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Back story – what every writer is admonished to filter throughout the chapters of a book. Thou shalt not begin with back story is a commandment of the highest order.

Infuse the back story of characters and actions in your novel. Do not hit the reader on the head.

The same tenet is true of song. Do you know the back story of these rock’n roll standards?

  • ‘Chicago’ and ‘Ohio’ by CSN
  • ‘Suite Judy Blue Eyes’ by CSN
  • ‘Coyote’ by Judi Collins
  • ‘Layla’ by Derek and the Dominoes
  • ‘Something’ by George Harrison
  • ‘Tears in Heaven’ by Eric Clapton and Will Jennings
  • ‘Yesterday’ and ‘A Day in the Life’ by the Beatles, etc., etc., etc.
  • ‘Manic Monday’ by The Bangles
  • ‘Running on Empty’ by Jackson Brown
  • “Single Ladies’ by Beyonce
  • ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’ and ‘One’ by U2
  • ‘Seven Turns’ by Dickey Betts: https://www.pjcolando.com/life-as-a-miracle-seven-turns/

Here’s the story behind the meaning of this CSN song for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyquqw6GeXk

When the album came out, I had an affair with an art teacher at the local high school. He lived with a group of guys in a decrepit house with a forlorn couch on the front porch, just as the members displayed on the cover of the album. Visits there were filled with the music of CSN, another way to connect the dots.

But, since I worked at the same high school, and his hair was very long and his reputation disreputable, we kept our liason secret. I’d grown up in small towns, such as the one where the school was (Hebron, a very Biblical word) and knew that gossip was rampant. We didn’t need the complications – or the questions.

Thus, the words of this song directly applied to our public obfuscation.

Click on the links. Enjoy the music, the sound track of my life.

“And, the beat goes on… la-di-dah-dee-dah”