Down on the Corner

It is impossible not to feel good when you hear this song. From the shuffling bass line that begins the song, it has you nodding your head in unison to this tune about Willy and the Poor Boys playing “early in the evening, just about suppertime”
I heard the cooks in my kitchen playing it on the broken-down radio that sits on top of the microwave. The new kid who told everyone he was an Iron Maiden fan brought this CD in. It got everyone smiling. It put the night cook in a good mood, even though we were short one cook and the Iron Maiden fan was a newbie. It got the servers smiling as they picked up plates and filled up ice teas, It got me in a good mood while I was trying to entertain my bar crowd and find solutions for my two missing employees. Everyone was smiling, and if a song does that, it succeeds.
Some music is written to inspire. The melody to “Where the Streets Have No Name” is a spiritual call to arms. U2 has made a career writing songs like this. Some music is about confrontation. Public Enemy’s “Fear of a Black Planet” is an album about revolution. It isn’t something you’d normally listen to while doing your laundry on a Tuesday night. Other kinds of music are meant to be more introspective. Leonard Cohen’s “The Future” is good for that.
Some music is for light and easy escape. Not light and easy as in brainless, but something you can tap your feet to. That is “Down on the Corner” It is about a band that plays on street corners for nickels to entertain. Main CCR songwriter John Fogerty was probably writing an idyllic 1960’s portrait seen through the eyes of a small southern town, but the emotion connects, the snaking bass line connects, the spare rhythm guitar connects, the whole song connects, a three minute slab of perfection that helped make what could’ve been a rough night for my crew a pleasant and happy one.