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I think I might dispense with this style of show notes again. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the writing, etc. It’s just a matter of practicality and time management. The blog posts don’t get a whole lot of action in the grand scheme of things, so maybe I can cut back on them and free up more time to do things like be a drummer and focus on the actual podcast content. It’s a fine line with a program like this that is entirely a one-man operation. The actual recording of a podcast episode is basically an hour. That in itself isn’t a huge time commitment, but when you get into the editing and show notes and social media posting (not to mention the research on some of these episodes), well … there are just capacities to consider.
We’ll see. Everything is still an evolution, even after 110 episodes.
This week we pay homage to songs written about dearly (and for some not-so-dearly) departed Queen Elizabeth II. As I said on the show, she was just a fact of life for me. She was a picture hanging in the hall of every school I ever entered. She was a head on every piece of currency. She was just … there. That’s as far as it goes for me with dear Lisbeth, though I do have some opinions (expressed on the program) about the monarchy and its curious relationship to my independent, sovereign nation of Canada.
For other people, the person of the Queen is far more sinister and symbolic of much darker things. This occasion for them marks the end of a different kind of era, even if their beef wasn’t with Elizabeth herself but with her institution. Those might be people in Africa, the Middle East, India, North America, and other parts of the world that have suffered colonization. They might also be people who have traditionally been trapped in a British class system that affords them very little opportunity and props up enormous wealth and privilege at the top.
This week we have songs from many of those voices. Say what you will about Queenie and her ilk – they inspired some pretty great music. And some pretty heavy lyrics.
As promised, this week’s goody is the fist-raising television performance of I Hate The Bloody Queen by The Queenhaters. A version of The Queenhaters should form and do a UK tour. Yeah, that would make me laugh ….
Thanks as ever for listening. Contact me here with episode ideas, the music you’re listening to, stuff I should check out, and general feedback. Cheers!
And now, The Queenhaters