Pax Plena

Author: Tory Fodder

  • Song of the Week: Road To Rhode Island

    Some of you may recall that Pax Plena once had a weekly item where I featured a song of the week. Sadly, it took nary a month of law school before things went awry. Here’s hoping to right the wrong and get the Pax Plena song of the week back on track.

    Perhaps this selection is indicative of my present state, but the video below is definitely one of the funniest song/dance routines featured on Family Guy in my recent memory. Taken from the eponymous episode, Stewie Griffin and Brian the dog sing, “Road to Rhode Island.” Lyrics follow after the jump.

    http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/685050/family_guy_road_to_rhode_island.swf
    Family Guy – Road To Rhode Island – The funniest videos are a click away

    Road to Rhode Island

    (Both) We’re off on the road to Rhode Island
    We’re having the time of our lives.

    (Stewie) (Take it dog…)

    (Brian) We’re quite a pair of partners,
    Just Like Thelma and Louise.
    ‘cept you’re not six feet tall

    (Stewie) Yes, and your breasts don’t reach your knees.
    (Brian) (Give it time.)

    (Both) We’re off on the road to Rhode Island,
    We’re certainly going in style.

    (Brian) I’m with an intellectual, who craps inside his pants.
    (Stewie) How dare you. At least I don’t leave urine stains on all the household plants.
    (Brian) (Oh, pee jokes)

    (Both) We’ve traveled a bit and we’ve found,
    Like a masochist in Newport we’re Rhode Island bound.

    ((Brian) Crazy travel conditions, huh?
    (Stewie) First class or no class
    (Brian) Whoa, careful with that joke, it’s an antique)

    (Both) We’re off on the road to Rhode Island
    We’re not going to stop until we’re there
    (Brian) Maybe for a beer.

    (Brian) Whatever dangers we may face, we’ll never fear or cry
    (Stewie) That’s right, until we’re syndicated Fox will never let us die. (Please!)

    (Both) We’re off on the road to Rhode Island,
    The home of that old campus swing.

    (Brian) We may pick up some college girls, and picnic on the grass.
    (Stewie) We’d tell you more, but we’d have the censors on our ass.
    (Brian) (Yikes!)

    (Both) We’re off on the road to Rhode Island
    We certainly do get around.
    Like a bunch of renegade pilgrims
    Who are thrown out of Plymouth colony.
    We’re Rhode Island bound.
    Or like a group of college freshmen
    who were rejected by Harvard and forced to go to Brown!

    We’re Rhode Island Bound..

    (fade out)

  • Song of the Week: Just a Closer Walk with Thee

    It’s been a while since we’ve posted a song of the week here let alone one from the Gospel genre. As chance would have it, this afternoon my random iTunes mix turned up an old favorite of mine ever since I bought the CD back during my senior year of college. Accordingly, this long delayed Pax Plena song of the week is brought to you courtesy of country/gospel music artist Randy Travis and is titled, Just a Closer Walk with Thee.

    Written sometime during the early 20th century, Just a Closer Walk with Thee became a classic Negro Spiritual and was widely circulated as a Dixieland standard which would become a rallying point for poor blacks in the Mississippi Delta. The song melds elements of blues and country to create a sound that is both uplifting and plaintive. I won’t bore you with futher analysis. It really is a song that speaks for itself. Belows is the performance by Randy Travis. Lyrics follow after the jump.

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    Just a Closer Walk with Thee

    I am weak but Thou art strong
    Jesus keep me from all wrong
    I’ll be satisfied as long as I walk
    Dear Lord, close to Thee.

    Just a closer walk with Thee
    Grant it Jesus, is my plea
    Daily walkin’ close to Thee
    Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

    Through this world of toils and snares
    If I falter Lord, who cares?
    Who with me my burden shares?
    None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

    Just a closer walk with Thee
    Grant it Jesus, is my plea
    Daily walkin’ close to Thee
    Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

    When my feeble life is o’er
    Time for me will be no more
    Guide me gently, safely o’er
    To Thy kingdom dear Lord, to Thy shore.

    Just a closer walk with Thee
    Grant it Jesus, is my plea
    Daily walkin’ close to Thee
    Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

  • Song of the Week: Online

    It’s been a while since we’ve done a Pax Plena song of the week. Here’s the latest, hilarious hit by Brad Paisley which pretty much sums up most things you’ll find online (including this site). Direct from the new album here is Brad Paisley’s Online. http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/416542555 Online I work down at the Pizza Pit And I drive an old Hyundai I still live with my mom and dad I’m 5 foot 3 and overweight I’m a scifi fanatic A mild asthmatic And I’ve never been to second base But there’s whole ‘nother me That you need to see Go checkout MySpace ‘Cause online I’m out in Hollywood I’m 6 foot 5 and I look damn good I drive a Maserati I’m a black-belt in karate And I love a good glass of wine It turns girls on that I’m mysterious I tell them I don’t want nothing serious ‘Cause even on a slow day I could have a three way Chat with two women at one time I’m so much cooler online So much cooler online When I get home I kiss my mom And she fixes me a snack And I head down to my basement bedroom And fire up my Mac In real life the only time I’ve ever even been to L.A Is when I got the chance with the marching band To play tuba in the Rose Parade Online I live in Malibu I pose for Calvin Klein, I’ve been in GQ I’m single and I’m rich And I’ve got a set of six pack abs that would blow your mind It turns girls on that I’m mysterious I tell them I don’t want nothing serious ‘Cause even on a slow day I could have a three way Chat with two women at one time I’m so much cooler online So much cooler online When you got my kind of stats It’s hard to get a date Let alone a real girlfriend But I grow another foot and I lose a bunch of weight Every time I login Online I’m out in Hollywood I’m 6 foot 5 and I look damn good Even on a slow day I could have a three way Chat with two women at one time I’m so much cooler online Yeah, I’m cooler online I’m so much cooler online Yeah, I’m cooler online Yeah, I’m cooler online Yeah, I’ll see ya online

  • Song of the Week: That’s What I Love About Sunday

    Perhaps it’s typical of warm days to wax nostalgic over summers past? Whatever the reason, of late whenever I hear Craig Morgan’s That’s What I Love About Sunday, it reminds me of the lazy summer days of my youth spent back in Oklahoma. The music is written in a high, minor key with E and A minor chords featured prominently throughout. This point notwithstanding, the song itself is more introspective than it is sad as the chorus picks up with a rich mix of full major chords before the its conclusion. Instruments tend to be acoustic guitar supported by fiddle and percussion. Fairly typical of country music. While the music is good, it really is Morgan’s voice which carries the song and drives its story. The lyrics themselves present the tale of a simple family enjoying their Sunday tracing the day from a morning church service to Sunday lunch afterward before ending with an evening stroll. While it’s certainly an arguable point, in the opinion of yours truly, the song pretty much sums up the perfect day. Sometimes the best of life really is the simple. In all, the song offers an experience enjoyed widely back in Walters and one I hope to enjoy again someday soon. For now, life is humidity and Boston bustle but Morgan’s tune is a nice respite even in the midst of a crowd. The song’s official music video is presented below for your listening and viewing pleasure. Lyrics follow after the jump. That’s What I Love About Sunday Raymond’s in his Sunday best, He’s usually up to his chest in oil an’ grease. There’s the Martin’s walkin’ in, With that mean little freckle-faced kid, Who broke a window last week. Sweet Miss Betty likes to sing off key in the pew behind me. That’s what I love about Sunday: Sing along as the choir sways; Every verse of Amazin’ Grace, An’ then we shake the Preacher’s hand. Go home, into your blue jeans; Have some chicken an’ some baked beans. Pick a back yard football team, Not do much of anything: That’s what I love about Sunday. I stroll to the end of the drive, Pick up the Sunday Times, grab my coffee cup. It looks like Sally an’ Ron, finally tied the knot, Well, it’s about time. It’s 35 cents off a ground round, Baby. cut that coupon out! That’s what I love about Sunday: Cat-napping on the porch swing; You curled up next to me, The smell of jasmine wakes us up. Take a walk down a back road, Tackle box and a cane pole; Carve our names in that white oak, An’ steal a kiss as the sun fades, That’s what I love about Sunday, Oh, yeah. Ooh, new believers gettin’ baptized, Momma’s hands raised up high, Havin’ a Hallelujah good time A smile on everybody’s face. That’s what I love about Sunday, Oh, yeah. That’s what I love about Sunday, Oh, yeah.

  • Song of the Week: The Star Spangled Banner

    As you can tell from the header above, the anniversary of our Nation’s Independence is nearly upon us.

    Accordingly, the Pax Plena song of the week is none other than our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. Normally, I would write a longer post analyzing the song and musical styles but in this instance, I can do very little to add to the powerful words of our Nation’s sacred hymn. Please enjoy this rendition of the Star Spangled Banner as performed by the Charlie Daniels Band. Full lyrics follow after the jump.

    The Star Spangled Banner

    Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
    What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming?
    Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight,
    O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?
    And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
    Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there.
    O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

    On the shore dimly seen thro’ the mists of the deep,
    Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
    What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
    As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
    Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
    In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
    ‘Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

    And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
    That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
    A home and a country should leave us no more?
    Their blood has wash’d out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
    No refuge could save the hireling and slave
    From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
    And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

    O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
    Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation;
    Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
    Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us as a nation!
    Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
    And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
    And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!