Eden Prairie News - column - Comments

Kirsty MacColl's song,

Bill Lapadat — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:18:22 -0500

Kirsty MacColl's song, "Walking Down Madison"....

Walking down Madison - I swear I never had a gun
No I never shot no-one - I was only having fun
Walking down Madison - swear I never had a gun
I was philosophizing some
Checking out the bums

See you give 'em your nickels, your pennies and dimes
But you can't give 'em hope in these mercenary times, oh no
And you feel real guilty about the coat on your back
And the sandwich you had, oh no

From an uptown apartment to a knife on the A train
It's not that far
From the sharks in the penthouse to the rats in the basement
It's not that far
To the bag lady frozen asleep in the park
Oh no it's not that far
Would you like to see some more?
I can show you if you'd like to

More lyrics from The

jennyjean4 — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:37:35 -0600

More lyrics from The Replacements:

"Well, I broke the seal on my door
And I poured myself to bed
The whirlpool spinning around in my head
There was liquor on my breath
And you were on my mind"
- If Only You Were Lonely

"We’re gettin’ no place fast as we can
Get a noseful from our so-called friends
We’re gettin’ nowhere quick as we know how
We whirl from town to town treatment bound"
- Treatment Bound

"She don’t wear no pants and she don’t wear no tie
Always on the ball, she’s always on strike
Struttin’ up the aisle, big deal, you get to fly
You ain’t nothin’ but a waitress in the sky"
Waitress in the Sky

Wilco - "Shot in the

jennyjean4 — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:28:07 -0600

Wilco - "Shot in the arm"
The ashtray says
You were up all night
When you went to bed
With your darkest mind
Your pillow wept
And covered your eyes
And you finally slept
While the sun caught fire
You've changed

Dire Straits - Tunnel of

Gino G — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 20:06:13 -0600

Dire Straits - Tunnel of love

Getting crazy on the waltzers but its life that I choose
Sing about the sixblade sing about the switchback and a torture tattoo
And I been riding on a ghost train where the cars they scream and slam
And I dont know where Ill be tonight but Id always tell you where I am

In a screaming ring of faces I seen her standing in the light
She had a ticket for the races just like me she was a victim of the night
I put my hand upon the lever said let it rock and let it roll
I had the one arm bandit fever there was an arrow through my heart and my soul

And the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
And Im just high on the world
Come on and take a low ride with me girl
On the tunnel of love

Here's another one: Stephin

Leah Shaffer — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:46:58 -0600

Here's another one:
Stephin Merritt from Magnetic Fields is a fantastic song writer:
Just to counter the bitterness of that Tweedy song, here’s the first part of “A chicken with its head cut off”

"Eligible, not too stupid
Intelligible, and cute as cupid
Knowledgeable, but not always right
Salvageable, and free for the night

Well my heart's runnin' round like a chicken with its head cut off
All around the barn yard falling in and out of love
Poor thing's blind as a bat
Gettin' up, fallin' down, gettin' up
Who'd fall in love with a chicken with its head cut off?

Woah Nelly"

Jeff Tweedy from Wilco:

Leah Shaffer — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:25:21 -0600

Jeff Tweedy from Wilco: first stanza of "Via Chicago:"

I dreamed about killing you again last night
And it felt alright to me
Dying on the banks of Embarcadero skies
I sat and watched you bleed
Buried you alive in a fireworks display
Raining down on me
You cold, hot blood ran away from me
To the sea

Minnesota's best-known poet

writers bloc — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:11:51 -0600

Minnesota's best-known poet is technically a lyricist, possibly the finest that's ever been. Bob Dylan's lyrics made pop music a form of higher art while heightening public consciousness:

"Take me on a trip upon your magic swirling ship, my senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip, my toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels to be wandering. I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade, into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way, I promise to go under it." -- Mr. Tambourine Man

"Come you masters of war, You that build the big guns, You that build the death planes, You that build all the bombs, You that hide behind walls, You that hide behind desks, I just want you to know, I can see through your masks." -- Masters of War

"Jesus rides beside me, but

jennyjean4 — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:53:53 -0600

"Jesus rides beside me, but never buys any smokes" - Can't Hardly Wait - The Replacements

Gone savage for teenagers

jennyjean4 — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:35:20 -0600

Gone savage
for teenagers with
automatic weapons and
boundless love
gone savage for
teenagers who are
aesthetically pleasing
in other words
fly
Los Angeles beckons
the teenagers
to come to her
on buses;
Los Angeles loves
love
Screenwriter's Blues - Soul Coughing

I like the idea of eating

Leah Shaffer — Thu, 17 May 2007 15:02:29 -0500

I like the idea of eating outside as much as possible. It seems like it would be a great way to make up for the long, cold winter of being pent up.

I have had kids deathly

Deb Sweeney — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:07:06 -0500

I have had kids deathly afraid of baths and swimming, but that doesn't sounds like the issue here. This sounds like a need for orderliness and or a fear of people making mistakes or "doing what they are not supposed to do." Abby (4) also dislikes getting water on her clothes though she loves to swim.

My kids seemed to go through stages where this was more of an issue. For example if a crumb was broken off the corner of a granola bar they would have a fit it was not "right" or if they spilled they burst into tears. It's like they realize they can't control everything in life and feel anxious about it. It's also a personality thing, some people (including some kids) are just more upset by curveballs that others, and some are just plain intense (especially girls in my experience). You might think about whether change or unexpected things bother her in other areas. She could also be sensitive to feel of wet clothes or worried they are ruined.

Unless the fear is so bad that she avoids water (like, won't wash hands at school because she's afraid it might spill)I would just try to give her models for handling it that are alternatives to a freakout. "Oh darn it, I spilled on my shirt, I need a towel." Or reflect the feeling "You don't like it when the water splashes all over. Let's wipe that up" or "Let's try to turn it on more gently like this so it won't splash." Even try some humor when she gets wet "Gee, do you think we should have worn our swimsuits to the water fountain today?" -- sometimes the ridiculousness makes kids laugh it off. You could show her how to work the clothes dryer too so she feels like she has some control of the situation and knows it's not permanent. She should cope better with everything in life as she gets older.

Good luck!

Have any of your kids had a

Karla — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:01:13 -0500

Have any of your kids had a fear of water? My daughter gets extremely upset if she spills a drop of water on her clothes or if the kids at school are washing their hands and spill water on the floor. She doesn't fear swimming pools, however.

Any suggestions?

(Karla Wennerstrom is the editor of the Eden Prairie News. She can be reached at editor@edenprairienews.com.)

This is fantastic advice! I

Karla — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:54:53 -0600

This is fantastic advice! I am very suspicious of the people who say, "Oh, I just potty trained my daughter yesterday," like you can wave a magic wand and it's done.

(Karla Wennerstrom is the editor of the Eden Prairie News. She can be reached at editor@edenprairienews.com.)