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dollarbin · 10 months ago

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Sandy Saturdays #2:

On My Way by Sandy Denny and The Strawbs

The summer of 67 was dominated by two songs you know well.

One of them, Aretha Franklin's Respect, is titanic, a song that is as important and on fire today as it was then.

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The other, The Beatles's All You Need Is Love, kinda sucks.

Come on, admit it, the song is a bore. By the time Paul interrupts the interminable fade out to sing "she loves you yeah, yeah, yeah" we all wish they'd sang that song instead. Would I rather listen to The Monsanto Years all over again instead of All You Need is Love? Hell no. But after the high water mark of Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane at the dawn of 67 Ringo and his moptop mustachioed mates hit a dull patch singles-wise which, in addition to AYNiL, includes the asinine but hummable supermarket anthem Hello, Goodbye (seriously, it's always on while I contemplate lunch meat; I hate buying lunch meat) and the frantic Lady Madonna.

Look beyond those two dominant summer tracks and you'll see that 67 otherwise featured a lot of bubblegum pop: the Monkees' I'm a Believer and The Turtles' Happy Together are obvious examples. What was missing altogether in 67's jovial pop department were female voices. The Mamas and Papas and Sonny and Cher had already had their moments largely come and go. Yes, Grace Slick commanded everyone to experience her white rabbit that summer, but that great song scares the hell out of me; pop confection it is not, nor did it top the charts.

Linda Ronstadt would soon fill the feminine gap. In the fall of 67 she married the bubblegum gesture of the day to the independent feminine power Franklin had unleashed at the opening of the summer. Take a listen to her broad strength on Different Drum.

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"Get all men and their ponies behind me; place them behind bushes," Linda commands. "I'm as loud as an entire orchestra and I'm not letting any person, place or thing pull the reins in on me."

In my own version of the multiverse, in August 67, when Respect was still echoing in everyone's ears and Different Drum not was not yet beating, The Beatles scrap their nice but unoriginal idea about people needing love and they stand bloody well aside, making way for Sandy Denny. Here's what Sandy recorded that July with an earnest group of pop wannabes: this song that was not released (in our version of reality anyway) until 6 long years later:

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Lean into this piece. All the ingredients are in place for pop chart domination: there's a catchy chorus, bold, warm chord changes, vague romantic optimism and let's-pass-the-hat-among-friends vocal sharing.

And then there's Sandy. Just as bold in her way as Linda and Aretha, she tuns this simple pop nugget into a bold declaration of feminine power. By comparison, the poor guy who shares vocals with her sounds like he's James Madison sized: Five foot nothing, 95 pounds. Then again, any man would be instantly insignificant beside Denny. Stephen Stills would be lilliputian.

So get in your time machine already and head back to 67: give Sandy and the Strawbs a slightly bigger budget and a marketing plan. Then we'll all have this song in our bones instead of Happy Together. Wouldn't that be great?

Athena sprang forth from Zeus's head fully armed. In the summer of 67 Ronstadt and Franklin confronted patriarchy and popular tastes with that kind of unabashed feminine strength and power. It's only because some dumb record producer initially shelved On My Way in 67 that we don't think of Sandy Denny in those very same terms.

So go out and get Sandy this Saturday.

#Youtube #sandy denny #linda ronstadt #aretha franklin #stephen stills sucks

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sweater-vest-reid · 7 years ago

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All You Need is Love: Chapter Seventeen “Blackbird”

A Love Story Told by The Fab Four / Inspired by “Across the Universe”

Spencer Reid: a genius, hardworking, dedicated FBI profiler. Persephone “Percy” Jacobson: a passionate, brilliant, ambitious FBI specialist, and the newest member of the BAU. Spencer doesn’t believe in soulmates. Persephone doesn’t believe in happy endings. Told nonlinearly, watch as time, each other, and The Beatles, proves them wrong.

Chapter List

~~~~~

A/N: Hey everyone! We are nearing the end of this story! After this chapter, there are only three more! This weeks chapter is a smaller one because school got pretty crazy. All of it takes place during season four when Reid sees his father again.

Listen here

~~~~~

Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings and learn to fly All your life You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

{2008, 04x07, "Memoriam"} Spencer exited the elevator, making his way to his hotel room. He juggled the file box in his hands, searching for his room key in his pocket. He found the key and went to open his room, but the door was already open. Spencer swore that he could hear muffled voices coming from inside. Slowly, he cracked open the door, peering inside. Spencer groaned quietly.

Morgan, Rossi, and Percy sat inside: Rossi and Morgan in the chairs and Percy on the bed. The TV was on and currently playing an episode of some soap opera. They each snacked on the contents of the room's mini-fridge, empty peanut tins and chip bags were piled up on the table.

These were the last people Spencer wanted to see. He had to work on this case alone, and he didn't need the team intervening. This was a job that he had to do by himself.

"What are you guys doing here?" Spencer asked, frustrated.

Morgan didn't look up from the TV, "What does it look like we're doing?"

"Uh, breaking into my room and watching 'Days of Our Lives'?" Spencer replied, setting down the file box and his bag on the nearest table.

"'The Young and the Restless', duh," Percy said, popping another chip into her mouth.

Spencer huffed, "Aren't you guys supposed to be on a plane back to D.C.?"

"Aren't you supposed to be hanging out with your mom?" Rossi said, turning off the TV and setting down the remote.

"And you're not" added Morgan. He pointed to the box Reid had just brought in, "Riley Jenkins?"

"No, it's not-that's actually not why I'm here." Spencer stuttered, moving to block the box from their line of sight.

"Spence," Percy said with a stern voice.

"C'mon man," Morgan said, setting down the granola bar he'd been eating, "Who do you think you're talking to?"

Spencer swallowed hard. He glanced down at the ground before forcing himself to make eye contact again with Morgan.

Percy stood up from the bed and made her way over to Spencer, "I know what this has been doing to you."

"Let us help," Rossi said, standing up. Morgan soon followed.

"Maybe together," said Morgan, gesturing to himself and the other hotel room intruders, "we can find out who killed him."

Spencer's mind flashed back to his most recent dream: the one in which he found a very familiar man standing next to Riley's body. This is why he wanted to work on this case alone. In the past few hours, this case was becoming exponentially personal for him. He wasn't ready to share this part of his past with the team. But, nothing he could say would convince them to leave, so he didn't have a choice. He'd have to tell them.

"I think…I think I might already know" Spencer admitted.

"So, tell us about the suspect," asked Morgan.

Spencer shook his head, "Truth is, I don't know anything about him."

Percy raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, Spence?"

"He's my father."

A silence fell on the room as the agents shared looks of shock. None of them had suspected this.

Spencer went straight to work. He cleared Percy's snack wrappers off the bed and began placing the content of the file box down in neat rows.

"Before we go down this road, you need to be sure." Warned Rossi.

"He's right, some rocks don't need looking under." Added Morgan.

Spencer was tired of explaining his motives to them, "My mind is sending me signals. I can't ignore them anymore."

"Mixed signals," corrected Percy, "That's what the subconscious is all about. You of all people know that."

"Reid, your dad left you. If you take it to the Freudian extreme, you could say that he killed your childhood." Offered Morgan.

"That could explain a dream in which you see him as a murderer," Rossi said, adding on to Morgan's point.

A part of Spencer knew that they were right: the things he saw in his dream may not have anything to do with this case. But for years these dreams plagued his sleep. He couldn't take it anymore. He needed to find out once and for all what really happened when he was a kid.

"I've come this far," he confirmed, "I'm not going back."

The agents knew they were fighting for a lost cause, that nothing they said would change Spencer's mind. So instead, they all pulled up a chair and got to work.

For thirty minutes they sat in silence, reading file after file. Nobody said a word because no one knew what to say.

Eventually, Morgan broke the unbearable silence. "We should probably go over the facts of the case."

"Riley was six at the time," Spencer began, "His father, Lou Jenkins, was supposed to pick him up from t-ball practice at four, but he got delayed at work. This prompted Riley to walk the three blocks home. When his mother got home in the early evening, she found him dead in the basement."

"So the offender came to the house after the boy arrived home." Commented Rossi.

"Or picked him up on the way there." Suggested Percy.

"Then he coaxes Riley into the basement where he sexually assaults him." Said Morgan as he paced around the room.

Rossi continued to flip through his file, "The boy's mouth was taped shut." "Possibly symbolic. The unsub fears Riley will talk, panics, weighs his options…" said Spencer.

"So he decides to make sure that he'll never talk" added Morgan.

Percy sat down on the floor with her legs crossed as she checked through the papers that covered the floor. "So he finds a knife in the fishing gear under the stairs, stabs Riley…geez, nine times in the chest. Stuffs him behind the washing machine."

The other agents processed the information silently. It was a disturbing case, even more so since the victim was such a young child. And the possible connection to Spencer's life made it all the worse. Spencer's mind kept fighting through the dark subject as he continued to rattle off the profile. "So, the unsub's a white male in his late twenties to early thirties."

"Which means we're now looking for a man in his fifties" Rossi corrected.

"He likely knew the boy, maybe been to his house." Morgan offered.

"Could he be a neighbor?" asked Percy. Morgan nodded.

With that, Spencer's face became paler. He shuffled through the various maps on the table, until he found the one he was looking for.

"Spence? What's up?" she asked him.

"My family lived less than half a mile from the Jenkins'." He said hesitantly. "Do you think your dad knew the boy?" Rossi asked.

"I don't know" Spencer replied. "My memory's lack of recall just reinforces how little I knew about him."

Percy could tell he was getting angrier by the way he rubbed his face while he spoke. He did that every time he talked about his father. She knew how hard this case was going to be on him. She wished he would change his mind, and they could all go back to DC. But Percy knew that would never happen.

"Reid, we're going to have to track him down. You have to know that" stated Morgan.

"We should talk to my mother first, neighbors. Get their impressions." Answered Reid. He wanted to put off seeing his father for as long as possible.

"Reid," Rossi began, clearly uncomfortable with the situation at hand, "I don't need to tell you that this signature was need-based and sexual in nature. The man we're looking for is a pedophile. So, I'll ask you again. Are you sure you want to go down this road?"

Spencer didn't answer.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these sunken eyes and learn to see All your life You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

"You okay Spence?" Percy asked as they drove to Summerlin.

"That entire time, my entire childhood, he was so close. But he never visited me. Not once" He said, sadly.

"I'm so sorry. I really am. I know how hard this must be for you." She comforted.

"Do you now?" Spencer said coldly.

"Spencer, it's not too late to back out of this. You know that right? You don't have to do this." Rossi interrupted.

"How many times do I have to say yes before you all understand that I want to do this. I need to, okay?" Spence exclaimed.

The rest of the car ride was mostly quiet. Morgan, Rossi, and Percy chatted occasionally. Spencer remained completely quiet. He was nervous. It had been almost two decades since the last time he saw his father. He didn't know what to think. All he knew was that he was angry.

The pulled up the office and parked. Spencer rushed ahead, leaving the rest of the group in the dust.

"If you didn't know better you'd almost think he was excited about this" joked Morgan.

"I think he's just ready for this to be over." Said Percy.

"Aren't we all" said Rossi.

They caught up with Spencer at the front desk. He was waiting there awkwardly, like a lost child at a grocery store. He didn't know what to do. Truthfully, he was more uncomfortable in that moment than he'd ever been before in his entire life.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

Spencer went to speak, but his mind had gone blank and he stumbled over the words.

Luckily, Rossi came to the rescue, "We'd like to speak with William Reid." "Is he expecting you?" She asked.

Percy couldn't help but let out a short chuckle, "I don't think so"

In unison, they all held their badges out in front of them. Understandably, the woman was taken aback.

"He's…uh, in a meeting right now. Why don't you have a seat and I'll tell him you're here."

Morgan turned his attention to Reid, "You okay?"

Spencer continued to stand there, his heart racing. His mind was moving so fast that he couldn't put his thoughts into words.

"Yeah" Spencer lied, "I'm gonna, yeah… I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

And with that he whipped around the corner, once again leaving three very confused FBI agents in his wake.

"I've never seen him like this before," said Morgan as soon as Spencer was out of earshot.

"Well, seventeen years is a long time to go in-between visits." Said Rossi.

"Apparently not long enough. The kid's still angry." Morgan said.

"Yeah," replied Rossi, "I'm starting to get that."

"Come on, wouldn't you still be angry if you were in his position? I know I'd be furious" Percy commented.

"Of course, I'd be mad. But I don't think I go as far as accusing my dad of murder." Argued Morgan.

"I'll be right back," a new voice said. The three agents turned their attention to the voice. It was William Reid, and he was walking over to them.

"You all from the FBI?" he asked.

"Yes sir, Mr. Reid," Rossi said, holding out his badge again, "I'm agent Rossi, and these are agents Morgan and Jacobson."

"This wouldn't be about the city council investigation, would it?" he laughed.

"Uh no. This is more of a personal matter." Rossi explained.

"It concern's your son, Mr. Reid." Said Percy.

"My son? Did something happen to him?" he panicked.

"That's what we're trying to find out," Spencer said as he walked up to the group.

"Hello. Dad." Spencer said the word felt foreign in his mouth.

They all went into his office. William sat down in chairs, but the rest of them stood.

"You don't look like me anymore." William commented, "You used to. Everybody said so."

"They say some people look like their dogs too. It's attributed to prolonged mutual exposure. Elderly couples also. They unconsciously mimic the expressions of people they've been around their whole life. So, it kind of… it kind of makes sense that I wouldn't really look like you. I haven't seen you in twenty years." Spencer ranted.

Spencer looked like he was about to cry, and it broke Percy's heart.

"So, are you in town on work?" William asked, desperate to change the subject.

"We're just wrapping up case." Answered Rossi.

"A five-year-old boy was abducted and murdered." Said Morgan.

William nodded, "I read about that. Uh... Ethan Hayes, right? That's terrible."

"That case got me thinking about Riley Jenkins. Do you remember Riley Jenkins?"

"Of course."

"I've been having dreams about him for a really long time. But when we came back here for this case, it jogged something, and the dream changed. I saw his killer, and he was you."

"Interesting dream." He replied

"You don't seem all that surprised." Commented Percy. She knew she was biased but there was something suspicious about Spencer's father. He was definitely hiding something.

"I stopped being surprised by Spencer's mind a long time ago."

"There are certain criteria we consider when looking at this type of suspect. You fit parts of that profile." Rossi stated.

"Me?"

"We just want your cooperation." Said Rossi.

"My cooperat…." Willaim trailed off, lightly laughing.

The agents glared at him.

"You're not actually saying you think I killed Riley Jenkins?" he asked.

"We didn't say that," Spencer said.

"Good, because that's absurd." He said.

"We'd just like permission to look through your computer, access your records," Morgan explained.

William was getting angry, "And what would you be looking for exactly?"

The room was silent.

"You want access to my files? Get a warrant."

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly Into the light of the dark black night.

Finally, the case was over, and the team was flying back home. However, the jet was still in Quantico, so the four of them took a passenger flight back to Virginia. Rossi, being the gentleman that he was, upgraded all of them to first class so they could actually get some sleep on the way back.

And that's what they were doing. Morgan and Rossi sat on the right side, both fast asleep. In front of Rossi on his tray table sat a half-finished glass of scotch. On the left side, Percy was also fast asleep. Spencer, however, was not.

He starred out the window, his mind going over the events of the past few days. He was still having trouble processing everything that had happened. Seeing his father after seventeen years, hearing his mother tell him what really happened to Riley. He hoped solving that case would answer his questions. But when he got on the flight home, he knew he had way more questions than answers. One stuck out to him the most: if his father lived and worked so close to his childhood home, why did he never visit?

Spencer looked over at Percy. She was still asleep, a very faint snore escaping from her lips. Spencer watched as her head slid down and landed on Spencer's shoulder. He gasped, but he wouldn't dare move. He enjoyed being so close to her.

Unfortunately, her head hitting his shoulder was enough to wake Percy up. She whipped up her head, startled by her sudden awakening.

"How long was I out?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

Spencer checked his watch, "One hour and twelve minutes."

Percy smirked, "What, you don't have the seconds?"

"Not this time, sorry," Spencer laughed.

"Have you slept yet?"

He shook his head.

"You should really get some sleep, Spence. You haven't slept in a while. You don't want to be half asleep when you meet JJ's baby for the first time."

"I know. I'm trying to sleep, believe me." Spencer said.

"Really?" Percy asked.

"No."

"Is it your dad?" she asked.

He nodded. "He never came. Not once. Not when my mom got really bad. Percy, he didn't even come to my high school graduation. And no matter what I tell myself, it still feels like somehow it was my fault."

"Stop this right now. It is not your fault that your father left. That's all on him. He's the one who couldn't handle his life. But that was absolutely not because of you." Percy comforted.

A tear or two fell down his cheeks.

"You became someone amazing without him. He can never take that away from you."

He nodded.

"Now get some sleep."

"Fine," he said.

He fell asleep quickly, his head on Percy's shoulder.

You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

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