BUT...IS IT RELEVANT?

Tuesday night I went to see Bert Jansch perform at Southpaw in Park Slope. When introducing the last song of the set, Jansch said: it's an old protest song, but it seems still relevant. A voice called out, "Not relevant -- appropriate! Always, appropriate" (not the voice of a '60s survivor, I'd hazard, just a '60s revisionist). Jansch replied, "No...I think, 'relevant.'"

Jansch is an accomplished guitarist whom Neil Young has called a Jimi Hendrix of the acoustic guitar and his favorite. He's the kind of guitar-artist that predates Richard Thompson and Greg Brown but whose music reminds me of them, in its moodiness and its willingness to let elegant guitar lines predominate. I don't know much of his stuff -- my daughter does -- but when he started the set with one I knew -- "It Don't Bother Me" -- I immediately wanted to hear the song of his that I consider my favorite. Turns out it's not his -- it was written by Jackson C. Frank and has been covered by Nick Drake, Paul Simon and Counting Crows. When Jansch played it, it made my night. It was worth the pilgrimage to Brooklyn to hear him. (This song might be downloadable online, but if you listen to music online you're more of a computer jockey than I am, so you can find the link yourself).

The Blues Run the Game
(written by Jackson C. Frank, as sung by Bert Jansch)

Catch a boat to England, darling,
Maybe to Spain.
Wherever I have gone,
Wherever I've been and gone,
Wherever I have gone,
The blues, yeah they run the game.

Send out for whisky
Send out for gin.
Me and room service,
Me and room service, baby,
Me and room service, darling,
We're living a life of sin.

Living is a gamble
Loving's much the same.
Wherever I've played,
Wherever I've been and gone,
Wherever I've gone,
The blues, they've run the game.

Living is a gamble
Loving's much the same.
Wherever I've played,
Wherever I've thrown them dice,
Wherever I've played,
The blues, they run the game.

Maybe tomorrow,
Somewheres down the line,
I'll wake up older,
So much older, babe,
I'll wake up older,
And maybe stop all my crying.

Catch a boat to England, darling,
Maybe to Spain.
Wherever I've been,
Wherever I've been and gone,
Wherever I've gone,
The blues, they run the game.