Scratchings on the Wall
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"Every generation's got its Kings and Dukes, senseless crazy family feuds, poets and singers who soothe the soul and warm you up when the wind blows cold and kids who dream of river boats and don't mind putting on hand me down clothes and old men skipping in the mornin' dew kicking up dust as you fiddle a tune John John the steamboat's gone but bless my soul the river rolls on." from "Fiddle Me A River"
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About the Book
Scratchings on the Wall is a curious thing, an oddity at once strange yet familiar. Mixing personal commentary, some pithy vignettes, and three decades worth of song lyrics, Dave Winans stakes out his own claim as an honorary modern-day member of what music critic Greil Marcus refers to as the "Invisible Republic." From the opening tribute to his sister to the fond farewell to bluegrass legend John Hartford, Winans touches upon the personal and political in his search for "common sense, a kinder faith, and a little clear-eyed understanding of the craziness around us." In between are ballads, rags, dirges, talking blues and love songs about, among other things, dogs, family, God, street musicians, women and baseball.
About the Author
Dave Winans has taught English for twenty-seven years and published Moondog Verse, One Independent School Teacher's Manifesto and Manual for Teaching Creative Writing to Middle Schoolers, in 2004. He has also spent a lifetime writing song lyrics and now offers Scratchings on the Wall, which mixes personal commentary, pithy vignettes, and three decades of lyrics that search for "common sense, a kinder faith, and a little clear-eyed understanding of the craziness around us." Winans lives in Lake Worth, Florida with his wife Vicki. He writes and records music in his free time.