Jukebox Saturday: Wishing Like A Mountain and Thinking Like The Sea

If you relate to the Universe via music then I am sure the concept of the perfect album is not foreign to your brain.  I'm not talking about perfectly constructed or perfectly produced.  I'm talking about the album you put on when you need to re-center yourself emotionally, spiritually, or whatever you need.

In my mind, nothing quite does the trick like "Wishing Like A Mountain and Thinking Like The Sea" by Poi Dog Pondering.  In times of distress or quandary, there is a certain comfort that the quirky songs, the instrumentation, and the socially Humanistic philosophy that make me smile, think, ponder, and reorder.

While not every cut is perfect, the songs compliment each other.  U Li La Lu and  The Ancient Egyptians are two of my favorites, but nothing reminds me of how the Universe works as much as the song entitled Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

Somehow I find myself far out of line
from the ones I had drawn
Wasn't the best of paths, you could attest to that,
but I'm keeping on.
Would our paths cross if every great loss
had turned out our gain?
Would our paths cross if the pain it had cost us
was paid in vain?
There was no pot of gold, hardly a rainbow
lighting my way
But I will be true to the red, black and blues
that colored those days.
I owe my soul to each fork in the road,
each misleading sign.
'Cause even in solitude, no bitter attitude
can dissolve my sweetest find
Thanksgiving for every wrong move that made it right.

AllMusic Review by Evan Cater

Wishing Like a Mountain and Thinking Like the Sea was a breakthrough album for Poi Dog Pondering, as AOR and college radio stations around the country began to discover the zany, eclectic, outdoor-summer jam-session sound of the Chicago-based band. The airtight hooks of songs like "Bury Me Deep," "Everybody's Trying," and "Thanksgiving" were catchy and radio-ready, while the goofy charm of tracks like "The Watermelon Song," "Big Beautiful Spoon," and "Spending the Day in the Shirt That You Wore" made the album a favorite with quirk-rock devotees. And on every track, the band's globetrotting instrumental inventiveness was infectious and impressive. Lead singer Frank Orrall played a mind-bogglingly wide array of instruments on the record, from guitar and piano to frying pan and "bicycle with playing cards." The drums and percussion by Dick Ross and John Nelson helped to create a world music vibe that outdid Rusted Root at their own game before that world/jam band hit the scene, and the band's dynamic use of Susan Voelz's string performances (on Italian classical violin and octave violin) seems to anticipate another later jam rock sensation, Dave Matthews Band. Wishing Like a Mountain is an irresistible party of an album

Contained in this recording are gems of wisdom and odd philosophy that keep me grounded, some are wise, some are witty. some are weird.


FROM U LI LA LU
A friend of mine once said....
"If you're ever around when someone dies,
look up and wave, they'll get a big kick out of it.")
If I should die in a car wreck,
may I have Van Morrison on my tape deck.

SPENDING THE DAY IN THE SHIRT YOU WORE
Oh the days of wine and roses and the rubbing of noses
Bare feet, new sprouts, and garden hoses.
Skipping stones, while skipping home...
"Look at that tree, it's got a brand new leaf!"
Candle light, candle light -- for no reason
Eating fresh fruit when it's in season.
Take an aimless drive behind a motor wheel
Sticking fingers on paintings to see the way

they feel!
Spending the day in the shirt that you wore
I can sense your presence from the day before...



So...this is the music that puts me back on track, give it a listen.  I hope it speaks to you the way it speaks to me.