rock ‘n roll film “The Girl Can’t Help It,” sending it to #9 on the pop charts. Hamilton came up with the title phrase as a way of expressing bitter heartbreak: “You say you’re sorry for being so untrue, well, cry me a river, I cried a river over you…” Most of the 400-plus renditions of the song echoed London’s approach, but Joe Cocker tried a soulful rock arrangement that reached #11 in 1970.
Drake was a tragic example of a very talented musician suffering from “tortured artist syndrome.” He wrote several dozen beautiful folk-rock tunes over three albums in 1969-1974, yet never achieved much success because of his unwillingness to perform due to a severe depression the made him take his own life. The self-analysis that marks a song like “River Man” shows his feelings of unworthiness: “Going to see the river man, going to tell him all I can, if he tells me all he knows about the way his river flows, I don’t suppose it’s meant for me…”
“A river to the ocean goes, a fortune for the undertow, the river empties to the tide, all of this coming your way…” On the closing track of R.E.M.’s popular 1992 LP “Automatic For the People,” the band reminds us of the inevitability of the river’s waters flowing inexorably to the sea, which can be a powerful metaphor for hope. This talented group from Athens, Georgia got their start as one of the pioneers of alternative rock and eventually evolved into a more pop/rock sound that took them to the top of the charts in the early 1990s.
In Canada, Mitchell’s home country, rivers often stay frozen over for many months. When she wrote this gorgeous tune, she was hoping to escape some painful emotional feelings from a romantic breakup and, rather than run away, just skate away on the nearest river. The song appeared on her 1971 “Blue” album and has become something of a Christmas standard in the years since. British singer Ellie Goulding had a #1 hit in the UK with her cover of “River” last year. “It makes me so happy that people have become new fans of Joni as a result,” she said.
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