Born For Bad Luck

Boys I'm most done travellin', Lord I'm at my journey's end
B'lieve I'm most done travellin', Lord at my journey's end
Well I been lookin' for me a good partner, bad luck is my best friend

Lord I was born for bad luck, bad luck is everything I see
I was born for bad luck, bad luck is everything I see
Well I wonder why, bad luck keeps on follow me

There was thirteen children in my family, I was the last one born
Thirteen children in our family, I was the last one born
I was born on bad luck Friday, lord on the thirtheenth morn'

Play it Jim

Bad luck is just like my shadow, follow me everywhere I go
Bad luck is just like my shadow, follow me everywhere I go
Till they follow me one time, back to my best gal's door

-- Brownie McGhee, The Complete Brownie McGhee (Recorded 1940 Released )

I saw Brownie McGhee with the legendary blind harpsmen Sonny Terry at the Student Union of the then SUNY-B back in the early ‘80s. Since then, Sonny died. Well he was pretty old already then. Brownie moved on to play with other harpsmen (harmonica player).

I couldn’t quite get remember any song from that duo. I pick this one cause I believe it is also sang by the legendary guitar boogie bluesmen John Lee Hooker. This song of Brownie’s epitomise the sense of hopelessness within the former slave Black community.

After the emancipation of slaves by the decree of Lincoln, resulted in the American Civil War, life didn’t get any easier for the slaves. 

They continued to work on cotton farm and plantation of their former masters as lowly paid workers without any regard for their welfare. The harsh condition continues. 

Unconstitutional discriminatory laws, like Jim Crow law, continue to exist. Segregationist practices in school, public facilities and even church last for another century.

If you get to watch movies and documentaries on the 1950s in the US, you’d likely to come across scenes of a baseball game where the blacks are separated from the whites and signboard "No Blacks, Jews and Dog allowed" placed at public and private facilities. 

It took Dr Martin Luther King 1956 march in Alabama to remind that they are citizens with constitutional right to vote.

Aside from the illegal act, social and economic discriminatory practices by the dominant whites are near impossible to curtail. 

Today discriminatory practices prevail under the coverage of individual rights. That it is enough to say that its bad luck all the way I see. What much more should they bear for being black?

While writing this thoughts, I can’t help but compare with what is happening here. 

The discriminated here are the majority saved by the political numbers. Capital ownership remains with the minority and they continued to discriminate unabated and fail any attempt for social equality. 

And, talking of slaves, do we feel the same of the displaced lots in the plantation and the immigrant workers living a dreaded and endless work life.

The power of money and capitalism has usurped into mainstream media to ironically blame laws and policies for social equality as discriminatory, unproductive and inhuman.

With the power of money and valueless society today, even the powerful pious are no more incorruptible. You hear great cliche which effectively does not serve the lesser of society but for the interest of rising new power devoid with any sense of loyalty for the country. 

Who will champion the down-trodden ones? Who do we trust today? Who will have the heart in themselves?

It’s a hopeless feeling, ain’t it? Do you feel the blues? Heck man, its nightime …

Till they follow me one time, (I’m) back to my best gal's door.

A Voice
Kuala Lumpur
May 25th, 2006, 1.00 am

Came Up The Hard Way

I came up the hard way, I had to work both night and day
I came up the hard way, I had to work both night and day
It's a shame, shame, shame, that a poor man have to live this way

I came up the hard way, they kept me workin' from sun to sun
I came up the hard way, they kept me workin' from sun to sun
Well it seems somehow or another, that a poor man's work ain't never done

Well my mother sat down and told me, she said Son, don't forget the golden rule
My mother sat down and told me, she said Son, don't forget the golden rule
I had to go head-on and deal with it yes I did, cause I didn't get, I didn't get too far in school

I came up the hard way, I had to work both night and day
I came up the hard way, I had to work both night and day
Ain't it a shame, ain't it a shame, that a poor man gotta live this way

(guitar solo)

My mother sat down and told me, she said Son, don't forget the golden rule
My mother sat down and told me, she said Son, don't forget the golden rule
That's all I had to deal with, because I didn't get too, too far in school

(harmonica solo by Mack Simmons)

-- Eddie Clearwater, Boogie My Blues Away" (released by Delmark in 1995; recorded in 1977)


I do not have much no personal comment to make here but let the song tell the story.

I saw Eddie Clearwater play in the winter of 79/80 in Chicago south side after attending the student conference in LSU, Baton Rouge.

It is a vivid memory of this Bluesmen of the Chicago blues scene. But I remembered of the nite's performance till today for his expression while playing this song.

That nite was his birthday and he sang with a sincere expression of "I ain't have nuthin' but the Blues" on his face. I believe it was this song.

Browsing the Internet, I found his website . Seems he got his act finally -- first album in 1997. Thats what? Some 20 years since I saw him play in Chicago.

Coincidently I was together in a ceremony delivering a check for a widow to send her kids to school. Education ... the passport for social mobility.

Signing off with Eddie's last word ... That's all I had to deal with, because I didn't get too, too far in school.

A Voice
Petaling Jaya
April 11th, 2006, 3:00 pm

Why I SIng The Blues

You all have been wonderin',
Wonderin' why I sing the blues (2x)
Yeah you just listen
And say you're me instead of you

Ah you won't to or you do get married
To someone for the rest of your life (2x)
Yes and there is always someone else
Whenever you out of sight

You get the affection of a servant
The kindness of a slave (2x)
Yeah you get the love of a dog
That can't even hear a word you say

I try to say something people
Something just to pacify (2x)
I might not have lived right all of my life
But people please believe me I've tried

-- BB King, Do The Boogie! (Ace Records 1956) - B.B. King's Early 50s Classics


Been havin with much personal woes lately … gotten sick, tough time to make a livin’, frickin’ oil rise, hustle and harassment from bankers, betrayals … many betrayals, and “trouble all the way I see”.

Having downloaded a 5-CD compilation by Martin Scorcese entitled “the Blues - A Musical Journey” and listening it repeatedly, got me the Bluesy mood. I decide to dedicate April to the music genre that was the root of the popular Rock and Roll.

The word the blues was traced by Musicologist to the phrase “for having a fit of the blue devils”, meaning low spirits, depression and sadness as found in George Colman’s farce Blues devils, a farce in one act (1798).

The Blues could be traced much earlier in African American music but the first recording was Memphis Blues in 1912 by WC handy, today honoured as Father of the Blues.

Blues music is a vocal and instrumental music evolved from spirituals, praise songs, field hollers, shouts, and chants in the communities of former African slaves in the US. Its an expression to life’s hardship and injustices - lost love, cruelty of police officers, oppression at the hands of white folk, hard times, etc.

Gut bucket blues have a more raunchier lyrics to describe man-woman relationships. The term gut bucket is derived from the metal bucket used to clean pig intestines for chitterlings, a soul food dish associated with slavery and deprivation.

The Blues earned an unsavory reputation amongst upstanding church goers for gut bucket blues and its rowdy juke-joint venues. Preachers rallied against it as sinful.

Ironically, bluesmen such as Joshus White, Son House, Skip James, or Reverend Gary Davis are expressing seminal messages through the Blues.

The Blues has evolved into mainstream music and attracted the white crowd. Much is attributed to white British “Bluesmen” like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and John Mayall. Their foray into Blues made a major impact in contemporary Rock.

Lest not forget, Elvis Priestly and Bill Haley.

The Blues have been written and recorded not only by Rock musicians but also other genre - Folk, Country, Jazz, Classical and not forgeting … sambal belacan eating Malay musicians like Blues Gang.

Emulating the successful music-theme restaurant Hard Rock Café, there is a chain paying tribute to (or exploiting) the Blues, House of Blues. In fact, Norah Jones recorded a Live album there.

The late comedian George Carling had this cynical joke on the House of Blues - “White got no business singing the Blues. You are supposed to give people the Blues.”

Perhaps read this humourous observation of the Blues in this posting “How to sing the blues” on the blog Musical Perceptions.

And, the same message of “You gotta to suffer just to sing the blues …” could be found in the movie Crossroad.

I guess I’m ready to sing the Blues. And, I’ve got the Blues alright that I’ve bottled up stress symptoms in my feet and body muscle, so I was told by my recently turned reflexologist buddy.

My path have been a frustating journey. Yeah yeah I know … don’t think about it. Just keep goin’ and place yourself in the hands of the Lord.

But people please believe me I've tried.

A Voice
Kuala Lumpur
April 1st, 2006 10:00 a.m.

All I Can Do Is Write About It

Well this life that I've lead has took me everywhere
There ain't no place I ain't never gone
But its kind of like the saying that you heard so many times
Well there just ain't no place like home
Did you ever see a she-gator protect her young
Or a fish in a river swimming free
Did you ever see the beauty of the hills of Carolina
Or the sweetness of the grass in Tennessee
And Lord I can't make any changes
All I can do is write 'em in a song
I can see the concrete slowly creepin'
Lord take me and mine before that comes

Do you like to see a mountain stream a-flowin'
Do you like to see a youngun with his dog
Did you ever stop to think about, well, the air your breathin'
Well you better listen to my song
And Lord I can't make any changes
All I can do is write 'em in a song
I can see the concrete slowly creepin'
Lord take me and mine before that comes

I'm not tryin' to put down no big cities
But the things they write about us is just a bore
Well you can take a boy out of ol' Dixieland
But you'll never take ol' Dixie from a boy
And Lord I can't make any changes
All I can do is write 'em in a song
I can see the concrete slowly creepin'
Lord take me and mine before that comes
'Cause I can see the concrete slowly creepin'
Lord take me and mine before that comes

-- Lynyrd Skynyrd, Give Me back My Bullet (1976)


They can see but how to make them feel. How can there be remorse or regret without knowledge of the irreversible loss ahead. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have the eyes of Monet? The keen eyes to uncover beyond the beautiful garden laid out.

If it is meant to be, it is meant to be. But I had long sense what's coming. 

Its not like I never tried hard enough. My Monet vision with the energy, resources and time was just helpless to steer from the inevitable. It seemed not to be wonderful.

Alas ... If it is meant to be, it is meant to be.

All I can do is write in cryptic about it. Whatever it is to come, Lord help keep my faith intact, my spirit high and my mind sound. Although it did creep my mind at my most bitter moments to wish the ... Lord take me and mine before that comes.

A Voice
Kuala Lumpur
March 8th, 2006, 12.30 pm

Old Man

Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.

Old man look at my life,
Twenty four
and there's so much more
Live alone in a paradise
That makes me think of two.

Love lost, such a cost,
Give me things
that don't get lost.
Like a coin that won't get tossed
Rolling home to you.

Old man take a look at my life
I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me
the whole day through
Ah, one look in my eyes
and you can tell that's true.

Lullabies, look in your eyes,
Run around the same old town.
Doesn't mean that much to me
To mean that much to you.

I've been first and last
Look at how the time goes past.
But I'm all alone at last.
Rolling home to you.

Old man take a look at my life
I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me
the whole day through
Ah, one look in my eyes
and you can tell that's true.

Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.

-- Neil Young, Harvest (1972)


After having done some share of time travel, you begin to see how things move in circle.

In the normal natural process, we are instituting discipline on our kids and they at times despise it like we used to despice it.

The historical rise and fall of civilisation fitting a set pattern. The boom and bust of economy fit the sequences of pre-event and post-events.

While there are that resemblance between the past and present, its the differences that determine the progress and regress in the framework of time.

I can't help myself posting the image of the first Prime Minister and the most recent ex-Prime Minister together. Much have been said and analysed the relationship between them and lets not try to repeat.

In the picture, perhaps one is saying to thte other ... I'm a lot like you were ... :-)

A Voice
Kuala Lumpur
March 4th, 2006, 11:05 a.m.

Bonda

Mengapa kanta ini masih berkaca
Sedangku telah pun terima di dalam redha
Segala kepahitan
Pengalaman menjadi penawar
Mengejar impi ke pintu syurga

Duhai bonda bilakah akan
Ku kecapi kasturi
Penebus maruah dan semangat lama

Mengapa sinar neon dan gedung indah
Kotaraya yang menjanjikan sejuta rasa
Sejuta haruman
Kini menjadi penjara jiwa
Ku yang merindukan ketenangan

Duhai bonda hari-hariku
Kini berlalu bagaikan bahtera
Tanpa layar dan kemudi

Bonda
Akhirnya terbongkar jua rahsia
Tangisan dan gurindam
Keramat kasih sayang
Keramat kasih sayangmu

Bonda
Saat dan pertemuan semula
Kita kali ini
Akan ku abadikan
Keramat kasih sayangmu

Oh...bonda...
...Bonda...

-- M Nasir, Canggung Mendonan (1993)


Thinking of Mother ...

All the years of my ordeal, I come to know her better. Her compassion revealed. Her spiritual side imparted.

I know she couldn't ... but she tried hard to understand my struggle, my redemption, and my journey and endeavours.

I know she couldn't ... but she extended to have me in her mind and prayers, and bridge my troubles.

She doesn't have to ... Bonda ...

A Voice
Kuala Lumpur
March 3rd, 2006, 7.30 p.m.

Wish You Were Here

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl,
year after year,
running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears,
wish you were here.
- Pink Floyd, Wish you were here (1975)


This is the only visual found thus far in the newspapers, tabloids, and websites of our Friday adventure. What do you aspect? We were in the opposition party show. Despite their predominant, we two big white plastic banners and at least one is seen.

We were there under a non-partisan group, although seldom wrongly perceived by the public and observer as partisan. That Friday we were there on an issue that has sparked the displeasure of substantial and significant Muslims and Malaysians in this country, cutting through their political, racial, and religious persuasion. Some may not be able to understand the significance of it, but what can we say.

The publication of the satirical Non Sequitor cartoon by Willey Wiley on February 22nd issue of New Straits Times (NST) is not as blunt and rude as those by Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper.

If you could understand, it is equally bad as it make light of the serious issue that angered the Muslim worldwide.

I found a more offensive cartoon published earlier on February 18th by NST (below) depicting Muslim subtly as lover of violence, women roving eye and brainless law enforcers. Such cartoon gives the impression that this is the norm and it definately wasn't any intellectual satire.
Even with all the commotion, another Non Sequitor cartoon (below) on February 23rd depicted in a lighter mood satiring Prophet Noah.

For long, it was the unethical journalism, vindictive writing and crude newspinning orchestrated by Dato Kalimullah and Brenda Pereira of NST I found extremely distasteful. Their writings have been injecting discenting agenda that in my view can be disruptive to the harmony of Malaysian society.

Who are they to be preacher when they used to be vocal critics of this country? And, it is the same ruling party and structure they were against?

Their response in "What NST Says" and so-called "Unreserved Apology" are blatant arrogance to even republishing the questionable cartoon. Answering your actions should be an explanation and not concorting assumptions and deflection blame to others. An apology is only apology and nothing else, not repeated denial and childish dragging of others.

Our people were few but we were visible. Only had... wish you were here.

A Voice
Kuala Lumpur
February 26th, 2006, 2:30 p.m.