3 Chords & the Truth: Music from the bunker

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs.

Come to think of it, I ought to have played the Five Man Electrical Band this week on the Big Show.

Just as the Nebraska Legislature closed out a session where it pretty clearly put out a sign saying who's not welcome here, the skies opened, the lightning flashed, the wind roared . . . and the lights went out. Makes you wonder.

But the electricity eventually came back on, so you're thinking "Well, maybe not."

Until, as I was putting together this edition of 3 Chords & the Truth early this morning, the lights went out again. And it wasn't storming. The computer instantly went dead. The lights went off. It was early -- very early -- so I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

So, there I was, stumbling around like a blind man without a cane, trying to find a flashlight and channeling my inner Roy Kent. And while two power outages may or may not be a sign from the Great Beyond, they certainly are a metaphor.

THE LIGHTS are going out in these parts. Darkness reigns, trying to pass itself off as light. People are always falling for that one.

And here we are. And here I am.

But here's the thing: The lights went out -- twice -- yet here's a band-new episode of the Big Show. The process took a little longer, you're kind of thinking "Now, where was I?" when the power comes back on, but nevertheless. . . .

I'm crouched down here in the culture-war bunker, in Omaha, by God, Nebraska . . . and I'm still inserting an eclectic, adventurous and stellar variety of music right onto the Internet and right into your preferred electronic device. Maybe that's a metaphor, too.

The brief version of my little story is just one short sentence: Don't let the bastards get you down.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Something stupid

Something unusual happened. The world has noticed Nebraska . . . and its politics.

 

Nebraskans long have lamented being overlooked by the world. They long have wanted a little attention. They long have wanted their props, dammit!

 

You know that old saying, "Be careful what you wish for"? Bingo.

 

This week's installment of 3 Chords & the Truth notes that we finally got some attention from the folks in the Big Apple -- a long examination of this year's dominant legislative shenanigans by New York magazine. It wasn't pretty.

 

And Omaha Sen. Christy Armendariz didn't come off so well.

 

One day, a freshman senator named Christy Armendariz led me to a bench in an empty hallway. She found it puzzling that a reporter from New York would come all the way to Nebraska to cover this affair. "I don’t watch the news or get the newspaper," she said. "Is there anything going on I should be aware of?" I mentioned that other states had passed similar bills and that a federal appeals court in the same circuit as Nebraska had ruled one of them unconstitutional. "So is it a big widespread thing?" she asked. As far as she could tell, ordinary Nebraskans did not know about the issue. "I knocked doors for a year, and nobody brought this up." She said she wished the bill had never been introduced.

 

Yet, she voted for it.
 

THE BILL was LB574 which, in its original iteration, banned all "gender-affirming" medical care and surgery for transgender minors. It ended up being amended to regulate the medical care while still banning surgeries.

 

And senators tacked a 12-week gestational-age abortion ban (about 10 weeks from conception) onto the bill after a six-week ban failed earlier.

 

You'd like to think legislators knew that all this was a big Republican Party push nationwide this year. You'd like to think that even someone as as negligent and clueless as Armendariz would've known her party was pushing all that as a grand culture-war political strategy.

 

You'd also like to think that readers nationwide might not believe all Nebraskans are that @#*$%+! dumb. Not all legislators here are, though many probably are. And, to be fair, ordinary Nebraskans elected these clods, so there's that.

 

But this is not a political column in the newspaper. This is a music show. On the other hand, the political stuff certainly informed the music show . . . and now you know that's the name of that tune on the Big Show this go around.

FRANKLY, that's why I love doing an old-school, beatnik-adjacent, freeform kind of a thing here on the Internets. One, you don't much see this kind of thing on the radio anymore. Two, when folks on the radio give you the impression they think at all, what they want to you to think they think might not be what they actually think. They just pander to what they think you think.

And those folks don't even have any good tunes. 3 Chords & the Truth, though. . . .

Anyway, perhaps the real value of the New York magazine piece is something akin to Robert Burns’ poetic wisdom:

 

O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us

To see oursels as ithers see us!

It wad frae mony a blunder free us,

An' foolish notion:

What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,

An' ev'n devotion!

 

It’s a hard pill to swallow when what “ithers” see ain’t so flattering. But at least you know, and knowing gives you the chance to evaluate, and evaluating gives you the opportunity to change.

Just as long as you don't change that Internet dial!

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: The Ironic Curtain

Greetings from the wrong side of the Ironic Curtain.

The what?

The Ironic Curtain. Let me explain. What we’re seeing in America these days is the building of an Iron Curtain in this country, dividing red and blue states -- and dividing Americans into first- and second-class citizens.

In America . . . again.

The irony, of course, is that we now have an Iron Curtain -- much like the one that divided democratic Western Europe from the communist east after World War II -- in a country that styles itself as a beacon of freedom and democracy for the world. This is the second time that's happened here.

The first time, it was the line separating the Jim Crow South from the rest of the United States. Back then, there were definite similarities between the repression found in the Eastern Bloc countries and the repression found in the American South. Before that, the South's Jim Crow regimes served as inspiration for the policies of Adolf Hitler's Germany.

TODAY, those of us stuck behind the modern-day Ironic Curtain are starting to see certain similarities between ourselves and Vladimir Putin's fascist dictatorship in Russia and, much more closely, Viktor Orban's fascist, authoritarian regime in Hungary.

It's not a good place to be, especially if you're an official "Other." That's what this week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth is all about, which is pretty much what last week's show was about, too.

As a Nebraskan by choice who sees what is happening to this state, I have been on the razor’s edge of rage for a while now. But it’s not really rage, fundamentally. What it is, is grief.

What I have witnessed during this session of the Nebraska Legislature -- and I have watched hours upon hours of it on television the past few weeks — is incipient fascism. The content of LB 547, and the chicanery employed to pass it, looked familiar to me; I was born in 1961 into Jim Crow era Louisiana.

I attended legally segregated public schools in Baton Rouge . . . until 1970. When my school was desegregated under a “neighborhood school” plan, I had a teacher tell me not to play with a Black classmate. I saw that Black classmate demeaned and discriminated against by our fourth-grade teacher.

As a Southerner of a certain age, I know what fascism and official “othering” looks like. And it has followed me here after all these years.

In Nebraska today, the Others are vulnerable pregnant women and transgender youth. Next year, the legislator behind today's othering intends to target drag shows.

I AM a 62-year-old man who has been married for almost 40 years. I do not understand transgenderism because, well, how the hell could I?

But I do understand that trans individuals are citizens of the United States and children of God, and they deserve to live in peace. The parents of trans youth have the right to seek the best care possible for their children. Medical science has no solution that will perfectly reconcile mind and body, but it should not be illegal to do the best one can -- especially when that might be what keeps your child alive.

As a Catholic, I would be inclined to proceed cautiously if I had a transgender child. But make no mistake, I would do what I had to do to keep my kid, first, alive and, second, happy and healthy.

But how parents raise -- or choose to medically treat -- their trans children is, fundamentally, none of my damned business. It is not the unicameral’s business. It isn’t even the church’s business. It’s just not.

Likewise, concerning abortion, I have to say I consider myself pro-life. However, LB 547, enacted by the legislature Friday, is no fitting way to reduce the instance of abortion as much as humanly possible. It also will endanger the lives of women with catastrophic pregnancies.

If legislators want to “save babies,” they should -- pardon my French -- give a shit about vulnerable women. They should give a shit about struggling families. They should give a shit about the outrageous expense of giving birth.

They should give a shit about the oppressive cost of decent daycare. They should give a shit about creating an effective social safety net. And they should give a shit about the jobs they’re about to drive away from Nebraska.

That said, this is the week Nebraska died. It’s over. And that's what informs this week's Big Show.

That is all. That is enough.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Two steps forward, 80 years back

Big shows don't play on tiny radios . . . and, to tell you the truth, they're not easy to do in small-minded states. Like this one.

Yet here we are with the latest edition of 3 Chords & the Truth.

After the last week in the Nebraska Legislature, I am tempted to tell you to boycott this state. But then you'd probably boycott the Big Show, too, and that would be like Ron DeSantis trying to kill Mickey Mouse. Wouldn't end well for anyone.

So I just curl up next to the big, big radio and just do the damn show. With appropriate measures of snark, sarcasm, warped humor and a great and eclectic mix of music -- mostly great music.

I mean, if you're contemplating curling up into a fetal position, turn on some tunes first, man.

But brace yourself for that King Crimson to George Martin segué. You'll understand when you hear it.

Well, that's about all before I curl up next to the stereo system and turn on the program. Except for this. . . .

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Music in the stratosphere

Hi, I'm a Chinese "weather balloon."

I know what you've been doing. Unfortunately, though, the electronic jamming of your pig-dog regime and its counterrevolutionary military lackeys prevented me from automatically playing 3 Chords & the Truth for you, allowing the dulcet sounds of the program to infiltrate your thoughts and ears constantly, world without end.

This greatly disappoints my creator Xi Jing Favog. There will be consequences if you do not click on the provided links or the omnipresent podcast player hovering somewhere around this communique.

AS CAN be expected, the Big Show is again diverse, eclectic and exemplary this week. You really should listen attentively -- if you know what's good for you. And your ears.

The sheer creativity involved in my playing music for the people must not be wasted, and the reactionary elements of your American so-called society must not be allowed to be ascendant.

And judging by where your Air Force butchers chose to aim that missile, I also question your moral rectitude. This behavior must cease.

Just listen to the program. And for Mao's sake, cease fire!

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha . . . OW!

3 Chords & the Truth: To tell the truth

It's time to mix things up -- a little -- on the Big Show again, so I did. You'll note that the opening ain't what you've gotten accustomed to over the past few years.

To get to the point, we get to the point a bit quicker now. And we've freshened things up a bit here and there.

Next week, we'll be introducing the $1 million music-trivia challenge. No, that's a lie. Which is another way we've refreshed 3 Chords & the Truth -- abject false claims and non-existent contests, because the truth has gotten kinds of stale these days. Or not. Who's to say? We say get ready to get rich -- trust me.

So, that's about all the news your host -- me, George Santos -- has for now. So stay tuned, by which we mean start downloading or streaming, for another big, exciting episode of Drag Queen Drag Racing, where every show is a walk (or car race) on the wild side.

Don't forget to bring along your AR-15 -- and we'll be giving away three every edition of the Big Show -- no matter how many voices you're hearing . . . or what they're telling you. It's all good.

Now sit back and prepare to be wowed by another edition of Life With Father, Who Identifies as Mother, Who Bears an Uncanny Resemblance to Ron DeSantis. We guarantee it's a good one.

Honest.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Back in the saddle again

I'm back in the saddle again.

It's a new year, and -- finally -- there's a new episode of 3 Chords & the Truth.

Since we last met, for the Christmas edition of the Big Show, the wife and I got a New Year's present . . . COVID. As much as one would like to take that one back to the store and exchange it for something nicer, that proved impossible, and we were stuck with one lemon of a gift.

This after three years of successfully avoiding being so gifted.

And getting rid of it proved to be, well, a process. And having the gift made me pretty much unfit to do a podcast. If I had had the energy to do the show, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have wanted to hear me trying to do it.

Excuse me while I cough. The cough sticks around after the disease is gone.

ANYWAY, I'm back, 3C&T is back, and it's a good one. And it was put together on a brand-new Mac Studio computer, which is smokin' fast and . . . well . . . new, replacing the warhorse iMac that had been my trusty studio companion the past decade. That's like 115 in computer years, and it still works fine. I just couldn't update the operating system or the audio software anymore.

So, I now have that new-computer feeling.

And you have a brand-new episode of the Big Show to enjoy. Which will commence whenever you click on what must be clicked.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: No tricks, just treats

Trick or treat, smell my feet. . . .

No, I couldn't do that to you. I don't even want to smell my feet.

Let me tell you what I will do for this Halloween-ish edition of 3 Chords & the Truth, though. I will forgo the tricks . . . and give you nothing but treats of the musical variety.

This will not be your average ghoulcast. The Big Show is waaaaaaay better than that.

Don't believe me, just listen for yourself. And I promise, no one will suck your blood.

Unless, of course, your significant other is a mosquito. In that case, I can't really help you.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Ball of confusion

The ball of confusion in which we dwell is not the reason I'm just a wee bit tardy posting this edition of the Big Show.

The reason is because the LSU-Ole Miss football game was on TV this afternoon. To wit, "GO TO HELL, OLE MISS!"

And the hated Rebels did, 45-20. That was gratifying.

Now we return you to your regularly scheduled episode of 3 Chords & the Truth. About which, I gather I am supposed to say something that will get you to listen.

WELL, Sparky, this week we acknowledge the confusion and mayhem now engulfing us in these Disunited States. That's one thing . . . which, actually, is pretty entertaining despite the subject matter. Not as entertaining as watching my alma mater beat down Ole Miss for homecoming but, then again, what is?

Also, we feature the usual musically mysterious twists and turns that are the trademark of the Big Show . . . but that's a given. It's not like I have to point that out.

On the other hand, I have to write something. To get you to listen.

On the other other hand . . . you know, I bet the prong of this here fork will fit in that electrical outlet. I'm sure o . . . lqwFGHLU;;/CF ;odij  ;oiJFWp0;92rp0    9 'p;FK''KPp;'f '[OD['i2rkjpdW'Kd'dk

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It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

(thud)

3 Chords & the Truth: You've still got the Big Show

 

When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
Radio, listen to the radio
Radio, listen to the radio

-- Nanci Griffith

 

True dat.

Well, the radio is totally a hit-or-miss proposition these days, but in these times of war, political strife and catastrophic hurricanes, we still have the Internet.

Such as it is.

AND IN A NICE, non-fouled corner of the Internet, we have 3 Chords & the Truth. Amid everything, there's still this.

That's not nothing. Think of the Big Show as your personal pick-me-up, one that will bring a smile to your face and a tap to your toes.

Really, that's not nothin'. That's one of the things that will get you through.

And we're doing our best to help you do that. Us, too, to tell you the truth.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: College rock

I remember skinny ties, legal beer at 18, doing the Pogo . . . and college radio.

I remember when college radio was a force of nature. Driving the musical narrative. Making commercial radio look ever so lame.

I remember a time before commercial radio started making itself look lame. 

I REMEMBER college radio with real DJs behind real microphones, all through the night. Playing real records, before CDs -- much less computer automation -- was a thing.

I remember. 

And so does this edition of 3 Chords & the Truth. 

This week, we're going back to the 1980s . . . and the 1970s, with a couple of side trips to the '60s and '50s. College radio was a little freewheeling back then. 

What we do on the Big Show owes almost everything to the glory days of college radio . . . and what we learned in high-school radio, too. We just kick it up a notch for the online age. 

So join your Mighty Favog as he relives a bit of those days when he was young . . . and pogoing. It's gonna be quite the journey. 

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Ralph-tastic

If a clod like Ralph appreciates good music expertly curated . . . I expect that you'll be copacetic with everything, right? 

I said right? 

Now that we're clear on everything, we're good to go with another Big Show, which is a very very very fine show, with one dog in the yard, tunes used to be so hard . . . now everything is easy 'cause of you. And the 3 Chords & the Truth mascot, Ralph . . . who is  a clod, which isn't an insult but a fact, in the earthiest of manners. 

But he has a nice smile. Don't you think Ralph has a nice smile? 

And Ralph thinks this week's edition of the program is especially mud-tacular. (We're pretty sure that's a good thing.) 

So be like Ralph. Listen to the Big Show. 

And, yes, we've had a lot of rain here recently.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Under the table

These are the times that try men's livers. Because the safest place to be in America today just might be under the table. 

Can I get a "Hic!"?

In that totally practical spirit, we're gonna be drankin' this week on 3 Chords & the Truth. Thus, we're going to have some good drankin' music. 

We'll have some other good music, too, on this here soused edition of the Big Show, but let's just start with the drinking songs. 

OK? (thud)

I mean, what's the use of getting sober when the news comes on every day?

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: More ump-ff!

3 Chords & the Truth -- it's the show with more ump-ff. 

And your mileage won't vary. Everybody gets maximum ump-ff when listening to the Big Show.

But you don't have to believe me; prove it to yourself. Try an episode and see just how much ump-ff can be packed into 90 minutes of a music podcast. 

You'll be glad you did. 

IN FACT, you'll probably think 3 Chords & the Truth invented ump-ff. We did not, but we do appropriate it heavily. That's why we have more ump-ff than Brand X. Or Brand Y. Or even Brand Z. 

Once you try the exquisite musical mix we present, it's safe to say that you'll never go anywhere else for your weekly measure of ump-ff. Because the Big Show just has more. More music, more ump-ff, more satisfaction at the low, low price of . . . zip.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Noise annoys

Noise annoys. So we don't do that here.

Instead, the Big Show goes with music -- the best music. We wouldn't want you all annoyed and stuff.

So, as usual, you can be assured this week's episode of 3 Chords & the Truth is not annoying. No, it's down right entertaining and stuff. 

Apart from that, I'm not sure what to say about the show. Music . . . good . . . not annoying. That pretty much covers it. 

Yep. Ima just shut up now. The subject matter has been covered. All that's left to do is for you to listen. 

Uh huh. 

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: America on the hoof

You know how your parents told you that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all? 

Today's subject on 3 Chords & the Truth is American corporate capitalism.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OTHERWISE, we have a lot of great music on the show today -- which is typical for the Big Show. 

I think you'll like it.

That pretty much covers everything, so you can get to listening now.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Mahvelous

You have your normal, baseline self. Then you have yourself on 3 Chords & the Truth.

See the difference? To the world, the humdrum world, you seem a bit off-kilter -- a blur, perhaps. But to you . . . you look mahvelous. You feel mahvelous. You are mahvelous. 

Crucially, the music is mahvelous. It doesn't matter if you can't spell marvelous. That's because you, on the Big Show, are mahvelous. And the world just can't keep up. 

MAHVELOUS. 

That is the world of 3 Chords & the Truth. 

It's the world of infinite variety, great music you can't hear just anywhere . . . and a host celebrating yet another day he's not in the federal penal system. What's more mahvelous than that? 

I'll wait while you decide. It shouldn't take long. 

Now go listen to the show. It's . . . well, you know. 

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Legitimate musical discourse

Classic form. Classic sound. Now, pass me some heavy weaponry and a couple of clips. 

We're gonna have us some legitimate musical discourse. 

NOTE: We have ways of making you like this episode of 3 Chords & the Truth.

Uhhhh . . . we're all patriots here, right? 

As usual, the musical mix here on the Big Show runs from soup to nuts. and there is a high degree of confidence that you will love the program this week. Right? 

I said . . . riiiight? Excellent.

See, discourse is good. 

Yeah, it's a great show. The best show. You wouldn't believe how good the show is this week. 

It is some serious musical discourse. Or else. 

As a matter of fact, I have a peaceful, easy feeling about the whole shootin' match. 

NOTE: No Mike Pences were hanged during the course of the Big Show. 

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha. 

3 Chords & the Truth: The long and shorts of it

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . . yeah.

I've been known to not wear pants -- and for all you know, I'm not wearing pants now -- but you don't need to see that. This is why some of us are in radio. 

Well, this is another edition of 3 Chords & the Truth, and it's as good as usual.

And, as per the norm, the river of sound runs broad and deep. I guess that's one reason why it's called the Big Show. After all, we have more than 30,000 songs to pick from, and the music library grows by the week.

For true. 

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: That old feeling

The internet is out. Again. So, I'll be brief here on the cell connection.

This week's edition of 3 Chords & the Truth takes a musical journey spanning almost a century and covering the gamut of style and content. In other words, not that big a departure from what we do every week.

And, boy, is it good. 

WHICH, again, is no departure at all from the usual here on the Big Show.

For example, the program features . . . nah, I'm not going to tell you. That would just completely remove the mystery from your listening experience. 

And, after all, what's the fun if you really and truly know what's coming next? That's our trademark. 

Well, the missus informs me the Internet is back on. Bully for Cox, he says sarcastically. Now, I'd better wrap this up before the damn thing goes out. Again. 

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.