If My Thought Dreams Could Be Seen...

So, okay, I came of age (and what the hell does that phrase mean, really?  I came of lots of ages in the '60s.  I'm about to come of the age of 60, which is, ugh, a whole nother topic)  during incredibly turbulent times in this country:  the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War and their concomitant domestic violence and protests; the nascent (again) Women's Movement; Watergate; assassinations, successful and attempted, on various leaders and national figures.  Crazy shit was happening every day, it seemed, in the streets and in the back rooms of power:  illegal wiretaps, smear campaigns, campaign-headquarter break-ins, residual McCarthyism.  Conspiracy theories abounded, because conspiracies abounded; even paranoids have real enemies.  I remember conversations with my father about the government and its powers, its lack of transparency (now there's an uncharacteristic, for me, use of understatement), its often unfathomable actions.  My father's firmly held, often expressed, and, thus, the de facto "correct" response would be, "Mark, don't you think that the people in power know things we don't, and are acting on that knowledge in our best interests?"

Well, I was sure that the first part of that was true:  they sure as hell knew stuff the average citizen didn't.  The best interests they were acting on, though, were theirs: consolidating their power, or at least attempting to, fattening their (and their cronies') bank accounts, trying their best to keep the status at least quo, if not quo-ier and quo-ier.  Simply because they were in power and privy to secret info, we were taught to believe that they'd always do the right thing.

And now there's much hand-wringing, wailing, tearing-out of hair, gnashing of teeth in the press and among that small segment of the populace that can briefly turn its "attention" from Hoarders or Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo, regarding the revelations that the National Security Agency has been mining data from phones, computers, any electronic means or devices available in order to "keep us safe" ( cf. George Orwell: "War is Peace," "thoughtcrime," "Ministry of Truth").  These actions are happening on such a scale that even Richard M. Nixon (and, let's admit it, though it may shock us: if the Nixon of the '60s were running for President today, he'd likely be labeled the most liberal candidate in the race, for either party.  Plus ca change... my ass), were he not currently in Hell, would blanch, and maybe depend on the kindness of strangers (a little Tennessee Williams humor, there).  The issue, as it always is with governments or people in power, is: what are they doing with the information they have, and whose interests are they serving?  And, even if they are currently serving the greater good, how long will it be until they're not?

The argument that the powers-that-be make is that, through their Herculean efforts (and the cooperation, willing or coerced, of lots of communication networks) we have been kept safe from terrorist attacks and other hideous threats.  How can we argue with that?  We don't know what any of these events might have been, so we depend on the Ministry of Truth to assure us that their actions have been right and good and even heroic;  "Don't you think that the the government has information..."?  We take it on faith that it's all for our protection, that "Well, hell, I haven't made any phone calls to or Friended anyone from Iran, so it's all good."

Of course, to be so shocked and outraged that our "private lives" are being compromised, at this late date in the Age of (Electronic) Information is either disingenuous, incredibly ingenuous, or just plain stupid.  If you have owned a cellphone, or computer, or GPS, paid taxes, registered a motor vehicle, etc., etc., do you really think you've been able to maintain your anonymity, let alone your autonomy?  I heard David Ignatius, associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post, and author of 8 spy novels, speak at Chautauqua a few years ago.  This is a guy who knows people from many, many countries' intelligence services, governmental agencies, rubs elbows with high muckety-mucks frequently and is, in fact, privy to information the average citizen isn't.  He said that he has witnessed, on many occasions, participants in high-level and/or secretive meetings who, upon being asked to turn off their cellphones or electronic devices, are not content to simply do that:  they remove the batteries.  If you're tuned in, even if you're turned off, someone knows exactly where you are, and may drop in.

Is all of this data mining (and don't you just love that term?  I visualize the Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Doc and the rest shouldering their tools, singing "Heigh Ho," and heading down into those mines for another day.  Wonder what the mortality rate is among data miners versus oh, say, Chinese coal miners?), spying, protection--call it what you will-- okay, is it in our best interests or counter to them?  We're gonna find out someday.  And I think, even if right now those in power are doing these things for the right reasons, it's a pretty safe bet that they won't always be doing so.  There was a young, idealistic Kenya-born Muslim socialist once, who I voted for twice and am sorely disappointed in, who vowed to make government transparent, to do away with most of the evils put in place under BushCheney, and who has in fact made many of them worse.  Just what is going on out there?

Anyway, this week's show plays off of all of this: privacy, aloneness, spying, hiding, etc.  And remember, it's the song title that really drives its selection:  finding songs with lyrics to reflect the theme would be nearly impossible.  But, for instance, "If You Don't Know Me By Now?"  That's friggin' hilarious, right?   It'll all happen on Tuesday from 11AM until sometime, 2 or 3 or so, in the PM, on 100.1 FM or wool.fm.  I hope you can join me, and fervently implore you again to renew your memberships or to, finally, become members.  We need you.  And here comes this week's set list:

                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                             
Name                          Artist
Big Brother                   Stevie Wonder
Big Brother                   Mose Allison
Subterranean Homesick Blues   Bob Dylan
Private Eyes                  Hall & Oates
Private Conversation          Lyle Lovett
Private Investigations        Dire Straits
Private Life                  The Pretenders
Private Revolution            World Party
Private Universe              Crowded House
(We Have) No Secrets          Carly Simon
It's No Secret                Jefferson Airplane
The Secret Handshake of Fate  J.D. Souther
Take Me To Your Secret        NRBQ
Three Views Of A Secret       Jaco Pastorius Big Band

                                                                                                                                                                                                       Name Artist
The Spy                       The Doors
Roam And Spy                  Steve Tibbetts
Spy Versus Spy                Grant Geissman
Every Breath You Take         The Police
I Know                        John Gorka
Eye In the Sky                The Alan Parsons Project
Just Like Greta               Van Morrison
Leave Me Alone                Lou Reed
Light Up Or Leave Me Alone    Traffic
You Can't Hide                NRBQ
Take Your Hands Out Of My Pocket (Live)                        Van Morrison
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey      The Beatles
Alone Again Or                Love
"Alone, Alone"                Boz Scaggs 

                                                                     
                                                                     
                                                                     
                                             
Name                                  Artist
Who Are You                          Tom Waits
Who Are You (Single Edit Version)    The Who
America Will Eat You                 Greg Brown
You Can't Get Away                   Kenny Burrell
You Don't Know Me                    Richard Manuel
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)  Bob Dylan
This Is Not America                  Charlie Haden
Watch Your Step                      Elvis Costello
Watch Out                            Fleetwood Mac
Someone To Watch Over Me             Willie Nelson
You Better Run                       The Rascals
Make You Crazy                       Brett Dennen Feat. Femi Kuti
What Are Their Names                 David Crosby
If You Don't Know Me By Now          Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
 

"...they'd probably put my head in a guillotine..."

All right, so I've put all of this out there, right on my computer.  I'm taking a risk here.  If I should suddenly disap