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It sounds like Sunday. In the great tradition of Tom Rush’s “Rockport Sunday” and Jimmy Buffett’s “Duke’s on Sunday.”

Sunday… A funny day. A workday if you’re in Israel, I was reminded of that watching “Srugim,” but in America it’s a day of rest. Not for retail and service workers, we now expect everything to be open 24/7, but most people are not going to their jobs, but they’re anticipating working the following day. You wake up still relaxing, you read the newspaper, have an activity and as it reaches the six o’clock hour your spirits start to sink. It was especially bad when I was still in school. Actually, in college Sunday was a study day, you messed around Friday, licked your wounds and gave it your all on Saturday and then back to the books…if you weren’t studying on Sunday at Middlebury you were an outcast, someone noted by others, a renegade. But in grade school, high school, you had to finish your homework, go home relatively early, the following morning, Monday, it was back to the grind.

I’ve been to Salford. It’s right next to Manchester. I went there with Tony Wilson for a gig. He was getting paid a few quid to give insight to the government. No preparation, off the top of his head, his whole life was preparation.

I bought “Shoot Out the Lights.” I own more Richard Thompson albums than I can count, or find. I even own Fairport Convention’s “Full House,” I saw that tour at the Fillmore East. And I respect Richard’s playing, but I rarely play him.

So my college buddy sent me a playlist of the days of the week. It was long and it contained acts that I was stunned he knew, how did he find them, and a bunch of tracks I’d never heard, like “Salford Sunday.”

I got it immediately. I was entranced. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head for days. Not that it’s new, it came out in 2013, and by time I saw Richard in 2014 it was out of the set list. But it’s new to me.

Now “Salford Sunday” is never gonna be on the hit parade. At best it can be a staple on AAA stations on Sunday. How are people supposed to find it? How are people supposed to find anything these days?

Salford Sunday, skies are weeping
Dawn is creeping, through the blind

There are two kinds of people, night and day, literally. The day people boast about how early they get out of bed. Even 4 a.m., their goal is to get ahead of everything. Night people are already discouraged, they know they’re already behind, they’re more singular, not part of a crowd, they like their aloneness, they come alive when it’s dark outside, they don’t get tired, they get inspired, they don’t have to turn in early, they’re game for anything, they’re up to the challenge.

But the morning is painful. The light especially. It wakes you up. It reminds you of how you don’t fit in. You want the world to leave you alone, you’ll be ready when…you’re ready.

Salford Sunday and I’m walking
Though the rain is pelting down

That’s one of the features of England, the rain, the Beatles even sang about it, and it’s depressing if you cannot leave, but if you’re mobile it’s rewarding, it’s inspiring. Sure, your outdoor plans might have been canceled, but you can rationalize staying home, it’s a mental day off, you can read, play board games. And if you walk outside what you notice most is the quiet, other than the sound of the raindrops themselves.

There’s a train goes back to London
I hate to leave this ugly town

And it kinda is. And the truth is Los Angeles is a pretty ugly town too, but it’s saved by the sun, and the hills.

And the song isn’t solely about Salford and the rain, it’s primarily about a girl and how the protagonist, probably Richard, misplayed his hand, but you don’t need to know any of that, you just have to listen to the music, it conveys the mind-set, the mood.

I can listen to stuff like this all day. Because it puts me into night. Even if I’m smiling and driving with the sunroof open. Because it envelops me in a cocoon, where I can be who I want to be, without interference, without expectations. This is not hit music, made for masses to bump asses to, to show their moves on TikTok, “Salford Sunday” is personal.

Most of the time we’re alone. Wasn’t that Jerry Maguire’s greatest fear? You’d be surprised how many people are just like Jerry, to be left alone with their own thoughts is too scary. But you’ve got no choice, even if it’s just when you put your head on your pillow, before you fall asleep. And music used to evoke this mental space, ride shotgun along with you, like “Salford Sunday.”

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It sounds authentic. Up front and honest. Sans all the crap people put on their records to homogenize them and leak out their essence as they play to the gatekeepers as opposed to the ultimate listeners.

Chris Stapleton is the most revered man in Nashville/country music, how come what competes with him is such watered-down dreck? I’m a big fan of Luke Bryan, but even Pez has more substance, more soul-fulfillment than the tracks on his new album. As for “Build Me A Daddy,” it doesn’t sound like it came from the heart, but a computer, AI could write faux heartstring pullers like this no problem.

On the other hand there’s Americana. It’s just that that scene hasn’t delivered its superstar. Stapleton has one foot in each camp, but he’s not shying away from commerciality, and he knows first and foremost if the music is not appealing, your track is dead in the water.

Now back in the real country days, before KISS-influenced Garth Brooks dominated and subsequently was superseded by the church and babies crowd, country music sounded more like “Starting Over.” Made on a porch, in a bar to express the feelings of those playing it, less about the audience than the thrill of capturing the zeitgeist.

And once Gram Parsons opened the door to the melding of country and rock, and the Eagles blew a hole so big in the landscape that they ended up with the best-selling album of all time, stuff like “Starting Over” fit right in. But there’s no place for this track on Active Rock, and although introspective it’s not quite like what’s played on AAA, which is dominated more by shoegazers and those who can’t quite appeal to everybody, like Chris Stapleton.

Well the road rolls out like a welcome mat
To a better place than the one we’re at

Actually, it doesn’t. This is fantasy. People are packing up and moving less than they ever have in decades, they just can’t afford it.

And I’ve got friends out on the coast
We can jump in the water and see what floats

I’m glad you do, have friends, that is, otherwise you’d better be rich if you want to move to the coast, at least the one on the left side of the country, the one that borders the Pacific. And the truth is it ain’t cheap on the Atlantic either.

We’ve been saving for a rainy day
Let’s beat the storm and be on our way

Then he and she are unique. No one’s been saving. It’s not that they’ve been blowing all that cash on electronics and whiskey, it’s just that they’re barely making enough to make ends meet. Savings? What a concept!

And honey for once in our life
Let’s take our chances and roll the dice
I can be your lucky penny, you can be my four leaf clover
Starting over

Only you can’t. Certainly not if you don’t have a college degree, which you even need to get a gig as a secretary/assistant.

And if you’ve got said degree, you’ve been on a career path since before you graduated. You’ve done internships. This is not the seventies, where you graduate and go in search of yourself, certainly not the sixties. No middle class person, assuming there are any left, would get on that Greyhound in Pittsburgh Simon & Garfunkel sang about, it’d be too dangerous, you’d be scared to get on board.

This might not be an easy time

No b.s. Sherlock.

There’s rivers to cross and hills to climb

Life in these United States is harder than ever, “Reader’s Digest” had to sell its bucolic campus, it only comes out ten times a year these days.

And some nights might feel cold and dark

Especially if you’ve got no heat, if you live in California and there’s a blackout.

But nobody wins afraid of losing
And the hard roads are the ones worth choosing

That’s true. Wisdom. Inspiration. That’s what “Starting Over” is all about, putting you in the mood where you think of the possibilities, in a country where opportunities seem to be drying up.

Some days we’ll look back and smile
And know it was worth every mile

Hopefully. Lower class people split up at a higher rate than the wealthy, assuming they got married to begin with. And monetary woes, hard times, break up relationships, it takes special people to endure together, to not place blame on each other, I know from experience.

Still, what option do you have other than to put one foot in front of the other? Then again, suicide rates amongst white males are sky high, people are too depressed, by the lack of opportunity and the plethora of bills.

In other words, “Starting Over” is aspirational.

But isn’t this like some of the best music? You play it to squeeze out all the bad stuff, you play it to inspire you, to get ready, to tackle the world.

And if “Starting Over” is a hit, radio playlists have changed significantly since I listened to terrestrial radio. It’s a shrinking world. TikTok means more to the younger generation, but the music business was never forward-looking. And the truth is country is bigger on streaming services than rock, the country fans got the message, but just make sure you don’t touch the third rail, politics. No one wants to be Dixie Chicked.

So, “Starting Over” is a minor track, an album track, not a one listen smash you need to immediately tell all your friends about. But you don’t need an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of music to understand it, which today’s metal music tends to require. You can just drop the needle…er, click, and immediately go along for the ride. That’s where we do our traveling these days, in our minds, even before Covid-19.

And the funny thing about “Starting Over” is it sounds just as good on YouTube as it does on Amazon Music HD. It wasn’t compressed, it wasn’t EQ’ed to jump out of the dashboard, but to slowly infect your ears, not only remind you of where you’ve been, but where you’re going.

Now what we’ve learned today is no song is ubiquitous, no song reaches everybody. But if one could, I think it would sound something like “Starting Over,” which is as American as you get. Which begs the question why Stapleton doesn’t address the bigger issues, what’s going on in America today.

Stapleton’s no idiot, he went to Vanderbilt, albeit for only a year. If this music thing hadn’t worked out, he’d be screwed. But my point is this is a thinking man, someone who can cogitate, who can analyze the issues, who could lay some truth on us. Is he afraid of the audience, afraid of alienating someone, especially in the Nashville firmament, in the country music audience? Or has he been beaten into submission by the NashVegas ethos that you can sing about your personal life, but we want no opinions, we don’t want anybody stirring things up, unless it’s to party.

The best songs are written on sheer inspiration. Like Neil Young’s “Ohio.” You feel something and you say it. And that inspiration can strike when you’re doing the dishes, in the shower, usually when you’re not paying attention, when you’re not trying. Which means sometime in the next two months Chris Stapleton will probably be inspired. Nobody is apolitical, we’ve all got feelings. And if he were lay his down, people would listen, because he’s the king of Nashville, anointed even by all those soulless bros singing about drinking and partying. People anticipate Stapleton’s work. They don’t play six seconds and skip, they do their best to get into it. And so far, the music Chris has made has rewarded them. So, unlike the words of almost anybody else, Stapleton has the best chance of being heard, and despite all the naysayers, never underestimate the power of a song to infiltrate and change the culture, we shall overcome.

It is truly blowin’ in the wind. This feeling. We’re just waiting for someone to pull the thread down from the sky and weave a new tune. You can write, perform and distribute a song in 24 hours. We’re waiting.

Jimmy Buffett and Mac McAnally in conversation together! I guarantee you even the most hard core fan will learn things they did not know before. We go deep into each man’s history, how Mac ended up joining the Coral Reefer Band, and also focus on their respective new albums. It’s a treat!

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She’s not afraid to play Trump’s game.

Unlike the Democrats. They’ve been so busy playing it up the middle, afraid to have an edge, that they’re at risk of losing.

Not that you can say that, because the groupthink posse will come and excoriate you.

You probably don’t have a profile. But if you do, you’re subjected to hate 24/7. Who are these nobodies filled with all this vitriol, who take time out of their day to reply to someone they do not know? I’ve never e-mailed someone who wrote a blog or a newsletter, never posted a comment on the “New York Times” or the “Washington Post” or any other site. Because I’d be one in a zillion, it would have no effect.

But in today’s world everybody believes they’re important and they’re entitled to have an opinion. And what they hate most is when you color outside the lines, when you break the rules, because they can’t. They’ve compromised their entire lives, kissing ass. Or maybe they tried to fly solo and couldn’t make it, because they were afraid to put in the hard work, suffer the slings and arrows as they got better at their skill.

Groupthink. On one side, you’ve got Trump. You’re either with him or against him. Part of Fox Nation or a libtard. On the other, you’ve got an educated elite telling those with less schooling and/or less economic success that they know better and they should be followed, you need to sign on and shut up, as for your individual problems…get to the back of the line, and the people there never get in the door, no action is ever taken, because they don’t have any money.

But Cardi B has money. And a platform. But unlike the entertainment wankers afraid of alienating one potential customer or some corporation who might sponsor her, she’s telling her truth, right away. She’s not contemplating, she’s not triangulating, she’s experienced in the ways of the internet, unlike Biden and Harris and the DNC. Come on, does this year’s campaign look much different from 2016’s? You have a candidate few are passionate about saying what their minions expect and the only people excited are those hoping to coast on the coattails of the candidate if she or he gets elected.

The truth hurts.

DeAnna Lorraine decided to reach out and bite. Cardi B was sitting at home, basking in her fame, and this nobody who got trounced by Nancy Pelosi took a swing at her, and Cardi B swung back with the truth and now it’s all over Fox News.

Yup, according to the DNC insiders, according to the intelligentsia of the left, if the Democrats just stayed home until election day, didn’t protest, just crossed their fingers and hoped for change, the odds of success would be better. You see, according to their theory, protests are driving people to vote for Trump. YES, THE ONES ALREADY COMMITTED TO HIM!

Meanwhile, Biden says he won’t defund the police and his statement is so quiet the right’s lie that he plans to dominates. He could have said yes, we need drastic change, we’re gonna do what they did in New Jersey, because sometimes you’ve got to start over, but that’s too dangerous for the consiglieres, don’t make waves, don’t push any edges, just sit on your hands until November.

Meanwhile, Trump runs circles around Biden with a zillion falsehoods and a ton of outrageousness.

DeAnna Lorraine messed with the wrong woman. Lorraine has 382,300 followers on Twitter and Cardi B has 13.7 MILLION! In other words, whatever Cardi B has to say reaches many more people than anything Lorraine has to say…anything Joe Biden has to say, he’s only got 8.9 million Twitter followers, and if you read Joe’s feed you come to believe either it’s ghostwritten or Biden is the most boring man in America. Twitter is for edge, you don’t pull your punches on Twitter, you go for the JUGULAR!

So, DeAnna Lorraine tweets:

“America needs far more women like Melania Trump and far less like Cardi B.”

Hmm… Melania gets a pass. She’s a foreigner in a party that hates immigrants. She wears a military outfit and unscripted, she’s got nothing to say, she’s eye candy and that’s it. Furthermore, she puts up with her husband cheating on her again and again and again.

But you can’t say any of this. She’s off limits. Whereas it’s open season on every Democrat.

But Cardi B tweeted back…

“Didn’t she used to sell that Wap?”

CRUDE! Maybe you see it that way, but didn’t our president say to GRAB ‘EM BY THE PUSSY? Why does he get a pass and Cardi B does not?

But the Democrats can’t employ this language, they’re afraid of being denigrated, afraid of fighting back, for fear of alienating one potential switch voter when the latest research says there are almost none of these around. That’s right, very few minds are not made up. On the left it’s all about bringing out the vote. But, the Democrats believe they can convert metal fans with the words of Katy Perry.

Everybody uses this language. Our president uses this language, but the Democrats can’t?

Then Cardi B tweeted a censored, topless picture of Melania and said “This pic giving me ” yea you fuckin wit some wet ass pussy ” vibes…just sayin.”

WHEW! JUST SAYIN’!

It was a drop the mic moment. Lorraine wanted to keep the war going but Cardi B had better things to do.

Come on, do you think Trump married Melania for her MIND?

No, you can’t say that either. There’s a double standard. Republicans are off limits but on the left it’s open season. They’re literally fighting with assault rifles on the right, and they’re debating whether to use water pistols on the left. And you wonder why the left loses…it is not in touch with America, it’s so busy triangulating as to be unbelievable, it buries the issues of the average American and if you cross a line the PC police will shut you down. Things are out of whack, but once again you can’t question the wisdom of the DNC which keeps getting it wrong. They made progress DESPITE themselves, with AOC and others picking up the reins. You see the people want change, and they want stars, and AOC is a bigger star than anybody on the hit parade. Talk about enduring slings and arrows, she never backs down, doesn’t worry about picking her moment, she just GOES FOR IT! Then again, she’s in her twenties and the boomers don’t want to give up control of their Democratic Party, to the point where they’ve nominated a milquetoast even older than Trump!

Cardi B was for Bernie. But she’s still on the case, she’ll compromise for Biden, meanwhile the Biden bros can’t stop pissing on everybody who supported Sanders. Maybe they should look to see how Bernie made such inroads, how he resonated with the youth. And as far as the youth not voting, that may be true, but when Cardi B is on the case, she excites young potential voters more than any phone bank.

A rock star is someone not beholden to the system. Someone who does it their way. Someone who is a leader, not a follower. Someone who trusts their instincts. SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS TRUTH TO POWER!

Now this is the America we want to go back to. Someone who strips to make ends meet, lifts herself up (via the internet) and ends up rich and on the national stage trading barbs about the first lady. This is the upward mobility we hope for. But what are the opportunities if your skin isn’t white? You can try and play the white man’s game but they do their best to keep you down to the point your best avenues are entertainment and athletics. So, don’t criticize Cardi B for where she came from, how she made it, and unlike Melania SHE WAS BORN HERE!

It’s easy to take a stand at the end, when everybody else has already weighed in. It’s quite another to push back and defend your turf when you’re at the top of your game, when you’re number one on the chart, when all eyes are on you, when you’re not “off-cycle.”

And then you have entertainers taking general stands, stuff that might come from the right place but doesn’t stick because it’s so bland.

Cardi B is all over Fox News, they believe she crossed a line. But WELCOME TO THE CLUB! No one on the left cares and the whole story will be plowed under by new news soon, like the pardoning of Roger Stone, which is monumental as opposed to this molehill.

Cardi knows the game, because she’s playing it ever damn day. Today you go to the people yourself, you don’t have your PR person call up some news outlet to print a story or have you on a TV channel that few watch. Trump redefined the game and the Democrats believe it’s beneath them. There are those unwritten rules, like in baseball, where you must take the pitch on a 3-O count. Are you following this kerfuffle? Once again, the oldsters are aghast, whereas the youngsters know no one plays it that way no more.

When the revolution comes, and it could happen as soon as November, victory will not be had in the courts but the street. Yup, I don’t care how rich you are, it’ll be about manpower. Take your pick, if either Biden or Trump wins there are gonna be some very unhappy campers. And who are those on the left gonna listen to? Probably Cardi B and LeBron James. People who’ve been talking the talk and walking the walk from day one.

Here’s looking at you kid.