Sunday, December 6

 "Modern Lovers" written on the drum set. Asa Brebner on bass and Andy Paley drums ... def. 1985 ... the only year of that configuration of the Modern Lovers.







9 comments:

  1. https://youtu.be/TcPNwSWky4g
    A wasted Shane MacGowan breaks into Jonathan Richman: Roadrunner and then Girlfriend - at minute 5:34

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  2. Nothing to do with the post but I was wondering how to make submissions

    More specifically I was wondering if people had noticed this

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    Replies
    1. Send me your submissions to rem@riezmanberger.com

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  3. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/muses-jonathan-richman-vermeer-monet-custom-chords-matisse-10807/

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  4. Hello,

    I actually share the same question that Ramon has posed above

    Given that I do not see another place to submit, I'll do it here and go from there.

    I wanted to ask the community if they know whether Jonathan smokes marijuana as of today. Of course, we're all familiar with "I'm Straight" and his many other references of not using substances in the past. But I pose my question today because of his track "The Bitter Herb" from "O Moon Queen of Night on Earth". Perhaps I'm reading into it wrong, but "The Bitter Herb" comes across to me as a reference to marijuana. In this song we hear the lyrics "it's hard to change" and "it's time to try a taste of the bitter herb". Lastly, just as the song is fading, you can hear the lyrics "when I try it I feel more alive", which again, seems to be referencing effects of marijuana.

    I don't bring this topic up to be immature, but rather out of genuine curiosity. Has the new societal approach to marijuana and the California lifestyle changed Jonathan's approach to the substance? Is "The Bitter Herb" a ballad of changing habits that were once set in stone? If not referencing marijuana, what do you think the "bitter herb" is referencing?

    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. I think it has more to do with this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maror

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    2. Excellent! Thank you so much

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    3. I am 99.9% certain Jonathan is not a user of Marijuana. I am 99.4% certain he's never even tried it. Whether he goes in for any of the CBD and Hemp-related products that are touted for their natural medicinal value, I dont know. Based on his "When we refuse to suffer" philosophy, I doubt it. He focuses on the known essential food groups, No one has said Hemp is that. Yet.

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  5. Here's a link to an article regarding that topic:
    https://www.vice.com/en/article/kwpgba/jonathan-richman-in-love-with-the-modern-world

    The quote:
    Jonathan was doing that song "I’m Straight", which, of course, he was. Jonathan didn’t take drugs though, later on, Jerry persuaded him to take a puff of marijuana, and Jonathan suddenly got this weird look on his face and got up and was about to pick up a frying pan and said, "Jerry, I’m gonna have to hit you with a frying pan, 'cause I have to hurt somebody in order to know that I am stoned and I’m not myself."

    And I cracked up and said, "Jonathan, that’s OK. You don’t have to do that."

    Jonathan was really upset that his consciousness had been altered. And as far as I know, that’s how he’s always been very straight so in that sense, "I’m Straight" was real and completely true.

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