A playlist for learning

By Tom Vogt
June 10, 2020

We all need somebody to lean on. These days, we need that more than ever. That's why a song by Bill Withers is carrying such a load. When Withers died two months ago, many of the news reports included his recording of "Lean on Me" to remind the world of what we lost.

When Covid-19 staggered our nation, online versions of the song went viral. It was used in TV commercials, underlining the message that we are all in this together. And just a few days ago, an NPR reporter covered an event honoring George Floyd. A performance of "Lean on Me" was part of the observance, an invitation to share the sorrow.

But there are other types of leaning, and other songs to set the mood. My playlist includes "The Warmth of the Sun" by the Beach Boys and "Mr. Dieingly Sad" by the Critters. They are perfect for leaning against my wife's shoulder or just closing my eyes, leaning back in my chair and thinking about life.

They might be dismissed as riffs on young-love angst, but here's the thing about those two songs. Beautiful as they are, they emerged from two of the most traumatic periods of America's last 60 years.

Don Ciccone had a lot on his mind in 1966. His girlfriend figured in his future, and so did the Vietnam War. As lead vocalist and songwriter for the Critters, he set those emotions to music.

It was not a break-up song, Ciccone told a music journalist, but he knew he would have to leave her soon. And he did, although Ciccone didn't go to Vietnam. Ciccone enlisted in the Air Force and served four years as an aircraft mechanic.

Before leaving for the Air Force, Ciccone recorded the lead vocal track so the rest of the band could work around it. He never heard the full cut of "Mr. Dieingly Sad" until a copy of the album was mailed to his barracks. After leaving the Air Force, Ciccone was recruited by Frankie Valli and sang with the Four Seasons for eight years.

(Bill Withers, like Ciccone, was strongly motivated to enlist. At 17, his only career option in Slab Fork, W. Va., was a coal mine. He enlisted in the Navy in 1955 and, like Ciccone, was an aircraft mechanic. After his nine-year Navy hitch, he stayed in pretty much the same line of work until his music career took off. He actually spent about as much time handling aircraft parts as he did recording songs. After performing for 15 years, Withers walked away from the music business.)

Brian Wilson and Mike Love started writing "The Warmth of the Sun'" the night before a concert. When they finished the melancholy tribute to lost love, it was 2 a.m. on Nov. 22, 1963. They were awakened to the news that John F. Kennedy had been shot, Love told the Huffington Post in 2013.

"I'll never be able to hear or perform that song without recalling the loss of President Kennedy," Love wrote in his commentary. "In this world of ours, change and loss are inevitable, but thankfully, through it all, there is, and always will be, love ... like the warmth of the sun."

In times of turmoil, other people might find a few moments for reflection in the Beatles ("Let it Be") or Peter, Paul and Mary ("Blowing in the Wind") or Marvin Gaye ("What's Going On").

Lean on them too.