Spitball Army

It Is Time to Go

When even the clearest, widest sky fails to inspire me to abandon my obligations for the afternoon;

When I begin to appraise the sturdiness of my possessions according to their packability—as a butcher must see beneath every haunch the marble and grain;

When all the street signs point away, and the morning birds have downshifted from early spring’s triumph to summer’s routine;

When the cop in the intersection is directing me to another city, another state, and my engine whines to turn back;

When maps pile up among the junk mail on tables and chairs as possible as weather;

When every door becomes an exit;

When I no longer wait to hear the sound of your footsteps on the porch louder than a jackhammer, louder than my own blood in my ears.

– Chelsea Biondolillo

— ¤ —

[audio:Fred_FM_playlist_041711.mp3]
Approximate playing time: 80 minutes.

1. Jonathan Richman  “Let’s Take a Trip”  (1986)
2. Pentangle  “People on the Highway”  (1972)
3. Jefferson Airplane  “Embryonic Journey”  (1967)
4. The Doobie Brothers  “Rockin’ Down the Highway”  (1972)
5. Aretha Franklin  “Freeway of Love”  (1985)
6. Air  “Universal Traveler”  (2004)
7. The Police  “Secret Journey”  (1981)
8. Neil Young  “Journey Through the Past”  (1971)
9. Joan Armatrading  “Travel So Far”  (1975)
10. The Beach Boys  “Let’s Go Trippin'”  (1963)
11. London Funk Allstars  “Junkies Bad Trip”  (1996)
12. The Coronados  “Trip to Loveland”  (1967)
13. Kate & Anna McGarrigle  “Travellin’ On for Jesus”  (1975)
14. Bob Dylan  “Down the Highway”  (1963)
15. Bill Morrissey  “Traveling by Cab”  (2001)
16. John Hartford  “Your Long Journey”  (1984)
17. Ryan Bingham  “The Other Side”  (2007)
18. The Handsome Family  “Your Great Journey”  (2006)
19. Doris Day  “Sentimental Journey”  (1945)
20. Loggins & Messina  “Travellin’ Blues”  (1973)
21. Tom Waits  “Little Trip to Heaven (on the Wings of Your Love)”  (1973)
22. The Smithereens  “Amazing Journey / Sparks”  (2009)

Some notes on today’s playlist:

This playlist was inspired by a Twitter suggestion from @kmwalsh for a playlist that focused on

“any kind of travel or journeying.”

I tried to make the song selections just vague enough to allow for future playlists in a similar vein.  Some prelimary sketches for those include specific modes of traveling, touring routes with place names, and The Inward Journey (cue Music from the Hearts of Space).  Frankly, the possibilities seem pretty endless.

After forming the song list, I sent out two solicitations via Twitter:

1) Do any of my writer friends have a desire to write a short piece to accompany this Sunday’s playlist over at spitballarmy.com?

and

2) Looking for flash, poetry, whatever-form-you-like…to be inspired by the theme of the playlist. DM me for more details.

It was just a snap idea, the result of me thinking how cool it would be to post something collaboratively with music and writing, and involve some of my friends (like @kmwalsh) who I have met in the close-knit internet writing community where I enjoy playing.

I immediately received a response from Chelsea Biondolillo.

“I would totally be down for that!”

she wrote. So I sent her a link to allow her to hear the playlist in its entirety, without the benefit of artists’ names and song titles, hoping that the music, lyrics and tone alone would inspire a complementary gush of words.

The piece that opens this post is the result of that inspiration.