A Sense of Doubt blog post #3695 - SoD Reprint of #1572 from 2019 - Seven Songs for Singing in the Car when Grieving - Music Monday for 2503.31

Dad at Liesel's dinner Masters 1511.21 - Park Club

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3695 - SoD Reprint of #1572 from 2019 - Seven Songs for Singing in the Car when Grieving - Music Monday for 2503.31

I broke into a sob watching a movie last night, and it really caught me off guard.

Watching Molly's Game with Jessica Chastain and Kevin Costner, a father-daughter bonding scene after a long estrangement really got to me, and suddenly a few tears turned into gut-wrenching sobs because I miss my Dad (and my MOM) , and I wish they were not dead.

And I had therapy today to be able to talk about it. And now, I am writing these words a day later.

I see that there's so much more grief to process. It's different because I have now lost both parents and that feels wrong. It feels like something is wrong with world. Something is wrong.

And yet, I am very functional, and I love my life (in most ways, most of the time). 

I am not broken. 

I am not a stranger in a strange land.

But in processing grief, I need to sing these songs, LOUDLY.

When Mom died, I drove around and sang in the car.

Maybe.

Maybe just at home.

I do have a nice stereo now.

Thanks for tuning in.

I made a mix of the SEVEN SONGS (plus):

Seven Songs for Seven Days of Feeling Grief

THE LINK TO THE ORIGINAL POST THAT I AM REPRINTING BELOW:

Monday, June 10, 2019

A Sense of Doubt blog post #1572 - Those Seven Songs - Musical Monday for 1906.10

me in my VW Rabbit- 1990s
yes, I already shared this photo, so what?

A Sense of Doubt blog post #1572 - Those Seven Songs - Musical Monday for 1906.10

Back in 2015, someone challenged me to post seven songs on seven days on Facebook, and I posted it to my blog.
I actually posted eight songs, but one was a two for one.

Though I have category for this, I wanted to gather them all in a blog. These are some of the best songs I know.

Thanks for reading.

1. Peter Gabriel - "Washing of the Water"
2. Everything but the Girl - "We Walk the Same Line"
3. Indigo Girls - "Wood Song"
4. U2 - "One"
5. Beth Orton - "Feel to Believe"
6. David Bowie - "Five Years"
7. (a two fer) Katie Melua - "Just Like Heaven" and the Pixies "Veloruia"

https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2015/10/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-112.html
Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #112 - Singing in the car

Hi Mom,

I have not been singing in the car much in the last two decades and as such I listen to less music per week. I switched to audio books around 1999-2000. I don't have an accurate measure of exactly when I started listening to audio books but that's probably close. In fact, I have taken to listening to audio books when doing chores around the house or in the yard, doing dishes and kitchen clean up, walking the dog, on bike rides, and while driving. Pretty much, any time I can fill the void with an audio book, I do so.

But when you were actively dying, Mom, I abandoned my audio books and resumed my old habit of singing in the car as therapy to get me through the most intense grief as I was watching you die.

I used to sing in the car all the time. I remember when I first drove to Kalamazoo College for freshman orientation listening to Pink Floyd's The Wall on my brand new remote cassette player, as in it sat on the floor under the dash.

I used to keep a constant of stream of music going in my life, not just in the car. But in the 1990s, I found that I was obsessing a great deal about stupid crap. I was not singing along so much anymore, and I was not using the time in the car for something productive like thinking through story elements, characters, and content for the novel on which I was working. So, I discovered audio books. There was a little bit of a learning curve to train my mind to focus, and I still find my mind wanders from time to time (the paper copy of the book helps with this and I always keep it on hand to consult, review, and mark my place). As such, singing in the car became a rare thing. In the last few years, I have only really done it while traveling with Liesel.

But when you were dying, Mom, I took a two (maybe three) week hiatus from audio books, not that I could have concentrated anyway. I did a lot of singing. It was cathartic.

So, yesterday, my head was full of work stuff and I need emotional release. My current audio book is hardly gripping, so I decided to sing in the car on the way to teach in Benton Harbor. I sang for an hour, and it felt really good.

This reminded me of something my friend Glenn Codere proposed: seven songs in seven days and a description of what they mean to you. So, here goes.

I love Peter Gabriel. Many Peter Gabriel songs have helped me over the years, and I have sung them proudly, even dancing around my room as I cranked the volume. "The Washing of the Water" from his 1992 album Us quickly became one of my top five Peter Gabriel songs after its release.

I have used this song to navigate the deep trenches of many painful times in my life, but there's been no time more painful than your death, Mom. None of my break ups matches this pain, and so this song takes on new relevance and significance, especially the last line "bring me something to take this pain away."

Peter Gabriel ~ Washing of the Water (New Blood Version)

Readers who are here, if you have never read the lyrics, READ THEM as you listen to the song. Let me share all that with you, Mom. So beautiful...

Peter Gabriel's "Washing of the Water" Lyrics

River, river, carry me on
Living river, carry me on
River, river, carry me on
To the place where I come from

So deep, so wide, will you take me on your back for a ride
If I should fall, would you swallow me deep inside
River, show me how to float, I feel like I'm sinking down
Thought that I could get along

But here in this water, my feet won't touch the ground
I need something to turn myself around
Going away, away toward the sea
River deep, can you lift up and carry me
Oh roll on through the heartland
'Til the sun has left the sky
River, river, carry me high

'Til the washing of the water, make it all alright
Let your waters reach me, like she reached me tonight

Letting go, it's so hard, the way it's hurting now
To get this love untied
So tough to stay with this thing, cos if I follow through
I face what I denied
I'll get those hooks out of me
And I'll take out the hooks that I sunk deep in your side
Kill that fear of emptiness, that loneliness I hide

River, oh river, river running deep
Bring me something that will let me get to sleep

In the washing of the water will you take it all away
Bring me something to take this pain away

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 114 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1510.26 - 20:10
and again - 1510.27 - 8:55

https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2015/10/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-113-seven.html

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #113 - Seven Songs: "We Walk the Same Line"

Hi Mom,

Remember this, Mom?

I actually played this one for you because it's so beautiful and so applicable.

And how could it not be applicable?

So this:

This song was written solely (at least credited solely to) by Tracey Thorne, and it deals with the diagnosis and struggle that her partner (Ben Watt) went through with regards to Churg-Strauss syndrome, a disease that would nearly take his life. Read his autobiography / memoir (Patient, 1997) for more e room. Your back aches from lying and your head aches from crying.")
This is a touching song of support, a public airing of undying love from one partner (Thorn) to another (Watt) - and it couldn't be more beautiful if it tried. If you lose your faith, you can have (read: SHARE) mine - we walk the same line.on that itself, but at the time this album was recorded and released (1993/1994) it wasn't quite common knowledge.
Listen to this song again, but look at it not from Thorn's perspective (offering support to her partner (now husband)) but from the perspective of the patient. Up all night, unable to sleep, sick with worry. ("I don't have to tell you how slow the night can go. I know you've watched for the light. And I bet you could tell me how slowly four follows three, and you're most forlorn just before dawn")
Or the agony of waiting for some news or prognosis, knowing that it could be your last. ("And I don't need reminding how loud the phone can ring when you're waiting for news. And that big old moon lights every corner of th
From "beeawwb" on song meanings - 9-05-2013

I wrote about EBTG on my T-shirt blog in T-shirt #163, which appears in a top ten set of results if you Google search: "we walk the same line everything but the girl."

This song saw me through many tough times prior to your meningitis, Mom, but in 2000, it became linked with that illness and our experience with your recovery.

As the analysis above outlines, the song works from either side of the bed: the one in the bed or the one next to the bed.

If you lose your faith, babe, you can have mine,

and if you're lost I'm right behind,

cause we walk the same line.

Says it all.

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EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL - "WE WALK THE SAME LINE" - FROM Amplified Heart - 1994



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"We Walk the Same Line" - Everything but the Girl

If you lose your faith, babe, you can have mine,

and if you're lost I'm right behind,

cause we walk the same line.

Now I don't have to tell you

how slow the night can go,

I know you've watched for the light.

And I bet you could tell me

how slowly four follows three,

and you're most forlorn just before dawn.

So if you lose your faith babe,

you can have mine,

and if you're lost, I'm right behind,

cause we walk the same line.

When it's dark baby,

there's a light I'll shine,

and if you're lost, I'm right behind,

cause we walk the same line.

And I don't need reminding

how loud the phone can ring

when you're waiting for news.

And that big old moon

lights every corner of the room.

Your back aches from lying

and your head aches from crying

So if you lose your faith babe,

you can have mine,

and if you're lost, I'm right behind,

cause we walk the same line.

When it's dark baby,

there's a light I'll shine,

and if you're lost, I'm right behind,

cause we walk the same line.

And if these troubles

should vanish like rain on midday,

well I've no doubt there'll be more.

And we can't run and we can't cheat,

cause babe when we meet

what we're afraid of,

we find out what we're made of.

So if you lose your faith babe,

you can have mine,

and if you're lost, I'm right behind,

cause we walk the same line.

When it's dark baby,

there's a light I'll shine,

and if you're lost, I'm right behind,

cause we walk the same line

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Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 115 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1510.27 - time

https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2015/10/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-114-seven.html

Long Lake, Traverse City, 1971

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #114 - Seven Songs: "The Wood Song"

Hi Mom,

Time for another song because I am really doing this seven songs in seven days thing. Today's song is about a boat, and see? We're in a boat. Yeah. That was planned.

All these songs this week were ones I played as I drove out to see you as you were dying. In fact, one day, I made a larger loop out around Gull Lake and past the old house just to get in more time with this music, that day I was heavy on Erykah Badu, who, though wonderful, is not making this list of seven, which is a shame. In fact, I am a bit ashamed of how "white" my list is, even though the next one will feature Mary J. Blige, though it did not originally. But it can't be helped. It is what it is.

Today's song is "The Wood Song" by the Indigo Girls from their 1994 album Swamp Ophelia. Here's two versions, live and in studio (the second is near the end of the post).

"The Wood Song" - The Indigo Girls - live
Toronto Pride, 2007

Like all of these songs in my selection, this song has seen me through tough times, which I think is the point of the song. This song helped me to persevere.

As I read the lyrics, this song I see that it is about a group of friends ("my friends and I have had a hard time"). One one level, as the song has many possible interpretations and can fit so many situations, I have always felt that this song is about being gay in America and how difficult that has been up to 1992-4-ish when it was written. Maybe that's too simplistic and only my association because I know the sexual identity of the two women in the Indigo Girls, and yet, I always think about that situation when I hear the song and more besides.

The song speaks of a change ("bruising our brains hard up against change all the old dogs and the magician") that's been resisted but now they ("my friends") are all together for the journey.

I have text from the Internet that I will share, but I think some miss the point of the point. The song mentions a point ("the prize is always worth the rocky ride but the wood is tired and the wood is old and we'll make it fine if the weather holds but if the weather holds then we'll have missed the point that's where i need to go"). One chap claimed it was a literal point in the story of Noah's Ark that is invoked by the song. True, the song uses Noah's Ark as a metaphor, but it's not ABOUT Noah's Ark (if even...). The point is the process. If the good weather holds, then there are no storms. In storms, we grow, so if we don't have storms we will miss the process that helps us to grow and change and evolve, hence: "the prize is always worth the rocky ride." It's just a tough ride, the wood is tired and old. I feel that way a lot. But we must go into the storm. It's the only way to evolve. After all, there's the other side of the storm, the change, the better world, but we only reach it going through the storm. If we stay put, we don't change, then there is no storm and thus no "prize" as there has been no "rocky ride."

Keep reading. The song basically re-iterates what I just shared in analysis. No one gets to miss the storm, they sing.

But the song is about love, courage, going on, keeping on, weathering storms, and, well, LIFE.

I am so thankful to have had the Indigo Girls in my life for nearly 30 years. Thank you Emily and Amy for such great joy.

"The Wood Song" by The Indigo Girls - lyrics
the thin horizon of a plan is almost clear my friends and I have had a hard time bruising our brains hard up against change all the old dogs and the magician now I see we're in the boat in two by twos only the heart that we have for a tool we could use and the very close quarters are hard to get used to love weighs the hull down with its weight but the wood is tired and the wood is old and we'll make it fine if the weather holds but if the weather holds then we'll have missed the point that's were i need to go no way construction of this tricky plan was built by other than a greater hand with a love that passes all our understanding watching closely over the journey yeah but what it takes to cross the great divide seems more than all the courage i can muster up inside but we get to have some answers when we reach the other side the prize is always worth the rocky ride but the wood is tired and the wood is old and we'll make it fine if the weather holds but if the weather holds then we'll have missed the point that's where i need to go sometimes i ask to sneak a closer look skip to the final chapter of the book and maybe steer us clear from some of the pain that it took to get us where we are this far but the question drowns in its futility and even i have got to laugh at me cause no one gets to miss the storm of what will be just holding on for the ride the wood is tired the wood is old and we'll make it fine if the weather holds but if the weather holds then we'll have missed the point that's where i need to go

Stuff by others.


"My boss recently gave a speech about commitment and weathering the storm, at the end of the year banquet. He used a favorite Indigo Girls ballad called "The Wood Song" to illustrate his point.

"As it so happens, this particular song has greater meaning to me than meets they eye. Now I believe that everything takes place for a reason...good and bad... painful and joyful. And so I leave you with the lyrics of this beautiful song to tie together the strings and even find the missing link of how it might bring wonder into our own life."

above from - http://ginkogal.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-england-life.html


from the you tube page with this video

namahe27 6 years ago:  I really like this song; especially now, as I am struggling finding the right thing to do. I dont seem to have the courage that it takes to go this way and instead of being with the one I love I rather play safe and might make a big mistake just because I am too concerned what other people would think. When I told my love that I just cant do it, she asked me to listen to this song.

kolipokinho 6 years ago  in reply to namahe27:  It's the story of Noah's ark, as seen from the perspective of an animal on board. "Now see we're in the boat in two by twos" gives it away.  "Wood" here refers to the wood that the ark is made of.  The old dogs are probably Noah's pets (or family, I don't know...) and the Magician I'm guessing, is Noah.  If the weather holds, and the flood continues, they would have missed the Point, which is probably Mount Ararat, where the ark ends up. At least that's how I understand the song.

kywomanlml 4 years ago:  I played this song to my mom in November of 1995 to help her understand why I was marrying my now husband. She was concerned our road would not be easy together. It hasn't been easy. But, years and years later, we're still weathering the storms of life and continuously learning to enjoy the ride.

Anne Mooney 9 months ago:  if one looks up the word harmony in the dictionary, it should have but one defenition: indigo girls. they've seen me through some horrible times in my life, for 25 years now. damn! that's a long ass time.

And this whole blog entry (which I will not reprint without permission here)

http://optimisticvoices.blogspot.com/2007/10/wood-song-indigo-girls.html

And - from - http://www.wbur.org/npr/9009196/two-decades-later-indigo-girls-voices-still-strong

I was wondering how difficult it is to maintain an interest in performing songs that have been around for 20 years. Do they begin to take on different meanings as time passes or is it difficult to keep an interest? I'm getting married next month and I lobbied the priest to allow me to walk down the aisle to a secular song - yours - "The Wood Song." "The Wood Song" has meant different, very precious things to me over the years, especially in my relationship. Do the meanings change for you as well? Thanks.

Ms. SALIERS: That's a good question. They do change sometimes. Sometimes I write a song and I think I'm writing it about somebody else or other people, and then I realize that I'm writing it about me. Or depending on what I'm going through in life, you know.

"The Wood Song" - The Indigo Girls



Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 116 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1510.28 - 19:32

https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2015/10/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-115-one.html

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #115 - One - Seven Songs

Hi Mom,

As with all these songs, they do not match my experience. They are chosen for different reasons. The main reason is that they are great singing songs. This one starts with amazing lyrics that nail the feelings swirling around me and through me: "Is it getting better? Or do you feel the same?"

The chorus about "One love" is very powerful and uplifting.

And yet, when I first heard Achtung Baby, I hated it. Then again, I also hated Unforgettable Fire when I first heard it. I have come to love both in different ways. Maybe if "One" had been the first song on Achtung Baby, my initial reaction would not have been strong distaste.

Much of the lyrical content in this song does not strike home in my experience with you, Mom. in fact, it's an angry song, and I have used it to express anger in the past.

But there's great ideas in it, especially this idea of "One Love" for every one, "sisters, brothers." The final chorus really hits home: "One love, One blood, One life, You got to do what you should..."

All the songs I will share with this seven songs in seven days activity will feature strong lyrical content.

And this: "One love, We get to share it, Leaves you baby if you, Don't care for it."

Truly a remarkable song, which is why U2 is one of my favorite bands.

Two videos for this one, Mom. First the amazing version with Mary J. Blige, and then the studio version, which has a completely different quality but is the version that originally inspired me.

Enjoy.

Mary J. Blige - U2 - "One"

U2 - "One" from Achtung Baby - 1991

Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now?
You got someone to blame
You say

One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
One love
We get to share it
Leaves you baby if you
Don't care for it

Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well it's

Too late
Tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One

Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus?
To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much?
More than a lot.
You gave me nothing,
Now it's all I got
We're one
But we're not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
Then we do it again
You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other

U2 - "One"




Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 117 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1510.29 - 22:01
and again 1510.31 - 7:14

https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2015/11/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-118-feel.html

................ still under construction ..............................................

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #118 - "Feel to Believe" - Seven Songs

Hi Mom,

I return to the seven songs thing. No one said they had to be seven songs in seven consecutive days, right?

I love this song.

It's a great singing song.

I have used it as an anthem in many ways, but there was even a connection to you, Mom, and your passing.

Beth Orton - "Feel to Believe"



I have seen Beth Orton twice. The first time I saw her in Irving Place in New York and I was watching the warm up band as she walked up behind me with her dress for the show slung over shoulder. Other people mobbed her, so I left her alone, but we exchanged smiles.

Beth Orton is one of my favorite all time singer-songwriters PERIOD. I discovered her quite by chance, when I decided to buy some new music, two new CDs, based on reviews in Details magazine. Both artists (the other is Lori Carson) have become two of my favorites.

This song has been an anthem to me. A healing balm. A passionate, angry, tortured testament to some love lost, found, found again, whatever.

It's just a great fucking song

I had an argument with some wanker online over the lyrics. I say she's singing

And I won't waste a single second
Living in hell as an idea of heaven
And if one truth leads you to five
I still don't believe in your reasons why

But this bloke, and many of the lyrics sites have

And I won't waste a single second
Living in hell as a nadir of heaven
And if one truth leads you to five
I still don't believe in your reasons why

I say that since Beth is British, her "an idea of" comes out like "nadir of." If I ever get a chance to meet or correspond with Beth, I am going to ask her. But, really, I am pretty sure I'm right.

I have written about Beth Orton and this song before. I write about this song in all three of the following posts (the purple text features links), but I specifically write about "Feel to Believe" in T-shirt #357.

T-shirt #263 - KUDL 2009 - Red - Cotton

T-shirt #360 - Ani DiFranco & My Top Ten Women in Music

T-shirt #357 - The Pixies - Long-Sleeve

Lyrics to "Feel to Believe" by Beth Orton - From the album Central Reservation - 1999

You lose it just to find it
And as you walk right by it
You forget how you got there
And why you never meant to stay

And I won't watch you waste away
And I won't fake another day
And if one truth leads you to five
I still don't believe in your reasons why
I just don't believe in why

You love her, you need her
To feel is to believe her
You know it, you want it
You just can't believe you've got it

And I can't watch you waste away
And I won't beg you still to stay
And if one truth leads you to five
I still don't believe in your reasons why
I just don't believe in why, just don't believe in why

I couldn't watch you walk away
And not forget it
I couldn't watch you turn to stone
And just regret it a single day
Not a single day, not a single day, not a single day

If I lose you, could you find me
Or would you walk right by me?
The soul and the spirit
Each have got their own limit

And I can't waste another second
Living in hell like it's some kind of heaven
And if one truth leads to another
Then isn't there one I can uncover?
But there isn't one that I will not discover

It's the right time, it's my time
It's the right time, it's my time
It's my turn to discover

And I won't waste a single second
Living in hell as a nadir of heaven**
And if one truth leads you to five
I still don't believe in your reasons why

And if one truth leads to another
Isn't there one we can uncover?
If there isn't one that we cannot discover
It's right time, it's our time to discover

** = see comments above for what I think of this lyric.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 120 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1511.01 - time

https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2015/11/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-122-five.html

Mom at Richland Art Fair 1007.17

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #122 - Five Years - Seven Songs

Hi Mom,

Here's the next of the seven songs. No one said that they had to be over consecutive days.

I wanted to choose a picture from five years ago to go with the song "Five Years," and I found one almost to the day. July 17th, 2010 is only off by two weeks from the date of your death five years later. I remember this art fair well. I took you there, and you bought a blue bowl and a photo of a cat for yourself. The rest of what you bought was all for Liesel, including a water bottle that she just used the other day and a photo of a Buddha in a yard that we have hanging on our wall. It was a nice afternoon at the art fair, and you had a lot of fun. It may have been the last of the Richland art fairs that I took you to. I am sorry about that.

As I wrote all before, these songs in my seven songs list are all chosen because they were songs I sang around the time of your death. They are not all songs with direct meaning to your death or our relationship, but this one actually fits in a weird way. Had I known in 2010 that we had five years left, I would have done a lot more. I am not in any way suffocated by regret because I did a lot with you, Mom, especially in the last three years since we learned of the degenerative palsy that ended up being what killed you. But of course, we could always do more. I could have done more.

DAVID BOWIE - "Five Years"

Filmed at BBC Television Studios in London
for the BBC 2 programme Old Grey Whistle Test
and broadcast on February 8, 1972.
- here, courtesy of BBC Television

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Studio album by David Bowie
"The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, which is loosely based on a story of a fictional rock star named Ziggy Stardust" (Wikipedia).
Release date: June 6, 1972
Artist: David Bowie
Label: RCA Victor
Genre: Rock music, Glam rock
Awards: Grammy Hall of Fame

Anyone who has ever spent some time with me knows how huge a David Bowie fan I am,
I have written about David Bowie a lot on my blogs, though not as much yet on this one.

Here's my biggest and main tribute to BOWIE:

T-shirt #269.

However, when I searched the T-shirts blog, I found several posts with Bowie content, and this one jumped out at me:

T-shirt #312.

I don't know if you can check out links where you are, Mom. Actually, you probably see all time and space at once, so links are not real to you. But to other readers they may be. Check those links. You will be glad you did.

Last two things, I am grateful for the person who brought David Bowie into my life. I may not spell her name right, but as best I can remember, it's Janiki Kuppuru.

Here's the details. I first remember encountering David Bowie during a cast party following a show my senior year of High School. He was on SNL, and I remember criticizing him because what he was doing was so weird. Now, it's strange that I would criticize him because I liked weird (I still do). However, I was trying to fit in and so I was keying into the vibe in the room, which was judgy and dismissive. Later that same year, on a whim, I bought David Bowie's latest album, Scary Monsters, and I hated it. It was too weird, which again was strange because I liked weird. But mind was not yet fully open and willing to accept difference.

Then I met Janiki Kuppuru in my first quarter at K. She was British, she had been born in Sri Lanka, but she was most recently from California. We stayed up all night one time, and when I told her that I did not like David Bowie, she insisted that I sit and listen to his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in its entirety and without speaking. I loved it. (Incidentally, I really liked her, too. She refused to wear shoes and was a free spirit.) She knew I would love it since I liked science fiction and aliens and creative, cool things. I went back and listened again to Scary Monsters, and this time I had a new attitude: I loved it. Though Low has eclipsed it as the Bowie album I find that I listen to most often, Scary Monsters may be my favorite album by David Bowie. I closed my senior theatre project show, Raw, with a singalong by the entire cast and audience of David Bowie's "It's no Game, Part Two," which closes that album. It remains a shining and culminating moment in my memory.

Wherever you are Janiki Kuppuru... Thank you.

As for you, Mom, wouldn't it have been nice to know that we had five years left in July of 2010?

My brain hurts a lot.

"Five Years"
by David Bowie
from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spider from Mars - 1972

Pushing through the market square,
So many mothers sighing
News had just come over,
We had five years left to cry in

News guy wept and told us,
Earth was really dying
Cried so much his face was wet,
Then I knew he was not lying

I heard telephones, opera house, favorite melodies
I saw boys, toys, electric irons and T.V.'s
My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare
I had to cram so many things to store everything in there
And all the fat-skinny people, and all the tall-short people
And all the nobody people, and all the somebody people
I never thought I'd need so many people

A girl my age went off her head,
Hit some tiny children
If the black hadn't a-pulled her off,
I think she would have killed them

A soldier with a broken arm,
Fixed his stare to the wheels of a Cadillac
A cop knelt and kissed the feet of a priest,
And a queer threw up at the sight of that

I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlor,
Drinking milk shakes cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine,
Don't think you knew you were in this song

And it was cold and it rained so I felt like an actor
And I thought of Ma and I wanted to get back there
Your face, your race, the way that you talk
I kiss you, you're beautiful, I want you to walk

We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got

We've got five years, what a surprise
Five years, stuck on my eyes
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got

We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got

We've got five years, what a surprise
Five years, stuck on my eyes
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got

Five years
Five years
Five years
Five years

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 125 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1511.05 - 20:02
and again 1511.07 - 7:51

edited from ... https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2015/11/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-134-two.html

"Just Like Heaven" by the Cure covered by Katie Melua



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"JUST LIKE HEAVEN" - The Cure

Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick
The one that makes me scream" she said
"The one that makes me laugh" she said
And threw her arms around my neck

"Show me how you do it
And I promise you I promise that
I'll run away with you
I'll run away with you"

Spinning on that dizzy edge
I kissed her face and kissed her head
And dreamed of all the different ways I had
To make her glow
"Why are you so far away?" she said
"Why won't you ever know that I'm in love with you
That I'm in love with you"

You
Soft and only
You
Lost and lonely
You
Strange as angels
Dancing in the deepest oceans
Twisting in the water

You're just like a dream
You're just like a dream

Daylight licked me into shape
I must have been asleep for days
And moving lips to breathe her name
I opened up my eyes

And found myself alone, alone
Alone above a raging sea
That stole the only girl I loved
And drowned her deep inside of me

You
Soft and lonely
You
Lost and lonely
You
Just like heaven


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Velouria" is a different kind of love song but no less beautiful. We played this at our wedding, but we also used it in our invitations:

"We will wade in the shine of the ever."

These expressionistic and imagistic lyrics capture the spirit of our love, Liesel's and mine: "Hold my head, we'll trampoline, Finally through the roof onto somewhere near and far in time, Velouria, her covering, traveling career, She can really move, oh, Velveteen."

I will never take my wife for granted.

I am so proud of Liesel, for finishing her master's degree.

Congratulations, Liesel, my Shastasheen.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Velouria" - The Pixies




+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Velouria" - Pixies

Hold my head, we'll trampoline
Finally through the roof onto somewhere near and far in time
Velouria, her covering, traveling career
She can really move, oh, Velveteen

My Velouria, my Velouria
Even I'll adore you, my Velouria
Even I'll adore you, my Velouria

Say to me, where have you been?
Finally through the roof
And how does lemur skin reflect the sea?

We will wade in the shine of the ever
We will wade in the shine of the ever
We will wade in the tides of the summer, every summer
Every my Velouria, my Velouria

Forevergreen, I know she's here in California
I can see the tears of Shastasheen

My Velouria, my Velouria
Even I'll adore you, my Velouria
Even I'll adore you, my Velouria

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mom, I am glad you survived long enough to see both Lori and I get married.

Thank you for loving my wife, Liesel, as I do.

I teared up at the dinner because I had done what you would have done, Mom. I gave Liesel a fine wooden box with an engraved plate that reads: "Liesel Tower: MSN degree 2015." Actually, the people engraved a semi-colon and not a colon, even though I said colon three times and described it as two dots, one atop the other. But most people are not as smart as my wife, who knows the difference between a colon and a semi-colon, and now, as an MSN degreed nurse, she knows more about colons in your body, too.

Anyway, thinking of you, Mom, and how you would celebrate this event made me weepy.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 140 days ago
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1511.21 - 22:10
and again 1511.23 - 7:53


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1906.10 - 10:10
- Days ago = 1437 days ago

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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2503.31 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3560 days ago & DAD = 215 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3694 - Batman - HUSH 2 - Reviews - Comic Book Sunday for 2503.30

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3694 - Batman - HUSH 2 - Reviews - Comic Book Sunday for 2503.30

I read this issue -- Batman #158 [Legacy 923] Hush-2 pt.1 -- soon after it came out as it's one of the comics in my subscription out here in Vancouver/Portland, so I don't have to wait for the arrival of my shipment from Michigan.

I was not impressed with it.

And so in my planned weekend relaxation couch reading time, I re-read the original Hush.

It seems to me that the principal strength of the original was the igniting of the Batman-Catwoman romance for real: "I kissed her," Batman repeats multiple times.

The story well emphasizes the romantic hero that Batman represents with not just Catwoman but Talia Al Ghul, Poison Ivy, Lois Lane (with whom he flirts), and to a lesser extent Harley Quinn. Batman is the great unrequited lover, someone just in reach of many interested women and yet out of reach. His cover stories for late nights, Bruce Wayne's womanizing, are rarely true stories, and though Bruce Wayne has had a few non-costumed lovers (Vickie Vale, Vesper Fairchild, Jezebel Jet, among others), mostly these women with whom he is romancing all night long are fictions to explain Bruce Wayne's absence at places where he is expected (and sometimes explaining his injuries).

SEE HERE: https://screenrant.com/best-batman-love-interests-dc-comics-history/

Prior to Hush in 2002, Batman had flirted with Catwoman, there was sexual tension, but nothing ever happened. Similarly, he had been controlled by Poison Ivy and her plants, but he had always escaped; we were not to believe that Poison Ivy had romantic aspirations with Batman. And even Bruce Wayne had a thing with Harley Quinn for a time (see the link above) but that was a different universe.

Hush did several things with the Batman mythos that had not been done before or had not been done in much depth or developed in much complexity.

Before Hush, we knew very little of Bruce Wayne's childhood years, especially BEFORE his parents were killed. The iconic story of the movie night out to see Zorro, and the tragic murders that he witnessed and yet escaped being the third victim were the central story and very little else was known. Here, Loeb/Lee/Williams introduces childhood best friend Tommy Elliot, which seemed more back story than anything, an explanation for introducing a surgeon who saves his life after he is fatally wounded. Not sure when I tumbled that Tommy Elliot was Hush and that the story line was named for the secret villain who would from then on be known as Hush. But in my re-read, I knew, so I cannot trace if the "reveal" held until it was delivered or if I guessed sooner. After all, I first read it 23 years ago.

But the introduction of a new villain with a complex history was significant, and it was a draw to new and old readers. Who was Hush? What was he after?

Anytime, Poison Ivy uses her powers to mind control and compel people to do her bidding, I am there for it. That story trope is extremely alluring, and I love it. It even works with Catwoman, but it really worked great with Superman. And here, we get to see Batman use his kryptonite ring and fight Superman, which has always been a fan favorite moment.

Other characters were part of some master plot by the unknown villain involving Killer Croc, the Riddler, Scarecrow, Clayface, and the Joker. Many other characters make excellent cameos, such as the aforementioned Talia Al Ghul, her father, Robin (Tim Drake), Leslie Thompkins, Nightwing, Oracle, Huntress, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, and more.

From the launch, the original Hush integrated into the current DC universe of the time seamlessly and featured an all-star cast, a great mystery, and the romantic bombshell of not just Batman kissing Catwoman, but the start of a relationship in which he reveals his identity, especially after a tense and sexy opera performance in which Bruce Wayne sits with Selina Kyle. He know who she is; she doesn't know who he is.

Loeb was one of the hottest writers in the industry, and Jim Lee was arguably THE artist in the industry, especially after his run on X-Men. And as the forward for the Hush hardcover reminds us, he holds the record for the most copies of a single comic ever sold (up to 2003) at 8.2 million! The Internet tells me that this record holds today, still.

Hush has become one of Batman's most iconic villains of all time, and the Bat-Cat romance is still playing out in the current comics. 

And so, there was great anticipation for Hush-2 with original team of Jeff Loeb, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair.

And then I read the first issue.

And it was so contrived!

Even Jim Lee's art did not seem nearly as sharp and eye-popping as it did in 2002-03.

I happen to agree with the reviews I posted below.

The writing seems stuck in 2002 and seems plotted by someone who has not kept up with Batman since.

I have to say that last year about this time I dropped Batman from my comics subscription. I had to save money due to loss of income, and I was thoroughly under-whelmed by Chip Zdarksy's run. Don't get me wrong. I like a lot of Zdarsky's work. But the Batman stuff dragged on and on and leaned into the obsessive Batman while neglecting Bruce Wayne, which is a mistake too many Batman writers have made.

Batman is more than an obsessive, paranoid Dark Knight of his own personal brand of justice as summed so succinctly in a line from The Dark Knight Returns: 

The grim and gritty Dark Knight that Miller so popularly redefined in the late 1980s and creators have been chasing ever since to jump on that band wagon and ignore what makes the Batman-Bruce Wayne character work: relationships.

One of the smartest things DC has ever done is the comic Batman Family (and Superman Family).

Granted, the main characters are the main event. Far more fans, especially occasional fans, name Batman as their favorite hero over Superman. Though Deadpool and Wolverine have gained enormous popularity, Batman is probably the single most popular superhero character (and the best known) in all of comics.

The Internet says Spider-Man as of a poll in 2024, but that's mostly based on the movies. Another poll taken at a date unknown names Batman.

Even if clickbait Internet sites disagree, Batman is surely top five, if not number one.

FROM WATCH MOJO

• #8: Green Lantern. ...
• #7: Captain America. ...
• #6: Wonder Woman. ...
• #5: Iron Man. ...
• #4: Wolverine. ...
• #3: Superman. ...
• #2: Spider-Man. ...
• #1: Batman. It was a tough decision, but taking the top spot is the Dark Knight.

But there's different audiences.

Many audiences of casual fans, mostly fans of movies, just want that spine-shattering Batman of grim and grit. They care less about his relationship with Robin, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. They want to see him do hardcore cool shit as  the Dark Knight, extreme violence in the name of justice, frightening encounters with the psychotic Joker in shadowy Gotham alleys or abandoned circuses rather then see Bruce Wayne flirt with Lois Lane to get information while Superman in his Clark Kent alter ego fumbles with pens and spills coffee all over Lane's desk.

But for long time fans, they hunger for more. They want the relationships. And the relationships do not exist without Bruce Wayne, Batman's "human" side.

Bruce Wayne is who keeps Batman from being a psychotic violence machine. And Batman needs Bruce Wayne to go places and do things Batman cannot.

For years, hardcore Batman fans (those who read all the comics) yearned for Batman to recognize Dick Grayson as his SON and not just a "ward" for whom he was a guardian in a perplexing decision by the publishers, probably harking back to a time (1940 after all) when single men did not "adopt" young boys without being branded as homosexuals (then seen as a sexual deviance by the culture at large) at best and sexual abusers at worst.

So when recent creators have Batman call Dick his son (and Jason, and Tim), when they have Dick and Barbara Gordon finally consummate their long-standing flirtations and it's not a one-nighter, it's a committed relationship, when Bruce Wayne gathers the entire "family" together for Thanksgiving dinner or to mourn the death of dear old Alfred, these are the things long-time fans live for, these are the things that sell comics, these are the moments that show that the creators know the history, know the characters, and pay off on that history in these special moments.

I recently read DCeased, the zombie series, written by Tom Taylor, and he had so many of these moments packed into that series as well as being responsible for many of these character-relationship moments I just mentioned in the actual canon of Batman mythology.

And though DC chose not to have Batman and Catwoman get married in the main universe (though they have in other universes), the story persists and the romance is real and the character interactions are manna on which the long-time fans feed, as I described here:

Sunday, December 31, 2023

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3239 - Batman 36-37 - Back to the Tradition - COMIC BOOK SUNDAY FOR NYE 2023

Two of my favorite Batman comics EVER.

It's not just a Batman show. What makes it all work is the supporting cast. It's all soap opera, which runs on the fuel of large casts.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FAMILY.

This new Batman comic does try to pull on some of the large cast, much like the original Hush, but it starts in a way that suggests that nothing has happened to Batman in the last 23 years of our time (shorter in his time). The story makes no attempt to connect to recent events, which though Zdarsky's run I found hard to follow, Batman just survived a major crisis of identity as well as losing his fortune and manor (though then maybe got them back? I am not sure).

But look how it starts:

"It seems like yesterday"?

Is that Loeb's way of saying that he's ignoring all the Batman developments of the last 23 years?

And then that's emphasized by Batman claiming that he was called to this scene by THEN Captain Jim Gordon, so not even Commissioner Gordon (which I think he was in 2002)  and not now as he is no longer even with the police force as seen in recent comics in which he was charged with murder while working as a private detective.

And Joker's clown goons dumping Joker smiling piranha, "poison" piranha, into the Gotham water reservoir.

Really?

Staring at the first page, I was actually wondering if this really was written by Jeff Loeb. But on faith for a writer who I know is talented, I keep reading.

Okay, this is now but reminds Batman of then?

Joker repeating an old crime?

No context. No connection to recent events. And something really uninteresting as a narrative hook.

Wha...?

Joker clocks Batman in the cowl with a crow bar?

And calls him "Bat-Brain"? Have we been transported to 1966?

And the lame explanation for Batman getting knocked into the piranha-infested water in which he is bitten through is KEVLAR SUIT to bleed and go unconscious is that the protection systems that either tear gas or electrocute assailants who attempt to remove his cowl -- tech first introduced in the original Hush -- malfunctioned because the Joker, PURPOSEFULLY, hit the cowl just right with the crow bar.

And he got the drop on Batman coming out of the back of the truck that Batman did not look in? Did not check his six?

This gaff on Batman's part mirrors comments in the reviews below for things he does later in the comic, stupid things Batman would not do.

Plot-contrivances.

Did Jim Lee draw the bleeding and unconscious Batman in the water surrounded by piranha first, and so Loeb had to write Batman into that situation and chose a really stupid way to do it?

Batman is not stupid. And so my suspension of disbelief is blown.

The writing is clipped and aping that grim and gritty Dark Knight of no personality and no humanity made famous by Miller, when it worked and gave Batman depth because it was in contrast to how he had been and it had not been done before.

But here, now, with all the hype, it just falls flat.

The story improves somewhat with the introduction of Hush's henchman or ally (no context yet and that's okay) to capture the Joker, and we see Hush observing.

Lee's art up to this point is not as impressive as the original Hush, and its origin memories and take down of a Chilean Mercenary to save a boy.

This ally, whose name is apparently "Silence," looks like something out of John Byrne comic.

Also, in the lead up to the title page, some of the renderings of the Joker as he attacks Batman are so void of detail it's hard to believe that Lee drew them.

For me, Lee's art locks in on the next page with his signature line work and variations on traditional multi-panel pages (here six) in a scene in which Batgirl and Nightwing identify that Batman is in jeopardy.

Cut back to Batman where a woman has pulled him out of the water, and we are back to the very sexy teases of the original Hush. Lee's art work is at its best here.

Even though semi-conscious Batman mistakes the dripping wet woman for Selina, we soon learn it is Talia Al Ghul who has been tailing Batman because she cannot abide the father of their child dying. Um... so she is always tailing him? Really?

Or it's just coincidence since she came to visit Damian.

But the writing here is awful.

The narration from Batman's mind is banal at best and completely unnecessary at worst.

He really would think who she is just to let the reader know?

Why would he think the Joker has been taken and she would know? Or is he asking if the Joker is still an active threat?

Cut to Hush torturing the Joker, which some reviewers liked, but I think is more gratuitous extreme violence showcasing that these creators are serious with the toys in the Batman toy chest and may break some of them. And we have no idea why Hush is torturing the Joker to death.

Cut back to the Bat Cave, Batman has donned an older suit with the yellow logo as he repairs the one the piranha demolished and as he muses on how that all happened.

It's more back-fill plot contrivance to explain how he needed saving by Talia and almost drowned but not how he failed to check the truck and so the Joker hit him in the head with a crow bar. 

That's just stupid.

And then Batman does another stupid thing as one of the reviewers below critiques.

A huge overreaction. Batman is reeling and behaving like an amateur. Not like Batman.

And again the writing is just... bad.

Back to an abandoned circus. Really?

Are there any abandoned amusement park/circuses outside cities in the U.S.?

Batman finds the Joker near-death and realizes that Hush has returned.

Yawn.

Could this be more lame?

Critic consensus via COMIC BOOK ROUND UP (links below) was 7/10 and user rating was 6.6/10.

I share the two worst reviews below that are 4.5 and 4 out of ten respectively.

I also shared the concluding blurb of a review giving this comic an 8.6/10. Um... NOPE.

On the occasional though inconsistent strength of Lee's art, I give it a 3.9/10.

Of course, I am a comic book nerd, so I will keep reading, though I may not catch all the cross-over issues until they are available in the DC Universe subscription or when collected if I choose to buy the  volume.

Will there be big narrative moments like the Catwoman-Batman kiss, like Poison Ivy controlling Superman and Batman has to beat him up, like Batman seriously injured and saved by his childhood friend and surgeon interspersed with memories of their friendship as children?

I have serious doubts that anything like that will be featured in this money-grab series.

On a side-note, I had worried that I had lost my critical edge and that I just liked everything.

Um.... NOPE.

Thanks for tuning in.

Scroll on for the reviews I mentioned.

COPY PASTE THIS LINK if it does not take you to reviews page:

https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/dc-comics/batman-(2016)/158

Here's a non-hyperlink version:

https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/dc-comics/batman-(2016)/158



https://www.comicbookrevolution.com/batman-158-hush-review/

Batman #158 “Hush 2” Review

By Kevin Lainez / March 26, 2025

20+ years later and Batman: Hush has become an iconic storyline for a franchise filled with legendary comic book stories. That said, I never expect us to get an official sequel from the Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee epic. Not because of us possibly never seeing this creative team again, but rather due to having already had many follow-up stories since the original Hush storyline. That includes great stories like Heart of Hush and House of Hush that acted as direct sequels. With so many follow-up stories that have taken place it does create the question as to what Loeb and Lee can do with a Hush sequel? Let’s find out with the start of this Hush 2 storyline in Batman #158.

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer: Jeph Loeb

Artist: Jim Lee

Inker: Scott Williams

Colorist: Alex Sinclair

Letterer: Richard Starkings

BATMAN #158 SOLICITATION

“THE HOTLY ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO THE SMASH-HIT STORYLINE! Jeph Loeb! Jim Lee! An all-new epic saga begins here. Hush returns!” – DC Comics

REVIEW

If Batman #158 accomplishes nothing else it accomplished being a comic that does feel like a direct follow up of 2002’s Batman: Hush storyline. The emphasis is really on this comic book, for better or worse, reading like something out of 2002. While I am all for nostalgia, and go back to read stories from various decades, the narrative approach Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee take makes the start of this Hush sequel stuck in the past. There’s never a point that this felt like Hush’s return is what is next for both the lead villain and the Batman franchise as a whole.

The biggest thing that is noticeable out of the gate is how Loeb’s writing style has not evolved. It is the same Loeb writing style from decades ago. That could have a certain charm if done right but Loeb just does not do that. The reason Loeb isn’t able to hit a good balance between nostalgia and progressing forward is that Batman never sounds right. Both in Bruce Wayne’s inner monologue and dialogue, Loeb’s writing at all times comes across as that once he has not read a new comic since finishing writing Batman #619 in 2003.

There are many examples of Loeb’s stuck in his ways. The opening sets that tone with how Batman goes about explaining what appears to be Joker using an old plan. The entire writing of the inner monologue just feels like forced exposition. That then continues with how Loeb has Bruce explain to the reader who Talia al Ghul is. There is absolutely no flow to the writing because of the narrative choices taken.

That unfortunately continues whenever Batman is on screen and Loeb writes his inner monologue. Every single thing that is said in the inner monologue boxes feels forced.

Not helping things whatsoever is that when Oracle and Nightwing tell Bruce that their comms are compromised what is his response? Angrily lock things down and go after Joker without thinking twice. The whole rush to find Joker makes Batman just look stupid as he is not actually thinking things through. Which circles back to how he was easily defeated by Joker at the beginning of the issue through a sneak attack. There are just so many errors that Bruce makes that leave you confused if this is the Dark Knight.

Joker is equally written in the most generic way possible. Though there isn’t much to his presentation as he gets captured by Hush’s new partner, Silence. But what we do get in terms of Joker in this issue is what is expected when giving someone the Joker character to write for the first time without any sort of knowledge.

The only slight positive that there is when it comes to Loeb’s writing is that he does accomplish getting Hush back to being a menacing villain. What Hush does to torture is very well done. Though this is more credit to Jim Lee’s artwork than it is Loeb’s writing. Because it Loeb gets very repetitive quickly with how Hush taunts Joker.

This all leads to Batman #619 feeling like it was a 10-page prelude chapter that was stretched to 20-pages. The content is just not here to feel like a true kick off to the next big Batman storyline. This is just an average at best start to what is just “another Batman story.”

Because of how below average the writing is Jim Lee’s artwork throughout this comic book is not at the level you expect. There is a lot of the classic Lee art style here. But there is something lacking when it comes to certain details that are expected from Lee. That said, the artwork is still very good. And Lee’s artwork does get progressively better with each passing page. The last few pages in particular is more of what is expected from a Jim Lee drawn comic book.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Batman #158 is not the exciting kickoff to the Hush sequel that was expected. Jeph Loeb’s writing is so stuck in the past that he goes with the most basic approach with how characters are presented. This comic book reads like Loeb is letting his name and the fact this is a sequel to a iconic story to carry narrative. This lack of refinement in the writing impacts even Jim Lee’s artwork that is not as detailed or dynamic as it has been. With so many quality comics right now, both within the DC Universe and Absolute Universe, this Hush sequel fails to present itself as the premiere story all Batman fans should be reading.

Story Rating: 2 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 4.5 Night Girls out of 10

https://thebatmanuniverse.net/batman-158-comic-book-review/

Batman #158
Written By: Jeph Loeb
Art and Main Cover: Jim Lee
Variant Covers: Jim Lee, J. Scott Campbell, Gabriele Dell’Otto, Dan Mora, Tony S. Daniel, Sean Murphy, Lee Bermejo, Simone Di Meo
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: March 26, 2025

 

This comic book review contains spoilers 

 

The Story  

Batman #158 finds the Joker on the loose again, repeating old tricks like poisoning Gotham’s reservoir and filling it with laughing fish. When the Joker kicks Batman into the lake, Batman activates his cowl’s electrifying failsafe to kill the deadly fish before Talia Al Ghul rescues him. Meanwhile, a hulking figure named “Silence” and none other than Hush himself kidnap the Joker. Hush tortures him by forcing a nightmarish dental device into his mouth, strapping him to a spinning wheel of death, and hurling knives at him like a circus performer—except every blade lands.  

Back in the cave, Batman discovers that someone has compromised his suit’s circuitry and the Bat-family’s communication signal. He warns Nightwing and Batgirl (Barbara) before cutting contact. Using forensic traces from the Joker’s shoe, Batman tracks him to an old fairground—one longtime readers may recognize. There, he finds the Joker still tied to the wheel, surrounded by television screens projecting his past atrocities. Batman knows only one person could orchestrate this: his old childhood friend, Thomas Elliot.  

 

Why THIS story? 

The first comic I ever read was Batman #608. I was around six years old, and it completely captured my imagination, sparking a lifelong passion for the art form. I’m not alone—since its publication, the original Batman: Hush storyline has become one of the best-selling and most highly regarded Batman stories of all time. Yes, it has its detractors, especially in recent years, but no one can deny its impact on the industry or its ability to captivate thousands of young fans like myself.  

Flash forward to last October, when DC announced that after 23 years, the original creative team of Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee would reunite for a direct sequel.  

The response was… muted. Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee are comic book royalty, and any project from them should generate excitement. But why this story? Why now? Loeb has stayed busy with his recent Long Halloween revival, but as DC’s president and chief creative officer, Jim Lee hasn’t done interior Batman work in years. The last notable example I can recall is a backup story in Detective Comics #1000, and before that, All-Star Batman in the mid-2000s. It’s been a long road to this moment, so I hoped they had a story worth telling—not just a marketing ploy to slap big names on a cover and coast on nostalgia.  

It’s odd that a Hush sequel beginning in Batman #158 would bring them back together, considering how self-contained the original felt—and how many sequels (Heart of Hush, for one) have already followed it. But despite my reservations, I wanted to keep an open mind. These are some of my favorite creators, after all.  

 

Analysis

Like Batman #608, Batman #158 mostly teases what’s to come. Hush is back to playing mind games, using the Joker as his pawn. Right away, I get the sense this is aimed at new or old-returning readers rather than monthly regulars. This is a Joker story, no different from countless others we’ve seen before, and Loeb and Lee cram in as much fan service as possible—though it’s all surface-level. We get the laughing fish, the Killing Joke fairgrounds, Jason Todd’s crowbar beating—all just empty nostalgia. It’s unclear how big a role the Joker will play in the wider story, but I hope he’s just a hook to lure readers in and not another excuse for DC’s tired “Why won’t Batman kill the Joker?” dialectic. Or whatever depraved absurdity they’ve used to prop the character up in recent years.

With the caveat that Lee’s work in the original Hush ranks in my top three favorite artist showcases in all of comics, I have to admit I’m disappointed by what we get in Batman #158. The Jim Lee of 2025 is very different from the Jim Lee of 2002. Back then, he was fresh off legendary runs on Chris Claremont’s X-Men and WildC.A.T.s, at the absolute peak of his craft. DC gave him an unprecedented offer to take on their flagship character with their top writer—his first major project for the company. If you haven’t revisited the original Hush in a while and think this new project looks the same, I urge you to flip through those old issues. What Lee accomplished in that 12-issue run was remarkable.  

Now, Lee returns with nothing left to prove. He’s had major successes at every comic publisher, served as DC’s chief creative officer for seven years, and describes this return to Batman as an exercise to “see if [he] still has it.” If that’s the benchmark, then yes, he still has skill—especially considering his workload. This issue looks fine, but it doesn’t recapture the magic of Hush.  

A side-by-side comparison makes the gap obvious. The original Hush endures not just because of Lee’s name or his X-Men-era cross-hatching, but because of its bold, cinematic execution—Scott Williams’ inks, Alex Sinclair’s colors, the page layouts, and even the sound effects elevated it to a level rarely seen in other comics. The lines were clean, the staging was dramatic.  

Batman #158 sees Lee adopting a rougher, sketchier style, channeling Frank Miller more than Neal Adams. It’s not entirely new for him—he experimented with a bulkier, Miller-esque Batman in a pinup for Legends of the Dark Knight #50 back in the ‘90s. Whether or not you like this shift is subjective.  

Even Batman’s “new” suit is just… the old Neal Adams one with the golden oval. Don’t get me wrong, I love that suit, but like DC’s “new” logo, it reflects the company’s current trend for it’s mainline publications: playing it safe. That sums up most of the choices in this issue—safe.  

But regardless of what you think of his Batman, the iconic compositions of the original Hush are simply missing here. The action feels chaotic and disjointed, Sinclair overuses monochrome color, and Williams’ inks amplify the disorder. The whole thing looks rushed—and worst of all, uninspired.  

At least Lee brought back the Bat-beard, so that’s something.

 

Final Thoughts 

One of the most iconic teams in comics has returned, but this first issue doesn’t feel like a story either was burning to tell. It feels tired, like they’re going through the motions. Here’s hoping it’s just a slow start.

https://nerdinitiative.com/2025/03/26/batman-158-a-dynamic-duo-makes-you-say-hush/

OVERALL GRADE: 8.6

Loeb and Lee return to Gotham City with a superb debut installment. Loeb’s writing constructs a layered chess match. Lee, Williams and Sinclair put on an incredible display of storytelling with their art. It covers up some of the foretelling plots. Readers will have much to discuss with this chapter.

Um........ no.




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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2503.30 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3559 days ago & DAD = 214 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.