Winning Words 4/10/13
“When life is too much, roll with it, baby!”  (Steve Winwood)  This line is from Winwood’s song, “Roll With It, Baby.”  Hard times?  Has the world turned its back on you?  Roll with it, Baby!  YouTube has a rock version of, “I Need Thee Every Hour,” arranged by Steve and sung with Ashley Cleveland.  It’s strange how a quote has led me to discover new and interesting things…like a “rock” hymn.    ;-)  Jack

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  Most of the people we tend to admire are those who wouldn't roll with it but fought for a better world.////JACK:  "It takes all kinds"....I guess.  When life become difficult, I try try to be one who "rolls with it"...but that's not always easy to do.

 FROM WALMART REV:  ...our day and age, Jack..."rolling down the river"... "singing a new tune to the old words" ... and "rockin all the way!"////JACK:  Right now I'm listening to a song, "God, Loves Rock & Roll."  It's great!////REV:  );-) That's me...letting my one or two hairs down a little!

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  One never knows where some nugget of wisdom may be revealed.////JACK:  Maybe that's why Jesus associated with tax collectors, prostitutes and other sinners.////RI:  As we move along the path of life, we meet people to whom we are destined to give, and we are blessed to meet some from whom we will receive.////JACK:  You never know what waits around the bend.

 FRIM TRIHARDER:  One of my all-time favorites from rock, "and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."  Lennon/McCartney  I used to write it on my college folders.////JACK:  I always liked the line from the song used in the Mary Tyler Moore Show...."Love is all around, no need to fake it."  The Beatles had good "message music," too.////TH:  ...the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls. ////JACK:  Re: Much graffiti...Is it the art or the message? One that I liked..."Love thy everyone!"

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Rock  'N Roll is not a part of my life, but I like the quote. As Carl Lewis (Olympic Champion) once said, "If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way to lose."  So roll with the punches, and come out on top!  Much easier said than done, I'm aware....////JACK:  Alan Freed (no relation) is called, "The Father of Rock & Roll."  I like this song:
Cheer the light
Still the fires
Raise your voice for
God, love, and rock and roll

We that fear
The way is clear
The day has come for
God, love, and rock and roll

Sing your song
We all belong
Now's the time for
God, love, and rock and roll

Alright, sing we believe
Come on (we believe)
Lemme hear you now
(We believe) everybody sing
(We believe) alright
In God, love, and rock and roll

 FROM CJL IN OHIO:  It's kinda nice to be able to keep current on the changing church.  (I have musical friends who have kept me abreast of what's happenig in music.  Keeps the cobwebs from getting too thick.  And a one writer, Simeon Stylites said when describing the life he hoped we would lead, "Moving right to left"...////JACK:  "Perhaps you remember a liturgics prof who said, "A hymn should appeal to the head and not the foot."  In later years I asked him if he still agreed with that statement.  He replied, "Times change."

 FROM SAINT JAMES:  That is a good one!////JACK:  I remember when Sears & Roebuck would put out their catalog of items for sale, listing three options, depending on price:  Good, Better, Best.

 FROM HR IN MICHIGAN:  Do you like Jethro Tull also, didn’t know you were an old rock and roll fan. ////JACK: I'm a fan of Homer and Jethro.  One of their "hit" songs was this one.  You can YouTube it.
Oh, many, many years ago
When I was twenty-three
I was married to a widow
Who was pretty as can be
This widow had a grown-up daughter
Who had hair of red
My father fell in love with her
And soon the two were wed

This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life
For my daughter was my mother
'Cause she was my father's wife
To complicate the matter
Though it really brought me joy
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy

This little baby then became
A brother-in-law to Dad
And so became my uncle
Though it made me very sad
For if he was my uncle
Then that also made him brother
Of the widow's grown-up daughter
Who of course, is my stepmother

Chorus
I'm my own grandpa
I'm my own grandpa
It sounds funny I know
But it really is so
Oh, I'm my own grandpa

My father's wife then had a son
Who kept them on the run
And he became my grandchild
For he was my daughter's son
My wife is now my mother's mother
And it makes me blue
Because although she is my wife
She's my grandmother too

Now, if my wife is my grandmother
Then I'm her grandchild
And every time I think of it
It nearly drives me wild
For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw
As husband of my grandma
I am my own grandpa

 FROM DM IN MICHIGAN:  I like this one!  For some time now I've been a fan of rock hymns.  Consider listening in to Detroit's Praise radio at http://praise1027detroit.com/ .  This is rock gospel at its best! ////JACK:  I like to use the word, eclectic, when it comes to my preference for hymns...so, I'll give 1027 a listen.

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  I have not heard the song, but the title is a great one. Or you could say one day at a time.////JACK:  As I read more about the life of Steve Winwood, I began to have a better understanding of him as a songwriter.  There's so much more to each of us than meets the eye...or ear.