It was so polluted in 1969, the Cuyahoga river burned. I mention the river in the piece ahead and the fire here depicted has nothing to do with the story, but the history of industrial Ohio and the river is cool.
One of the other things about owning a
Yagi/Log Periodic antenna (I won't explain the engineering of it, too
dull) is not only can I yank in Nantucket stations, I also can pick
up those 100 watt college stations you've never heard of. 100 watt
radio transmitters don't go far at all, perhaps 20 miles on a good
night. That's why most don't know about them, there's little
coverage area. To be honest, I've never knew some of these small
colleges even existed. That's what's great about
a decent antenna, it can be used like a microscope looking for the
smallest of things.
It was late, I was listening to some
indie/folk music by chance. I like that time of night, it's dead
still and the rest of the world has crawled under the covers. Usually
the play lists on most radio stations becomes liberalized as
advertisers who buy spots at 1 AM aren't really going to freak about
demanding certain music be played. The DJ's have a little latitude
here. I've always said the best music can be heard after midnight.
I heard an idie song speaking of the
flooding of the Ohio and Cuyahoga rivers when I realized it was more
about the singer’s lament at pouring forth music and lyrics that'll
never see the light of day. “What's the worth of it?” asks the
singer.
I thought the music and meanings were
intriguing so I stayed on the station 91.3 FM for a hour and let it
run through the night till the morning. I've told you before I've done that,
let the stereo sing on softly all night long as I sleep. My audio
nightlight.
This morning I get curious as to what
the hell is 91.3. I do a Google search and find out there's a
Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. “There is? Since when?”
I thought. Their radio station pumps out a terribly weak 100 watts. Now compare that too WBRU, which pumps out the maximum allowed of 50,000 watts. I read further
and I find out Stonehill is a Catholic college associated with the
University of Notre Dame. Stonehill ain't cheap, it'll cost you
$50,000 pazoozoo's a year to attend. To date, this is how much I now
know of Easton too.
I then hunt down the song I heard.
Google's great for that, you type in the misheard lyrics of a song
and generally you can nail it on the first try. I found out that the
song was written by “Over the Rhine,” an Ohioan husband and wife
indie duo formed in the early 90s. The named their band after a
residential neighborhood in Cincinnati. Over the Rhine, when I
looked it up, looks like a tired, burnt out factory neighborhood. A
dump.
Now armed with all this information, I
have found another band to steal music from via torrents and cheat
them out of their deserved compensation.
As I hunt down the band for even more information, I curiously keep coming up with Christian websites that
did interviews with them. I then find out the couple did an interview
where Christ was the savior of their marriage.
“Oh...shit.” I think. This band I
found is solely focused on Christian rock music. They probably tour
doing small concerts for Christian youth groups at summer God camps.
Now I can nearly taste the vomit in my mouth. Songs about adoring
God, waiting till marriage to fuck your girlfriend, never jacking off
and telling girls to keep their legs closed are probably the main
diet of songs I begin to think.
I hop to a few more links and find out
that this band has a bite though. Some of their songs excoriate
religion, or rather the fakery you find in it with various ministers
and hucksters who preach God and have their hand out for donations.
My view on them begins to soften and soften further. I think, “Ok,
ok...perhaps they've retained their skepticism about anything in this
world. Good, I'm the same way...always looking for the bullshit.”
It hits me that this is the reason 91.3
played this song, it's a Christian group but with none of that
Southern Baptist Fundamentalist drool. Well, why not I think, south
eastern Massachusetts is liberal as it can get, even if you place a
Catholic college there.
Pope Francis, given his strong Social
Justice views and not afraid to speak them out, would probably like
Over the Rhine.
Husband and wife team, Over the Rhine
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