Mutual Aid & A Canadian Musical Icon
(you know, something not-old & something maybe new-to-you!)
gif by Kate Sivtseva
Darling Dames Nationals! This week we have a two-part issue, featuring a timely rerun of our pop culture care package on mutual aid networks and a very special guest contribution by reader Ann Boyles, who reached out to Dame Margaret on the occasion of her birthday back in May to share a deep dive into the world of singer-songwriter Stan Rogers. Ann has graciously agreed to let us share her expertise with you!
After reading (or re-reading) about mutual aid networks, if you feel moved to donate to such a group in your area, send us a screenshot of your receipt and Your Dames will match your donations (up to $250 each) to our own mutual aid networks of choice (the South Jersey Mutual Aid Network, currently fundraising for routine shelf-stable groceries and Halloween treats, and the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury Mutual Aid Fund, whose About Us and Guiding Principles documents are things of organizational beauty). No donation is too small, and every dollar counts! We’ll also be happy to shout out your favorite mutual aid organizations in the next newsletter & on Twitter! This could help put $1000 in the accounts of organizations that are doing the everyday work of mutual care and dignity preservation with neighbors all over.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Like the Go-Go’s, Miss Bianca’s got the beat
When I first wrote about mutual aid, I didn’t imagine that we’d be in Month 8 of the COVID-19 pandemic and that the US federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic would continue to be, at best, so iffy? Unimpressive? A mortifying failure on the world stage? Take your pick. Meanwhile, the need for mutual care and direct aid -- including food and groceries of all types, assistance with utilities, rent, gas money -- continues to increase as furloughs become layoffs, and as a federal relief package seems not to be the huge priority it ought to be.
Thankfully, there’s something each of us as individuals can do within our own communities to contribute to our neighbors’ well-being and build solidarity with them at the same time. Say hello to a classic concept having a real moment, mutual aid networks. (The Guardian has a good explainer on the concept.) Mutual aid networks have been around for ages, of course, and the Left and marginalized groups have never stopped using them. I hope their current renaissance will last long after the worst of this crisis is behind us, because they’re genuinely helpful and nurture a spirit of community care and mutual responsibility. And done safely and well, mutual aid is compatible with social distancing.
To see if a network already exists for your town or even your neighborhood via this super-detailed Google Doc. I got there via this related, super-useful Google Doc of mutual aid & advocacy resources. I’ve been working with a local-to-me mutual aid network since March, and it’s always one of the most meaningful, concrete things I do each week. When things at a huge scale feel unmanageable and out of control (in other words, every minute of every day presently), it can be very grounding to do something on a smaller scale.
This time is really scary, and taking care of ourselves and each other can help make it less so. Let’s do this!
Miss Bianca’s sentiment is right-on, though we do not recommend her proximity to Bernard.
Stan Rogers Primer!
by Ann Boyles, a sharer of knowledge after Your Dames’ own hearts
A Canadian folk music legend, who Your Dames are thrilled to learn about
Stan Rogers sings lots of songs about boats and sea stuff, and also manages to pack in a lot of stuff about aging and change despite being staggeringly young when he wrote all of this.
How did I wind up becoming a Stan Rogers superfan? Well! I grew up on a 53 foot steel sailboat in rural Alaska. This upbringing made me basically the target audience for Stan's songs about Ships and Sailing and Oceans and Associated Maritime Things. "The Idiot" was the second song that tiny Ann studiously memorized all the lyrics to so she could softly sing it over and over to herself whenever she wanted to (the first was "Sixteen Tons" because apparently tiny Ann had a fascination with songs about, like, the prison of capitalism?).
Stan Rogers has been one of the biggest constants in my life. I've moved away from Alaska, I've been through jobs and college and various Phases of Life. I've fallen in and out of love with different artists and types of music, but my love for the music of Stan Rogers has never wavered. He's so comforting (that warm, rich baritone!), always there for me when I need him, and always delivers. Many's the Stan Rogers tune that I have quietly wept to over the years.
What’s Stan’s story? Well, I don't really know very much about Stan Rogers, except for these important facts:
He died tragically young in a plane crash (33!) and yet managed to sound (and also LOOK) like a man twice that age with easily eleven times as much life experience and history.
He is Canadian and is a part of the Canadian psyche, as exemplified in this Kate Beaton comic. Also, Nicole Cliffe, known avatar of Canada, has mentioned her love for his songs numerous times.
Despite looking permanently kind of middle aged (he went bald early and rocked the "bald head + beard" look), he could absolutely get it. I definitely would, oh my god.
And now, some songs, divided into categories:
Romantic Songs
Forty-Five Years: Surely, the most romantic song ever written? A song about being absolutely enraptured with someone, but also looking forward to growing old and weathering life together.
Lies: Another song about people in love growing old and weathering a lot of life and still being bonkers about each other, which is absolutely one of my favorite flavors of love song. The line"she'll look up in that weathered face that loves hers line for line" is the one that gets me hardest.
A capella Songs About Sea Stuff
Barrett's Privateers: A fucking powerhouse of a modern-day shanty. Iconic stuff. The rage! The fire! The fury at the fucking pointlessness and stupidity of war and the idiots in charge! (also the source of this meme cartoon)
Northwest Passage: A song about the doomed Franklin expedition, and other explorers of Canada, and just, like, Canada I guess.
Boats and Other Sea Stuff (non-a capella):
The Bluenose: Poetic ode to a beautiful sailing ship, shot through with nostalgia. I love the live version of this the most. THE POETRY OF "feel her bow rise free of Mother Sea in a sunburst cloud of spray / That stings the cheek while the rigging will speak of sea-miles gone away" (Note: When I was a kid, my dad did regular evening music shows at the local public radio station. This was often the song he would play for my brother and me at 7.30pm before we went to bed because I was so crazy about it, so I'm especially fond of it for that reason.)
The Mary Ellen Carter: A song sort of about a boat, but really about picking yourself up after some shit, and giving a big "fuck you" to the doubters.
White Squall: A goosebump-y haunting song about a tragic accident out on the Great Lakes.
Take It From Day to Day: A song about the first ship to traverse the Northwest Passage west to east, but also... about knuckling down and making it through something rough in the promise of warmth and fun on the other side.
The Wreck of the Athens Queen: A jolly romp about some pals who go scavenge a shipwreck and get lots of cool shit like a couch and some chickens! Fun!
Miscellaneous (not about the sea):
The Witch of the Westmorland: Off a live album, it's one of the few that Stan did not write himself and does feel Not Quite like his usual fare. A haunting, sexy fairy tale in Ye Olde Speak about a hot witch (I do love folky songs about sexy witches!).
Working Joe: A song about lazy winter afternoons (and also about aging and responsibility), which has, just, THE MOST lazy winter afternoon vibe. I often sing "coming home to coffee and a traaaaashy book" to myself when driving home from work.
The Playlist
I put all of the above songs on this playlist and then included some other stuff by him that I love. There's just so much beautiful goodness... "Flying," about ambitious kids trying and failing to get into the NHL and how messed up it all is? "The Nancy", about a sea battle? "Tiny Fish for Japan," about how livelihoods and a town centered around the sea are changing irrevocably as things modernize? "Fishermen's Wharf", about.... well, actually pretty much the same thing? "The Last Watch", about a man waiting with his old ship as she is HEADED FOR THE SCRAPYARD?! FUCK ME UP, STAN ROGERS.
Two Bossy Dames is brought to you by:
This two-parter of Timothy Olyphant being a delightful chaos Muppet in his latest guest appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Gilmore Girls sequel we really want
Music, music, music!
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