Bundle up.  It is cold out there.

“Let’s be careful out there.”

That was the edict of the roll call Sergeant on the 80s television show Hill Street Blues.  I wrote here some time ago that I procured the entire series and I have been watching it as I exercise on our equipment downstairs.  Tonight, as I raised my legs up and down with resistance and pushed back and forth on what is called an elliptical machine, I began watching season 5.  It made me sad.  There are only seven seasons.  I am over half way there.

HILL STREET SNACKS

So I have replaced Hill Street Snacks with an elliptical and an exercise bike and some free weights.  Once upon a time it was different story.

Hill Street Snacks was kindly of a contest.  It was a test of culinary will.  Mine.  These days you see television shows on the Food Network that show creating a meal as a competition of speed, accuracy, and taste.  I was doing this thirty years ago as I was watching Hill Street Blues with my Dad on Thursday nights.

A Hill Street Snack started with a decision:  What to make to eat!

French Toast?  A good Hill Street Snack.  A bunch of it.

Bacon Eggs Toast?  A great Hill Street Snack.  We’re talking 4 eggs, a half a pound bacon, and 4 to 6 pieces of toast.  Good God Y’all!  It’s true.  I did it.

Chili Dogs?  The ULTIMATE Hill Street Snack.

No matter what the Hill Street Snack…it was designed  to be prepared around all the commercial breaks.  There was a commercial at the fifteen minute break.  There was a double commercial at the bottom of the hour…commercials and a teaser  “Hill Street Blues will be right back”.  Then there was the fifteen minute left commercial.  After that…you eat your Hill Street Snack during the final segment.

I had a advantage cooking at my parent’s house.  If need be, I could dip my head below the stove’s exhaust fan and actually watch the television…although the decibel level of bacon frying might have impaired my ability to clearly pick up the show’s dialogue if the heat was too high.

Chili Dogs prepared for a Hill Street Snack…my favorite such snack:

At the fifteen minute commercial you hustle.  You run to the pantry and find a clogged artery in a can…Armour Star Chili.  You open the can and dump what you can into a pan and turn that heat up.  Grab another pan and fill it with water and put four hot dogs in it and turn that pan up to high to boil the wieners.  Before the the first break you grab an onion and some shredded cheese out of the fridge and put it on the counter to use during the long break at the bottom of the hour.  You also turn you oven to 375.

At the long thirty minute break your hot dogs and chili are getting there and are about ready.  Grab that onion and chop it up quickly…big chucks are okay. You grab a rectangular cookie sheet and put it on the counter.  Then you grab a package of hot dog buns out of the bread keeper.  If you feel you are losing time, you can rip open the package and take out your four buns.  You know you can put the leftover buns in a plastic bag later, if need be.  You then place you opened four buns on the cookie sheet.  Place a hot boiled wiener on each of the four buns.  Then pour your warmed up chili liberally over the hot dogs.  Grab a handful of onion and place it on a chili dog.  Repeat this three time over the other dogs.  Then pile each of your four chili dogs with as much shredded cheddar cheese as you have.  Put that in the oven…and about this time Hill Street is returning from its long commercial.  Watch the show and enjoy…as you look forward to the next commercial.

At the last commercial, you head to the kitchen and grab the biggest plate you have.  Take the chili dogs…covered in cheese and onion…out of the oven and place them on your plate…all of them.  Grab a fork and..since I was a growing boy…I poured a tall glass of 2% milk to go with it.

As you watch the final segment of Hill Street, you enjoy the Hill Street Snack and try not to get anything on the couch.

Wow.  Those were good times.

And probably why I am watching these shows in 2015 from the comfort of an elliptical machine as I sweat instead of eat.

It was worth it!

In fact, when I watch the final episode, I am going to take it over to my parent’s house and get my dear wife, Carrie, and our two boys, Jarrett and Cody, and I am going to make a Hill Street Snack for them one last time.  My culinary acumen is never better than when I am preparing a Hill Street Snack.  Thirty years later, I think I still have what it takes.

Let’s be careful out there.

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

My dear wife, Carrie, and I made it back home this afternoon after most of a week at Hilton Head, South Carolina.  We stayed at a place called Shipyard in a group of condos that were the closest to the beach of any on the 880 acre property.  We were just about two and half blocks from the ocean.  We could have stayed another night, but we needed to get home.

I am so delighted we were able to share this great trip with my sister and her daughter.  We tried to get our nephew to come too.  He wanted to stay home.  His loss!

Hilton Head is every bit the golf paradise that is advertised.  Out the window of the place we were staying was a lagoon, trees, other trees with Spanish moss hanging on them, and we could see the 150 yard marker of the 6th fairway of the property’s golf course.

On New Year’s Eve, Carrie and I visited Harbour Town.  This is home to Harbour Town Golf Links where the RBC Heritage PGA event is played annually.

Here Carrie and I are on the modest lighthouse that looks over the harbor and you can see part of the 18th fairway behind us.  As you can see…we had a nice day.  This was New Year’s Eve.  Though we left after a SPECTACULAR sunset, there was a ball that was dropped from the lighthouse to celebrate New Year’s.  Of course, it was a LARGE golf ball.

The 18th green

Me standing near the 18th green

The Lighthouse

Hilton Head was great.  It really was.  What is wasn’t was a Southern place.  People there were there to have a good time.  They were not rude.  They were not real friendly.  The best way I can put it is that it is like Florida jumped over Georgia and landed on a piece that is Hilton Head.  Southern Accents?  You’ll find more of them up North in Wilmington, NC.  Friendly on the beach?  No.  Cordial.   Would I go back again?  Tomorrow!  It was a nice place.  And no…I did not play golf.  If I go back, I will.

104.9 The Surf…a great radio station… is not to be missed and worth the visit on its own.

Carrie and I usually plan our getaways months in advance.  It was strange and good to go somewhere on the spur of the moment.  It more than worked out.  Oh, Carrie and I did see an alligator as we were on a hike.  We did not have a camera at the time.

Speak the rights.

Danny Johnson

This is the first sunrise of 2015.  I hope and pray all find a reason to embrace it.

Carrie, my dear wife, took this picture this morning.

Happy New Year to ALL…and don’t forget to…

Speak the Rights.

Danny Johnson

I have fielded a few emails, texts, and phone calls in the past few days wondering where my new post for speaktherights was.  Well…you are reading it.

I know I have not made mention since Christmas Day and I don’t apologize.  I was giving you a break!

My dear wife, Carrie, and I were sitting around the table with my sister, Lynn, last night.  We were talking about New Year’s traditions including watching the ball drop in Times Square at midnight…these days I wake Carrie up as she is sleeping on the couch to make sure she doesn’t miss it…we are not party animals.  I must say we will have a new perspective as we watch this year, having visited Times Square for the first time this past summer.

We also discussed eating my Granny’s party mix.  There will be none of that this year, sadly.  We spent many a New Year’s Eve in Shreveport at my grandparent’s house when I was a kid.  I can still see my Granny walking over to take me by the hand to do some kind of waltz to the sounds of the Guy Lombardo Orchestra coming out of the television that looked like a large piece of furniture.  Though I rolled my eyes and reluctantly acquiesced to Granny’s dance routine, I would give anything to cut a rug with her again.

We talked about watching football…three TVs going in my parent’s family room as we watch three games at once.  There will be none of that this year either.  Carrie and I are coming back home after the J-1 bowl games.

As I type these words I am sitting in a nice vacationing spot in Hilton Head, South Carolina.  This is the first time Carrie and I have ever been to Hilton Head.  We did not know we would be here until Christmas Eve.  No, it was not a proper Christmas present that given to us.  It was, however, a gift.  I will spare you the boring details.  Just know that we did not expect to be here.  Every now and then the unexpected takes a turn for the best and we do enjoy it.  It is a good accident opposed to a dreadful accident.  It was an accident nonetheless.  So we take the time to be thankful for it.  It was needed.  My sister and her daughter, Katie, just left a few minutes ago to drive back home.  They spent the past four nights with us.  We all had a great time.  Lynn was in the need of seeing a beach again.  She was able to be there when her 9th grade daughter looked upon the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.  I was there too.  I too enjoyed seeing the Ocean again with my dear Carrie.

So…here we are.

Three hours away from watching the Ole Miss Rebels take on the TCU Horned Frogs in the Peach Bowl.  Hotty Toddy and Go Rebels!

By the way, I stand at 17 winners and 7 losers in the speaktherights.com 2014 Bowl picks.

I must say I will miss watching three TVs with my folks as each one of us is imparting on what just happened on a different game than what the other ones were watching at the moment.  It is wonderful gridiron chaos.  Fortunately it only goes on during the first games of the day…the Noon/1 PM kicks before it is whittled down to one game, The Rose Bowl.

I will specifically miss my Dad’s lines of football parlance that follow:

“He’s got the corner!”

“First Man!”

“Up the Gut!”

“They are holding on every play!”

“I hate these damn commercials!”

“Mama, get that telephone!”

“I think I’ll have a little more party mix!”

Precious memories.

There was another precious memory made yesterday.

While I don’t make a habit of endorsing much of anything on here…cos that is not what this site is about, I can tell that years will come and go for the four of us sitting around a restaurant table and we will still be talking about how wonderful our dining experience was yesterday.

My sister, her daughter, Kate, my dear wife, Carrie, and I took a day trip over to Charleston yesterday.  We took in the sites of a most majestic and uniquely Southern place.  We also ate at what I think is the best restaurant in the world.

I am a fortunate man.  I have been to many places and have seen many things.  Along the way, I have stopped to eat…too much on occasion…dissatisfied with the product on others.

Yesterday we sat down at a table in an establishment that has NEVER disappointed.  Hyman’s Seafood on Meeting Street in Charleston, SC is the place.  Eli Hyman is one of the owners.  He came to our table again yesterday like he has in seemingly every other visit we have made there.  He wants you to enjoy your food and your experience.  The guy cares.  He need not worry.  The food is unbelievable. Our service was good too.  It was obvious, however, that we were being waited on by a rookie that had to come back to the table to double check a few things about our order…better to do that than get it wrong…I kind of felt bad for her because she seemed a bit frustrated with herself.  She should have felt better about things after we left.  The meal…the experience of eating at Hyman’s… if it came down to one word that word would be: WOW!

Speaking the New Year’s/Football/Culinary Rights!

Happy New Year to ALL!

Danny Johnson

LAST CHRISTMAS WITH MY GRANNY…

I raise a cup of coffee and toast the day.  I hope and pray all reading this are well and have a blessed day.

Carrie’s folks, Shirley and Michael, joined us for Christmas breakfast.  We ate some things that were really healthy…and a few things that were not.  This is always a very relaxing day for us.

My day has been lovely thus far and my dear wife, Carrie, is, with me in mind I add, preparing some freshly peeled potatoes to be mashed for my consumption later in the day.  Amen.

We are blessed as the house is starting to fill up a little more.  Our youngest son, Cody, just showed up with Hot Rod the dog.  They know how to enliven a place.  We needed the extra push to the pulse they brought through our front door.

Jarrett, our oldest, is out of town.  He is not in Afghanistan or Iraq.  We did that and thank God that is over.  I was delighted to see his name on a prayer list of servicemen and women at a church we visited recently.  Though he is no longer an active duty military person, he still has the stern heart of a great servant…as does his firefighting brother.   We are most proud.

We, his mother and I, are also missing him terribly this Christmas Day.  Alas, I do not blame him.  He is visiting the family of his lovely sweetheart, Hilary.  She is a fine young lady.  She lives in New Mexico.  Christmas dinner for Jarrett will be spent with her folks.  Merry Christmas to them.  Enjoy your gift from Indiana via the rest of the world.

Carrie’s brother, Steven, will be here shortly.  I have a present for him I know he will enjoy.

Last night we ate dinner at my parents’ house.  We had a great time.  My brother, Darrell, and his wife Emily were there.  So was my sister, Lynn, and her husband, Scott, and their two young’uns Katie and Matt.  I was there.  Carrie was there.  Michael and Shirley were there.  Steven was there.  Cody was there.  We laughed and played a game and ate too much and laughed some more.  We also had a few poignant moments.

My Granny, of course, wasn’t there.  She died a little more than a month ago.  While the life of the party was absent…others of us took up the slack and amped up our games, I think.  As I said, we did have a great time.  I wasn’t kidding.  But I am not going to kid myself either.  I miss my Granny.  I’m supposed to aren’t I?  Of course I am.

Well…Steven just rolled in and I need to go tackle him. CRASH>>CRUNCH>>>KAPOWW…just like the old Batman.  I tackled Steven.

Merry Christmas EVERYONE!  God Bless Us EVERYONE!

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

The holiday season is a joyful time.  It is supposed to be.  If you are like me and have not been lost on the fact that the reason we celebrate this time of year is because it is the holy holiday that signifies the birth of Baby Jesus, I am glad.  Amen indeed.  Santa Claus is not the reason to celebrate Christmas, by the way.  The birth of the Christ-child is why there is a Christmas.  In case you haven’t thought about it…look at the spelling…and then congratulate yourself.

Am I joking?  No.  Life is full of “duh” moments we lose track and significance of.

Why do folks get melancholy as they get contemplative and entertain thoughts about how they should be treating other people better…or realizing they need to tell someone how important they are to them…or…of all things…that they love that person.  DUH!

If you are in need of a “duh” moment, I hope it is not lost on you.  I hope it finds you.  I hope you recognize it.  I hope you embrace it.  It may not always be easy.  It may not always be fun.  No matter…it won’t make things worse.  “Duh” moments never make things worse.

Enjoy your Christmas.  It may not be what you had planned.  You may be missing someone and that may make yo sad.  “Duh”.  I know.

God Bless Us Everyone.

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

Oh Dear Lord…help me with this post.

I am under the weather.  But…I always say better to be under the weather than under the ground.

I came home early from work today.  I just glanced at the clock on my computer and it says 7:41…and I am worn out and ready to go to bed.

I was traumatized this afternoon.  I made the mistake of parking my hindparts on the couch and mash through the bazillion channels I have on my DirectTV that mean absolutely nothing given they are worthless.

Every time I wonder how the financial terms are of this country I think about the bazillion worthless television channels I pay to watch that have ample worthless commercials on.  Believe me…there are plenty commercials on.  The enterprise of making money for someone is alive and well.  That and all the worthless channels I pay for.  I watch ESPN.  I watch INSP.  I watch Hallmark.  I watch ESPN’s other networks.  I watch the locals on occasion.  Carrie, my dear wife, and I watch the Food Network and the Cooking Channel.

MTV stinks these days.  I miss it.  I remember when The Moody Blues were featured with videos on MTV… never mind…that was in the late 1980s.  VH1 Classic is okay every 14th show.

While I was scanning the channels today I saw some sights I never thought I would ever…or would hope to never see.

I was dumbfounded when I came across one channel.   I decline to indicate the channel or the network.  I do not decline the memory I had as I watched the program.

Lewis Grizzard, the late newspaper columnist, once said he was glad his father died before he saw his son, Lewis himself, getting his hair cut at a beauty parlor.

I must say I am glad Lewis died, he passed in 1994, before he had the chance to see what I saw on television today.  One subject of his humor and derision has made a rebound.  He was on TV today.  I saw him as I was channel surfing.  I thought i was going to faint.  What I saw was unimaginable.

The television evangelist Jim Bakker is still alive.  He was on TV today making a fool of himself.  He was quoting scripture and hocking junk, including meals in totes to supply on for the next seven years for near 3000 dollars.  The big deal was a $91 dollar special in honor of a 91 year old lady that recently passed away.  91 bucks for jewelry or throat lozenges…or water bottles…or…it was surreal…for 91 bucks.  I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.

I am glad Lewis Grizzard didn’t live long enough to see Jim Bakker on TV today.

And to think…this is what I am in danger of as I wait to watch football on ESPN.

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

Well…as the old saying goes…it has to get better.

Last week my College Football Picks were woeful at best and pathetic at worst.  I am guilty. Upon further review, I admit to making a few picks with my heart instead of my head.  I abhor Ohio State.  In a big game like last week’s I just can’t bring myself to pick them…so I didn’t.  They won BIG.  I didn’t.

I didn’t want to pick Florida State to beat Georgia Tech.  I followed my heart.  I picked “the Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech”.

I picked five winners and five losers last week.  That is not good.  For the season I have picked 110 winner and 40 losers.  I’m not disappointed.  It could have been much much worse.  It could have been much better.

Regardless…it was a good time.  That is what counts when making picks on college football games.  I reiterate from previous posts: I don’t bet on football.  I love the game too much to ever do that.  The day I am relegated to looking at point spreads instead of the atmosphere that makes college football special you might as well grab a shovel.

So this is it.  The last college football picks of the year.  Perhaps I will take a long hard look at the NFL playoffs and have some fun with them as well.  To do that, however, I will have to discover something for the pro game that has really evaded me thus far in 2014: a great deal of interest.

Louisiana Lafayette beats Nevada in the New Orleans Bowl.  ULL is the recent resident of this bowl having played in it often of late.

Know this…these bowl, well most all of  them, have corporate sponsors that unless it is absolutely necessary I will not mention.  I don’t advertise…at least not yet.  I have no reason to bore you even more by announcing every corporate syllable like: The Cousin Willie’s-Orville Redenbaker-Buttery Flavored Pop Corn Bowl brought to you in part by Pennzoil.  There is no such a game.  Perhaps it will join the fray next year joining one of this years entries: Popeyes Bahamas Bowl.  This is going to be played in Nassau.

Utah State beats UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl.

Colorado State beats Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Air Force beats Western Michigan in the Potato Bowl….where is Hayden Fox when you need him?

South Alabama beats Bowling green in the Camellia Bowl…man they need to do something about this bowl’s name.  That is just plain sad.  I know…if I were on a college football team and I had another chance to play a game I would not care if it was called the Sewage Bowl…it has nearly come to that.  That…and I am in favor of many bowls.  Whomever says there are too many bowls doesn’t appreciate the effort put in to playing and coaching the game.

BYU will beat Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl…God Bless Memphis!  They won 9 games this year.  Their coach deserves a statue!  BYU will  get them.

Marshall will beat Northern Illinois in the Boca Raton Bowl…The Herd has a chance to be 13-1.  They had their shot at the big time.  They wasted it.  But….given their schedule and their accomplishments, lets not be too greedy.  I am proud of this team.  They get to play in a bowl and they get home for Christmas.  Oh…Go Herd!

Navy will beat San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl…Navy discipline will find away against a bigger team.

Western Kentucky will beat Central Michigan in the Bahamas Bowl…Congrats to Coach Jeff Brohm leading his team to big win at Marshall in the season finale and taking them to a bowl game. 8-5 will sound good one of these days when he has the time to look back.

Rice beats Fresno State in the Hawaii Bowl…There may be a sparse crowd…but they will have a blast.  I have been to Aloha Stadium…my Granny took me there.

Louisiana Tech will beat Illinois in the Dallas Bowl…La. Tech has too much imagination for the Illini.

North Carolina will beat Rutgers in the Quick Lane Bowl…thus saving Coach Larry Fedora from more embarrassment.

Central Florida will beat NC State in the St. Petersburg Bowl….UCF will take a short bus ride and Coach O’Leary has a habit of coming through when he needs to.

Virginia Tech will beat Cincinnati in the Military Bowl…VTU was almost shut out of a bowl with a string of appearances going back to the 1993 Independence Bowl.  I was there.  They beat Indiana 45-20.  Coach Beamer will get the best of Riverboat Gambler, Coach Tommy (the will have to carry me out of Oxford in a pine box) Tuberville.

Arizona State will beat Duke in the Sun Bowl…and it hurts me.

South Carolina will beat Miami in the Independence Bowl…Coach Spurrier has to lead them to the victory.  I called them the champs at the beginning of the season.  Yes…I am that crazy.

Boston College will beat Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl…I remember watching this bowl in 2010 while Carrie, my dear wife, and I were in a Chicago hotel room.  I thought then as I think now, playing football in Yankee Stadium is like looking at a golf ball in a punch bowl.  Not right.

USC will beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl…This game, like the Alamo Bowl usually features two good programs.  Tommy of Troy will get the Coach in waiting Cornhuskers.

Texas A&M will beat West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl…I was hoping the Marshall Hers would play in this game.  Translation:  Go Aggies!  Please!

Clemson will beat Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl….Gads it hurts to type that name for a bowl.

Arkansas will beat Texas in the Texas Bowl…Pig Sooooie is on a roll.

LSU will beat Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl…what a coup for Nashville to get these two storied programs.  ^I think this happened in Shreveport once before in the Independence Bowl before we had so many bowl games.

Georgia will beat Louisville in the Belk Bowl…and I am delighted!

Stanford will beat Maryland in the Foster Farms Bowl?  I don’t know what that means.

Ole Miss will beat TCU in the Peach Bowl…Hotty Toddy and thank God they brought back the name Peach Bowl!  Go Rebels!

Arizona will beat Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.  RichRod has done good in Tuscon.

Mississippi State will beat Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl…The Cowbellers have had a great season.  They will be too much on D for GTU.

Auburn will beat Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl…Speed usually wins…like this bowl.

Baylor will beat Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl…Baylor will take playoff snub out on Sparty…no let down here.

Minnesota will beat Mizzou in the Citrus Bowl…Mizzou got beat by Indiana…how can I pick them?

Pitt will beat Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl…Thank God for the Armed Forces…many match-ups like this would be a detriment to the country.

Iowa will beat Tennessee in the Tax Slayer Bowl…Who wants a T-Shirt that says Tax Slayer Bowl?  Lame bowl name in the extremist!  Iowa…please don’t let me down again.

UCLA will beat Kansas State in the Alamo Bowl…this may be the best game of the entire bowl season.  Don’t miss this one!

Washington will beat Oklahoma State in the Cactus Bowl…Sounds like a bowl for Hayden Fox and Luther Van Dam.

East Carolina will beat Florida  in the Birmingham Bowl…the Gators will be looking for a coach and Pirates will be looking to give Coach Ruffin…a speaktherights favorite…a 9th win.  Go Pirates!

Arkansas State will beat Toledo in the GoDaddy Bowl…it hurt to type that lame name too.

Florida State will beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl….an abomination of the Rose Bowl as we are devoid of a PAC- 10 (12) v. Big Ten match-up as was meant to be before dollars got int he way.  FSU is like a cockroach in a A-bomb storm….the make it through…sad to say.

Alabama will beat Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl….The Tide will be resting players in the second half of this one.  Brutus may be roasted on Bourbon Street before this one is over.

The National Championship?

Roll Tide.  Alabama beats Florida State as Winston finally implodes on his teammates and himself.  Kind of like Johnny Manziel’s performance against the Bengals today in his first NFL start.  Well…maybe not that bad!

Roll Tide!  My friend, brother Tim, should be happy.

Speaking the college football rights for the last time in 2014!

Danny Johnson

Today I pulled a collection of songs that I recorded nearly a decade ago and put the finishing touches on two years later.  My recording of these songs was a dream come true.  My dear friend Jeff Carpenter was at the controls engineering away as we filled his studio with the best sounds we could come up with…I have no doubt they were exactly that.  As I was listening today I was more than pleased once again and the memories of those recording sessions just came flowing back.

Our sessions were the work of somewhat of a three-headed music monster.  I wrote the songs…words and music.  As cool as that sounds, it seems hollow without thinking about how these songs were shaped by Jeff Carpenter and Tim Krekel.  Jeff called the shots and made suggestions via his ear for the right sound.  Tim called the shots and led the instrumental charge with his guitar and his remarkable ear.  Though I wrote the songs and sang them, I still felt a bit like Minnie Pearl.  I was just proud to be there.  Jeff had recorded with Tim for years.  Tim was a gifted player.  If you have ever heard Jimmy Buffett’s song off the cd Son of a Son of a Sailor called Livingston Saturday Night…before the guitar solo Buffett calls out a variation of Tim’s first name.

I snickered to myself today as I listened to one of the songs we had recorded.

Traffic on the Back Alley is the name of the song.

This song is somewhat of a lamenting love song…the chorus goes like this:

There’s a side street in my memory that’s more than just a lane                                             Where things I never talk about come back to life again                                                         A place that’s all about the wrong and right                                                                             There’s still traffic on the back alley of my life

I had that chorus and a preceding verse that made up the original tune…that was all I had.

You see, when the recording process begins we cut what we call demos first.  That is when you run through potential songs to record.  It is a simple process.  Jeff Carpenter on one side of the glass and me and a guitar and a microphone going through songs and making simple recordings along the way to build on as we move along.

We must of went through seventeen songs.  I was pooped.  I was tired of singing.  My fingers were tired from strumming and finger-picking the rhythms out as I sang on for nearly two hours.  I was about to pack up for the day when Jefferson asked me about that “Traffic on the alley song”.  I had played him that one verse and that one chorus some weeks, if not months, earlier.  He remembered the tune.  That in itself was a bit flattering.  I then sheepishly told him all I had was that verse and that chorus.  That was it.  Then I looked at Jefferson and told him to hang on a minute.

I grabbed a pen and a piece paper and wrote out that verse and that chorus.  I studied it.  I looked at it for a few minutes.  Then I let happen what just was meant to happen.  I wrote out some of the most meaningless sappy lyrics I have ever written.  They just flowed out.  They made sense.  They worked.  I am just glad Jefferson asked about them.  It really isn’t a bad song.  In fact, I have had friends ask me about whom I was referring to in the song.  I have had a good time being glib about the answer.  The truth is so meaningless…but not without interest.

All the lyrics?

Traffic on the Back Alley

A Blue-eyed brunette from Pittsburgh/ A high school football game

Things that are forever gone that never left me the same

A Mustang I still yearn for/ An empty bottle of Jack

Things I’m not too proud of I wish I could take back…

There’s a side street in my memory that’s more than just a lane                                             Where things I never talk about come back to life again                                                         A place that’s all about the wrong and right                                                                             There’s still traffic on the back alley of my life

A girl I thought that loved me/ The things I did for her

The sacrifices that I made…why does it still hurt

I ran into her yesterday/ She smiled and said hello

And I thought there’s still so much she needs to know…

There’s a side street in my memory that’s more than just a lane                                             Where things I never talk about come back to life again                                                         A place that’s all about the wrong and right                                                                             There’s still traffic on the back alley of my life

Songwriting is a great mystery.  What wasn’t there ten minutes ago can become a part of your life.  Awesome.

Singing the Rights.

Danny Johnson