Glen Campbell made the song "Galveston" expedient

Stranger than fiction? It took some balls to outwardly protest the Vietnam war in 1969. If you were in commercial entertainment, you still had to be careful. Respecting authority is important in corporate America. U.S. authority felt it had to keep its military commitment in Southeast Asia. And why? 

The popular song "Galveston" of 1969 started out as a pretty direct protest song. It should have stayed that way. 

Songwriter Jimmy Webb, he of "MacArthur Park" fame and others, was spot-on when first creating his lines of lyrics. Don Ho recorded the lyrics that way. It was a highly commendable thing that the Hawaiian did. 

I remember Ho's TV show during his prime, each episode starting with an American tourist family introducing themselves with the spectacular beach in the background. I'm reminded of the "wish you were here" postcards. (A friend and I once joked that New Effington SD should have a postcard like that!) 

Ho's version of "Galveston" was slower. It promoted more contemplation. It really sounded beautiful. But it was Glen Campbell who seized the song and sent it into the pop stratosphere. He had quite the innate talent for that. Don't see why he needed to be married four times or to cut three of his biological children out of his will. His musical gift was enormous. 

The song "hook" for "Galveston" is really just the song title itself. It resonates with such a sense of reach. 

I can think of Galveston TX today because of news of another big hurricane approaching the Gulf coast. Galveston was struck by a hurricane out of hell in 1900. Speaking of hell, there was Vietnam in 1969. I was too young to fear the draft: age 14. My Minnesota Twins were winning the West Division of the American League in the first year of the divisional alignment. I could enjoy such things, free of draft anxiety. And surely the U.S. would be done with its war business by the time I'd be draft-eligible. 

I could follow the Vietnam war sort of in the abstract, nothing that would suck me in, most likely, and it was ditto for older chest-thumping men who might intone "America, love it or leave it." 

The war was part of a strange dichotomy. Our pop culture was delivering such joyful things for us to consume, like the Don Knotts movies. Such innocence and fun. My late father was a huge fan of the "Reluctant Astronaut" movie. My dad served in World War II. He never had anything favorable to say about Vietnam, I can attest. He may have seemed ambivalent for a time. Eventually he'd drop the remark "that war is a bad deal." 

Dad taught at an institution of higher education where young men went to get their deferments. I guess Dick Cheney was quite the fan of deferments. And Donald Trump had his little "bone spur" issue. I guess he can't remember what foot. 

Have we forgotten those times? Just as hurricanes re-visit the Gulf coast, the U.S. can have renewed nightmares with ill-fated military adventures. A huge problem is the knee-jerk way in which a certain high percentage of Americans feel they have to thump chests, to "defend freedom" and the like. Which is all well and good, I mean the belief in freedom, as long as enough American have access to a life free of hardship. 

(vinylminerecords image)

So Glen Campbell in 1969 with his tremendous entertainment savvy did not want to go with Jimmy Webb's original conception of the song. I find that historical accounts try to be generous with Campbell. And with Webb, who acquiesced to changes that at least watered down the song's original message. I have read accounts that say the changes just made the message "neutral." The accounts imply that the mere longing for home and fear of death promoted war skepticism. Well I'd politely say balderdash. 

It is an absolute given that men in war miss home and fear death. This applies to the most defensible of wars like WWII. "Galveston" went from a restless statement type of song to garden variety about men's emotions in war. Even in 1969, I guess, Americans were not ready to appreciate a stinging assessment. 

 

Numbers had gravity

How many U.S. soldiers died in 'Nam in 1969? The number is 11,780. This was down from the peak of 16,899 in 1968. In '68 I observed the Detroit Tigers win the American League pennant and the World Series over the Cardinals. How blessed I was to have my priorities organized in such a way. 

War protests accelerated here in the spring of 1969. Our troop strength in 'Nam reached its peak at nearly 550,000 men. I imagine the female involvement was token. I guess we can blame men for all the great wars. Women are programmed for nurturing. Men seek to dominate and kill. 

We have evolved quite a bit from that. Not enough, perhaps, as our exit from the 20-year quagmire of Afghanistan illustrates now. Some pundits were quick to say "don't compare this to Vietnam." Well, why not? It appears exactly the same. After Vietnam we went through the malaise decade of the 1970s. So, what awaits the U.S. now? Remember "Studio 54?" 

Webb wrote "Galveston" to evoke an image of a soldier separated from his significant other. Originally the lyrics had the man put down his gun when memories of his flame overwhelm him. The focus was on the fears and struggles of young servicemen. Is this really so original? Hasn't this ground been pretty well trampled? I mean, "Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me" (Andrews Sisters). 

Don Ho rendered the song with Webb's original imagery and message. Campbell intervened and went to a patriotic feel. We learn that "In Campbell's version, the song found the same soldier proudly protecting his girlfriend's freedom." Pop music historians refrain from calling this a sellout, strangely. It is a sellout. 

No one suggests that freedom is a bad thing. But "fighting for freedom" can be co-opted by the jingoistic mindset. And that appears to be exactly what happened. Just because the guy finds war to be a bummer, doesn't automatically imply that this is an anti-war song. Of course war is a bummer. And WWII was not "the good war" - necessary perhaps but not good. 

The chest-thumpers always create a smokescreen. Maybe it's just the macho impulse that remains in most men. Consider the sheriff character in the idiosyncratic Clint Eastwood movie "Bronco Billy." 

The soldier in Glen Campbell's "Galveston" does not "put down his gun," rather he cleans it while using memories of home as motivation to remain brave. Hey, it actually sucks. (I smile as I remember the episode of TV's "F-Troop" called "Polish the Cannon.") 

And Webb became a sellout. After Campbell's expedient tinkering, which would have offended me if I'd been the songwriter, Webb put his imprimatur on it. Well, they all took it to the bank. 

Meanwhile, I smile as I weigh my own theory, that people loved the song "Galveston" just because it sounded so good - the music - the rousing feel when he just sang "Galveston, oh Galveston." 

 

How about New Effington?

Glen Campbell had a run of spectacular song hits that had a quite consistent thread: Here's a man thinking about a woman who is not near him at the moment - he pines or obsesses, sometimes convinced that she is thinking the same thoughts about him. I wouldn't be so sure of that. And often the songs are built around a place name: "Phoenix, Wichita, Galveston." So you might call it a "formula." It sure worked. 

I just wish the Don Ho version of "Galveston" had vaulted to the top of the charts. Even in 1969, too many artists were "chicken" about being truly anti-war. The TV series "Star Trek" had "subtle" anti-war messages. Oh, it had to be "subtle." And Martin Luther King Jr. was considered subversive for being ahead of the crowd seeing the war for what it was. So very strange. We are so human an animal.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Fool's gold IMHO: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix"

Is it a songwriting disaster to think a woman should be fixated on a man while the man has mixed thoughts on the matter? If I were to submit lyrics of this type for a critique, would I be guaranteed a frowning face? (I remember an elementary teacher or two who would grade stuff with a smiling or frowning face.) 

Women's liberation has meant that romance works both ways in terms of expectations. In theory, it would seem just as palatable for a woman to ask a man out. Theory does not govern how we actually live - i.e. "chivalry" remains alive. 

People like Bill Cosby and Andrew Cuomo might be seen as fossils from the age of male preeminence. I use the words "might be." We react with some astonishment to their conduct. Well, how could we not? But as I have asked previously, what kind of sex ed did they get as boys? Did they surmise from the world around them, and from the pop culture world, that men are assertive and dangle the lasso, as it were? They "corral" their female quarry. Not sure how Roy Rogers got into this. 

I'm reflecting on a huge hit song from the 1960s as I filter these thoughts through. I have taken to the songwriting craft myself. You might put me down for presumptuousness if I were to share my most frank thoughts about "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." Do I have no right to have substantial reservations about the song? It's art. We all have a right to share as we please. 

I congratulate the songwriter on his obvious boffo success, certainly in commercial terms. The fellow is Jimmy Webb. Previously I have gushed with praise about his song "MacArthur Park," a cantata with distinct melodic ideas, so entrancing it has inspired arrangements for the top big bands. The bands took to the tune like a bear to honey, but this left fans with little or no grasp of the lyrics. Most of us came to know the lyrics. What are the odds of the phrase "left the cake out in the rain" being a springboard for a popular song classic? 

Oh, but you can readily dismiss the odds or formula when reviewing pop song successes. Such songs must simply touch something inside us. 

"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" got stamped in our heads with the Glen Campbell version. Would you believe Johnny Rivers recorded it first? It's jaw-dropping to see how many times the song has been covered, even with the famous "rap" intro by Isaac Hayes. Dean Martin, ever the stylist, did the song just as expected and it went over great. 

So, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" deserves a happy face? Anyone and everyone can be a judge. Go ahead and assess it as such. How well do you even know the lyrics? 

I have long opined that Top 40 songs of this particular era were appealing mainly because of a catchy melody. People in the actual craft of song construction never assert that. I discovered that they have very exacting standards for the lyrics. And yet, as we made our rounds in the mid-20th Century with the radio in the background, how many of us could really supply a synopsis of the lyrics for a particular song? 

Maybe we just understand the basic essence of a particular song's lyrics, and barely that. 

"Gentle On My Mind" - what was the point, what was being described and why? That too was made big by Glen Campbell, he of the "Wrecking Crew" studio background. The "Crew" made it their mission to produce recorded sounds that won the public's affirmation. It was a science like any other professional craft. 

Campbell broke away from the studio obscurity to become a major personality on his own. No question he was a superb artist and hard worker. 

As I segue here into the song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," Ill insert that I wrote my own song in the 1980s called "San Mateo Freeway." "So what?" you might ask. I feel vindicated in a way because my song suggests the same kind of feeling as "Phoenix." Here's a man having drifted from a woman, and he imagines she's probably not over him. My song and the "big one" both suggest the man is hovering in the woman's thoughts and she's probably pining. 

But the man is a jerk: if he really thinks the woman is so special, why can't he get off the pot and just be with her? The songs don't say why the man deemed it necessary to separate himself from this nearly-ethereal significant other. Who is she and why is she so important to him? If he has really separated himself, why doesn't he just move forward with new objectives and fresh "conquests?" Huh, why? 

She's out there in the ether or might as well be. 

Frankly, you can look at the pure lyrics of lots of pop songs - music aside - and find flaws that seem glaring. Things that don't make total sense or don't make sense at all. "Throwaway lines" that seem to have gotten in there just to keep the melody going. 

Webb gained fame and money - he needn't fear my criticism. But I'm astonished about a song that shows an unsympathetic jerk in a way that suggests we should care. I mean, just read the lyrics. A guy is en route to Phoenix, I guess. He imagines this woman finding a note he left her "on her door." Jeez. He imagines her laugh as she reads about him "leavin'." Then to add insult to injury, that stanza ends with a statement about how he has "left that girl so many times before." 

And we should care about this guy? We should care only in the sense that we should care about him getting his butt kicked, n'est-ce pas? 

The song drones on with no new dimensions or revelations. It's just more self-absorption about how the woman still thinks of him, would consider giving him a call "at lunch." This was during the days of pay telephones. Save your money, sweetie, there are countless "fish in the sea" for you to consider, if you're as appealing as the song suggests. Meanwhile the guy just keeps on traveling as if he's some "Bronson" wannabe, searching for something. In the '60s, it seemed all young people were just searching, interminably. Yeah, for something ethereal. 

 

Racking up the miles

The man approaches Albuquerque. Then it's on to Oklahoma. Would you believe, the lyrics imagine the woman in her sleep is calling this drifter man's name "out low?" The line in the lyrics seems redundant: "She'll turn softly and call my name out low." A redundancy would be flagged by a song lyric analyst. We're always supposed to cut the fat and get to the point. It's well-known that top songwriters break the rules even while being well-versed in all of them. Nothing succeeds like success. 

Congratulations Jimmy Webb. In the meantime I am truly proud of my own song written in the 1980s, "San Mateo Freeway." There's a line "maybe she's been searching for me." The hubris is quite parallel to the "Phoenix" lyrics. So why can't my song be a hit? When it comes to popular music, many are called, few are chosen. Alas, a minuscule few. 

I do invite you all to call up my song "San Mateo Freeway" from YouTube. I wrote it at a time when I felt the main goal for a song was to have it "sound good." I really feel I achieved that. As for lyrics, I wasn't into making them multi-layered or nuanced with meaning - largely I just wanted the words to sing good, to "roll off the tongue." I believe this is called "prosody" in songwriting. 

A writer for Elton John's "Yellow Brick Road" album confessed in a documentary that he really was just trying to write words that sang well. He mused about how people had looked for "hidden meaning" in his lyrics. Well, whatever floats your boat. Nothing succeeds like success. Many are called, few are chosen. So it's best to just ply the songwriting craft because of love of the craft. 

A famous anthropologist once said that if your goal when entering the field is to "find the missing link," forget it. Thusly, don't take up songwriting with the idea of getting to the top of the charts with anything. For those who do, like Jimmy Webb, hooray and kudos. You really do set an example. We just have to remember how important serendipity can be. 

 

Hubris or what?

The last stanza of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" makes me cringe again, as the wayward man, road map beside him, imagines this woman will "cry just to think I'd really leave her." 

I can't believe it. Tell the guy to take a flying leap. "She just didn't know I would really go." Maybe she did. You know, maybe she doesn't give a rip. Scratch off this guy's name, honey. He was fool's gold. 

The song is fool's gold IMHO. But perhaps it vindicates my effort with "San Mateo Freeway." I love working San Mateo CA into a song. "Maybe she's been searching for me, and maybe what we had can still be, a love as big and full of splendor as San Francisco Bay." 

BTW fool's gold is "pyrite."

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

How about a song "Who Shot Ashli Babbitt?"

Ashli Babbitt (BBC News image)

Hi friends, my intent today was to write a post about the song "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." Would be a pleasure to do so, but I'm pushing it off. Stay tuned. Instead I decided to write my own new song. Had no such intent when I got out of bed this morning. The basic idea of the song had been in my head for a while. 

Songwriting impulses arise in an unpredictable way. It can be quite the inexact science. There are rules, but shall we say they are fungible. 

Highly accomplished songwriters often break the rules but you can be sure they know what the rules are. It's easy to read lyrics from a notable tune and think "what is so special about this?" Well it is special: nothing succeeds like success. 

The guy who wrote "Gentle on My Mind," as I pointed out in my previous post, said that if he had known the song was going to be a big hit, he wouldn't have written it the same way, "and then it probably wouldn't have been a hit." 

But who knows? So much serendipity. 

Maybe this makes the practitioners ever more devoted, eh? So I love the craft, kind of a logical companion to my journalism craft. Many Morris MN residents would suggest that I whiff at both. To you all I say: go sit under a cow. 

I learned last week that my song about baseball great Rocky Colavito was played as part of a program for the unveiling of a statue of Rocky in the "Little Italy" part of Cleveland OH. Program was held Tuesday, Aug. 10. Thank the Lord my work gains some attention. 

Would my father be approving? Hopefully so. His stock in trade was sacred choral writing. He directed music at our UMM. We are now saying goodbye to UMM choir director Brad Miller. A source tells me that St. John's University "made Brad an offer he couldn't refuse." I assume this was not Marlon Brando-style. And we're saying goodbye to jazz director Jason Campbell too? That's really unfortunate. And is it true that Tillier and DuHamel will be gone for the upcoming year? What the heck is going on? One might think that music is being phased out at UMM. Or is it called "UMN" now? I am getting old and it is hard to keep up. 

Anyway, for the time being I just enjoy my songwriting. I have music for this song as I always do. I'll just share lyrics here, to "Who Shot Ashli Babbitt?" I hope you find it interesting. I do have some friends in town.

"Who Shot Ashli Babbitt?"

by Brian Williams

 

A quiet winter morning

That's what it should have been

Just put aside your jammies

And let the day begin

Oh why could it not be?

Oh why could it not be?

God creates all kinds

A crowd was busy stirring

Close to the capitol

The business there in D.C.

Should really have been dull

Oh why could it not be?

Oh why could it not be?

 

And while they were all at it

A feisty woman lunged

Her last name rhymed with rabbit

Could she not see the gun?

Oh why could it not be?

 

REFRAIN:

Who shot Ashli Babbitt?

Just follow where it goes

We should not even ask it

The head of MAGA knows

The head of MAGA knows

 

The new year was just dawning

We hoped for all the best

Pandemic was so daunting

It crowded out the rest

Or so it should have been

Or so it should have been

 

But watch the crowd so restless

So easy to be judged

Their cause was pretty senseless

Like Don Quixote's lunge

Or so it should have been

Or so it should have been

 

A day of simple duty

Of counting up the votes

No need to be unruly

To air a sour note

Or so it should have been

 

(repeat refrain)

 

Yes Ashli had a vision

Deluded as it was

As if she were a child

Awaiting Santa Claus

No need to go astray

No need to go astray

 

A day where God had blessed us

With freedom and ideals

So just don't go and mess up

To echo "stop the steal"

No need to go astray

No need to go astray

 

They could not seem to stop it

The anger and abuse

If it had been a frolic

We would just be amused

No need to to astray

 

(repeat refrain)

 

We could have prayed for Ashli

Her smile was so real

And now we miss it badly

But what did it conceal?

Our fate is in the wind

Our fate is in the wind

 

We did not see it coming

And then it was too late

We should have had more loving

Now wouldn't that be great?

Our fate is in the wind

Our fate is in the wind

 

Democracy is fragile

Now don't we know the truth?

So guard it with a firm will

Or else we all could lose

Our fate is in the wind

 

(repeat refrain)

 

We should have known "The Donald"

Would be up to his tricks

We'd seen his quirky vision

On all our TV sets

The script was there to see

The script was there to see

 

A mob was going crazy

With MAGA at the core

And Rudy Guiliani

Was striving to implore

The script was there to see

The script was there to see

 

So why did Ashli buy it?

The "rigged election" lies

She chose to be compliant

With all the crazy guys

The script was there to see

 

(repeat refrain)

"Gentle On My Mind" overcame monotonous melody

Legend has it that Sherwin Linton came close to recording the song "Gentle On My Mind." It might be one of those music industry "tall tales," like "fish stories." A little hyperbole pops up now and then. Be wary when listening to people who talk about things that "almost happened." Or, the "woulda coulda shouldas." 

Then again, if the story is true it shows just how much "on the cusp" of stardom Mr. Linton was. It is an industry where many are called and few are chosen. Access to a mass audience was highly limited in the pre-digital or pre-YouTube days. That can't be emphasized enough. Man, people had to "buy" music! Incredible. 

You probably remember "Gentle On My Mind." It's a song you might hear accompany nostalgia from the 1960s. "Nostalgia" implies warm feelings. It is human nature that we gravitate to the warm or positive aspects of our past. We separate wheat from the chaff. How could one not think warmly of a song title "Gentle On My Mind?" The very name evokes calm, this planted in a decade that was anything but calm. Maybe this is the reason we think so fondly.

The masses of American citizens went through pretty much normal stages of life, if not impacted directly by the Vietnam war. The civil rights confrontations were disturbing but not in the mortal way of war service. Sixty-thousand U.S. war dead? In a war the U.S. lost? And most certainly we lost it. So many tragic reasons why. We thought we could take the World War II model for winning a war and adapt it to Vietnam. A total misfire. 

And the realization seemed slow as molasses for setting in. It was a huge dark cloud over all of us, but in the midst of it all, we went through the standard rituals or passages in our lives. 

If I were to go back in time, would I dare write a letter to my congressman or senator about the folly of Vietnam? Or would I fear having my family stigmatized if word got around about this? Could it cost someone his job? I would love to think I would be motivated by conscience. But maybe this is hindsight? 

We must remember with emphasis: the 1960s were nothing like today, nothing like our contemporary age where so much optimism seems baked-in. Kids grow up with that notion now. The 1960s? No, no, no. 

"Gentle On My Mind" broke into the top tier of pop songs with Glen Campbell doing the singing, not Linton. Linton was left with "Cotton King" as his signature song. Campbell was a fabulous studio musician who eventually broke out on his own, solo-style, making a name and getting his own TV variety show. "Gentle On My Mind" was probably his signature song. 

OK, so it was a classic song. It must have had genius lyrics. But hey, how many of you could really tell me about the lyrics? If I could simply ask you "what is the song about," could you handle it with ease? I think it would be tough for many of us.

We liked the song, why? Because of the title or "hook" line being so pleasant? What could be better than having something "gentle on your mind?" Seems kind of a stretch for this being the only reason. One could suggest that music industry heavy-hitters simply decided to anoint the song. Such a state of affairs existed in pre-digital times, before the "de-centralizing" of so much, before the "bottom up" world of the Internet and its meritocracy. 

Of course, if the music industry "biggies" pushed the song, certainly it was because they saw merit in it. 

It intrigues me because, for one thing, the song has a monotonous melody. There is nothing like a bridge or refrain to break it up. A songwriter beginning with this kind of song structure, one could argue, starts out with two strikes. Monotony is an impediment for any entertainment product. The whole purpose of a bridge or the verse/chorus structure is to create contrasts. Listen to "Gentle On My Mind" and you'll notice none of that. It's a straight-on melodic idea that just plugs away. 

The song ends with a "fade" as the guitar plays.

I give my effusive compliments to anyone who writes a song like this, and to have it land on "bullseye." Writing a top song might be compared to scaling Mount Everest. So my praise goes to John Hartford. 

The words seem artistic but what exactly do they convey? They evoke something but what, exactly? They paint a deep picture of feeling. But what is the point exactly? Was getting to the point essential in 1960s America, when government failed to get the point about our misadventure in Vietnam? 

Truly, it was that confused a decade, and it was followed by the "malaise" of the 1970s when it seemed like "nothing happened," according to the defining book. 

 

What do the lyrics say?

Let's ponder "Gentle On My Mind" from the perspective of the singer. Well, he wants to be free of commitments, right? He doesn't want to be tied down. Kind of a general or broad-brush thought, n'est-ce pas? Ah, it's exactly like the opening to the significant 1960s TV show "Then Came Bronson," the free spirit on the motorcycle, remember? The singer is likewise a wanderer. 

Wanting to wander free of things like a military conscription notice? My generation extrapolated that to a rejection of a whole lot of conventions, standards and expectations. Much of that thinking looks foolish in the rear view mirror. But, how will we be viewing the rear view mirror a couple decades from now as we consider our pandemic response and the election of a reality TV star as president? Touche. 

The singer realizes that someone in his life loves him unconditionally. So there is in fact a home base for this guy as he admits he is not totally adrift. 

We always come home to certain realities? He knows he'll be accepted any time he comes back, whether he returns physically or by imagination? But is the latter simply illogical? Can the bond be meaningful even if the guy is indefatigable with roaming, or searching or whatever? What it was "Bronson" was doing? Brad Park starred in the TV show. 

The singer's object of his affection will be affixed in his memory always. In other words, will be "gentle on his mind!" 

Just in one's memory? Doesn't the guy weigh his priorities? And, isn't he admitting what his real top priority is? To be out and about as a searcher, maybe searching for transcendent things, like maybe freedom from a world that has military conscription notices? 

 

Cannot shake certain things

The Vietnam war seemed to permeate everything in my impressionable adolescent years. I cannot shake it. It's hard to shake deconstructionist attitudes once they've been imbued in you. And I'm 66 now. I was 12 years old when "Gentle On My Mind" raced to the top of pop music. 

The late John Hartford never became a household name. Glen Campbell did. Such are the ways of the world for us songwriters! "Gentle On My Mind" won four Grammy Awards in 1968. It was released in June 1967 as the only single from the album of the same name. It was re-released in July 1968 to more success. Glen Campbell used the song as the theme for his TV variety show between 1969 and 1972. Obviously the song got covered by many other artists like Dean Martin. 

Hartford gave us the classic quote, priceless: "While I was writing it, if I had any idea that it was going to be a hit, it probably would have come out differently and it wouldn't have been a hit." 

Here's a salute to songwriters everywhere. There appears to be no science in what we do. All the more entrancing a field of endeavor, where we plumb our thoughts. Scientists, go ahead and try to dissect us!

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

What are we all, if not optimistic?

Our prized local institution, primed for future (B.W. photo)

Our natural inclination toward optimism is being tested. Surely the pandemic is No. 1 in any consideration of obstacles. Saturday morning at Willie's here in Morris, I noticed some people coming in with masks. The news seems to be pointing the way toward this. 

Is it possible a new virus variant could come along that will simply wipe out the human race? Something happened to wipe out the dinosaurs. "Ele" was the term from the movie about the disastrous comet hurtling toward Earth and eventually striking it: "extinction-level event." 

Our present cause for worry is countered by an instinct toward being optimistic. As examples I might cite two local institutions that are important to me. One is UMM, if in fact those initials are still current. I have seen "UMN" an awful lot over the recent past. Has there been a formal announcement about this apparent shift? I take "UMN" to mean simply "University of Minnesota" with the MN being the postal abbreviation for our state. 

Is this necessary? Does our august local institution still put forward the phrase "jewel in the crown?" The older I get, the more my brain becomes a repository of memories like this. The usefulness of many memories becomes questionable. 

UMM or UMN is putting forth statements these days which are quite vigorous in an optimistic vein. That is wholly commendable. It's in the face of continued quite serious pandemic worry, along with one other thing: the state of siege which the liberal arts finds itself in across the nation. This is no secret or matter of opinion. I don't know if UMM would even try to be in denial about it. 

For me to even suggest such a thing in my newspaper writing days would stigmatize me locally. But we need to be aware of UMM's challenges even if we're looking at a fair amount of adversity. So, how much is UMM affected or impacted by the trials that the liberal arts are being subjected to? 

I have wondered: does UMM do the liberal arts in such an outstanding way that there are simply no storm clouds? What a wonderful answer that would be, if true. Not sure I buy it. 

Oh, not that UMM doesn't perform exceptionally well, it's just that the waves of change might be overwhelming. It must have been ten years ago that the great sociologist Charles Murray suggested we literally might not need college libraries anymore. You know the explanation: the ubiquity of information through the electronic media. 

A prime distinguishing feature of the new media is its utility for everyone: it is bottom-up in how it operates and is a meritocracy, because it simply has to be. A "publisher" need not make money. It is a boon for mankind but a bane for the old businesses that made money through legacy systems. We are realizing that the old book publishing approach operated with profit incentives, thus books would get padded for marketing purposes. To use a favorite expression of mine, books would take "the long way around the barn." (That's John Wayne from "The Shootist.") 

As a serious consequence, such a system became a disincentive for reading. You'd acquire a book on a subject of interest and in theory, it was great to have it, but hey you'd probably just put it aside, know what I mean? After all the confirmation classes I was dragged through in church, I never realized I could learn more about the essence of Jesus Christ simply by going to Wikipedia or like sites. Trim the fat. Cut to the chase. The most helpful "links" would be toward the top. 

Gone are the early days of the Internet when it could be kind of a "swamp." Remember all the skeptical talk? Today it really is our lifeblood. 

So, whither the traditional liberal arts curricula? Whither UMM or UMN? Well, we all root for the vitality of the institution here in Morris. And on Wednesday of last week, Interim Chancellor Janet Ericksen handed me a new statement of mission with ambitious objectives. Optimism! I congratulate UMM on the enthusiasm. 

Pretty soon the Morris community is going to have to try to wake up from our annual slumber: summer, when so many of us find reasons to simply leave here, like to "go to the lake." It's ending soon. We might feel perplexed, though, as we must be ready for a resurgence of the pandemic. Can UMM have a choir that can actually sing with its members shoulder-to-shoulder? One has to wonder or worry, n'est-ce pas? 

Chancellor Ericksen shared with me the "strategic vision and plan," and it was for "UMN Morris." Indeed, "a model for living and learning." The statement included "rigorous undergraduate liberal arts education." Good luck with that, really, but I'm not sure how much today's young people really want to be put through anything that is "rigorous." Don't today's young people through communcations toys share tips about college classes that are "easy?" Given a choice between something that is easy and something that is hard or rigorous, well. . . 

But I do laud UMM on its forward thinking and we hope and pray for the best.

 

I stick by this church, no matter what (B.W. photo)

Church too

I'm close to another local institution that has a forward-thinking formal plan, a plan that might be seen as butting up against headwinds. I attend First Lutheran Church. That might stigmatize me in the eyes of a great many. It's really weird because in my young years, First Lutheran was as conservative or mainstream as anything. Today it's known as "liberal" or "loony liberal" because of its affiliation with the synod known as the ELCA. 

I personally think the ELCA is wonderful, but have I gone wayward? Just recently, a very well-known retired Morris teacher and coach, no longer a resident of Morris, informed me that he and his family have left the ELCA because of the political concerns. The ELCA is too "liberal," so many people now assert. 

Hey, be careful what you wish for. The U.S. president from 2016 to 2020 stacked the Supreme Court with ultra-conservative people, Federalist Society people, and now look at what's looming: a very real end to Roe vs. Wade, quite definitely in the cards. Abortion could be outlawed. Are you all really ready for that? Abortion is a disturbing subject, no source of joy there, but women's reproductive health rights must take precedence, IMHO. 

Do women everywhere now see what is really coming down the pike for them? We all had better start waking up. In the meantime I'm happily in the fold of the ELCA and First Lutheran, where you can go on any given Sunday and hear wholesome and inspiring words, I guarantee you. 

The ELCA has put forward "Future Church," a new working structure "focused on motivating the entire church to actively share the way of Jesus with more people so that they might experience community, justice and love." 

The plan embraces three goals: 1) a welcoming church that engages new, young and diverse people, 2) a thriving church rooted in tradition but radically relevant, and 3) a connected, sustainable church that shares a common purpose and direction. 

Good luck to you both: UMM (or UMN) and First Lutheran of the ELCA. It won't be easy.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com