Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth

How badly do we need Jonathan Richman now? After Election 2008, I was ready to say, "Not as much as before," given that the government (at least) no longer promulgated that eight-year Dominant Paradigm of scorched-earth intolerance.

Then, a shooting in Arizona. Then localized fascism in Wisconsin. And we've got folks, smart ones even, telling us we're getting lonelier in our interconnectedness, a poisoning plaintive as a castaway guzzling salt water at sea.

So, my answer to the question above is no longer "Not as much as before," and not yet "More than ever." But, “As much as we ever did.”

Jonathan is not Jesus, but he gives us the Golden Rule. He reminds us that we are social animals, that we must seek love and covet the warmth of others. He acknowledges the imperfections and the pain — the Moon shines out at night, and Moon takes on both death and fear, which get wrapped up in Richman's passion but do not overwhelm it. They enrich it.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Simplicity and directness mark Moon's instrumentation and themes. If you want to leave the party, it's cool. Just don't play passive-aggressive. Love, be loved, gather. Your body is part of you. Don't neglect your wholeness.

Like Jesus, Jonathan would like to make himself obsolete. Like Jesus, he probably won't live to see that. He gets to live much longer than Jesus, though, and his message isn't adulterated by posthumous filthy fingers. He'll keep on doing until he can't, or until we get it right.

  • Album: O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth
  • Artist: Jonathan Richman
  • Label: Vapor Records
  • Songs: (1) O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth (2) These Bodies that Came to Cavort (3) If You Want to Leave Our Party Just Go (4) I Was the One She Came For (5) Sa Voix M'Attise (6) We'll Be the Noise, We'll Be the Scandal (7) The Sea Was Calling Me Home (8) Winter Afternoon by B.U. in Boston (9) The Bitter Herb (10) Sa Voix M'Attsie (reprise) (11) My Affected Accent (12) Even Though I Know I Am the Wind and the Sun, I (13) The Sea Was Calling Me Home (reprise) (14) It Was Time for Me to Be with Her

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The greatest symphonist of them all

Havergal Brian wrote over 30 of them

How badly do we need Jonathan Richman now? After Election 2008, I was ready to say, "Not as much as before," given that the government (at least) no longer promulgated that eight-year Dominant Paradigm of scorched-earth intolerance.

Then, a shooting in Arizona. Then localized fascism in Wisconsin. And we've got folks, smart ones even, telling us we're getting lonelier in our interconnectedness, a poisoning plaintive as a castaway guzzling salt water at sea.

So, my answer to the question above is no longer "Not as much as before," and not yet "More than ever." But, “As much as we ever did.”

Jonathan is not Jesus, but he gives us the Golden Rule. He reminds us that we are social animals, that we must seek love and covet the warmth of others. He acknowledges the imperfections and the pain — the Moon shines out at night, and Moon takes on both death and fear, which get wrapped up in Richman's passion but do not overwhelm it. They enrich it.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Simplicity and directness mark Moon's instrumentation and themes. If you want to leave the party, it's cool. Just don't play passive-aggressive. Love, be loved, gather. Your body is part of you. Don't neglect your wholeness.

Like Jesus, Jonathan would like to make himself obsolete. Like Jesus, he probably won't live to see that. He gets to live much longer than Jesus, though, and his message isn't adulterated by posthumous filthy fingers. He'll keep on doing until he can't, or until we get it right.

  • Album: O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth
  • Artist: Jonathan Richman
  • Label: Vapor Records
  • Songs: (1) O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth (2) These Bodies that Came to Cavort (3) If You Want to Leave Our Party Just Go (4) I Was the One She Came For (5) Sa Voix M'Attise (6) We'll Be the Noise, We'll Be the Scandal (7) The Sea Was Calling Me Home (8) Winter Afternoon by B.U. in Boston (9) The Bitter Herb (10) Sa Voix M'Attsie (reprise) (11) My Affected Accent (12) Even Though I Know I Am the Wind and the Sun, I (13) The Sea Was Calling Me Home (reprise) (14) It Was Time for Me to Be with Her
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

National City to junk permissive land-use code

Airbnb regs would be like Chula Vista's
Next Article

Will Trump’s Baja resort be built after all?

Long-stalled development sparks art exhibit, gets new life
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader