"The Missiles of October" - Original by Ted with Jean Pierre

[Geir]

Fabulous song Ted.

Great lyrics and a wonderful performance from the both of you.

[Bishmanrock]

Really great track and well worth the stewing time I reckon! Ears were glued to it throughout. Kinda got some Final Cut-era Floyd vibes from it in parts.  Music and lyrics both very strong, you should be super proud of the result.

[Trist]

Nice song liked the performance very understated and has that 60's folk vibe and sound to it, which suited the song well. good lyrical line to end, Enjoyed

[Jean Pierre]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTMvQIHaDZs

This is an original song by Ted
©1999, 2022 Ted Johnson - All rights reserved
Used by permission

He invited me to add a Dobro guitar and Lap steel guitar part to it and authorized me to publish it in my series "Containment Musical Workshop With Friends All Around the World".

It's a page of history that the youngest among us didn't know, nor lived...but that unfortunately brings us back to the current world situation with the risk of escalation between Russia and UKraine

Thanks again to Ted for this beautiful and sad song and for his invitation

PS the images of the video are news images of archive and free of right

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Jean Pierre]

Thank you Ted for authorization to include The Missiles of October in my compilation Musical Workshop
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgROyTlbO0hrlz6AqdY5ZAHAiUmBmKn68

[Ted]

Thanks for the kind comments! And thanks Jean Pierre for sharing the video.

Ted's vocal here reminds me a bit of Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips.

And...

...the music hints of PF to me...

And...

Kinda got some Final Cut-era Floyd vibes from it in parts

I find these comparisons interesting. To me this is country song. I sometimes imagine Willie Nelson's voice doing this song. Jean Pierre asked me if I wanted lap steel "like Gilmour," and I said, Okay. But, honestly, I didn't think too hard about what that meant. Congrats, JP, you did it!

I updated the original post, and pushed back the copyright date (i.e. when I finished it) two years. I finished this song in 1999 at a picnic table in Takoma Park, Maryland, while my dog wandered around nearby. In 2001 I was sitting at the same table on a business call, with my dog nearby, when someone on the other end of the call said, "We need to end the call. Weird things are happening in New York. An attack or something. Planes are crashing into buildings." So there's something about that picnic table.

I get why people are more focused on the "nuclear close call" aspect of this song. But this is based on a story my father told me. I was baby when this happened. Something that spooked him the most were the strange military airplanes overhead in Miami. Yesterday I found this photo (slide) that he took. I'm pretty sure this is Miami. It's not a very remarkable photo – a random shot out of a hotel window. But I noticed for the first time that there's an aircraft in the photo. I wonder if he was trying to capture a photo one of the strange planes. (You can click to enlarge the photo, but it won't make the plane any more identifiable – unless you're a plane spotting genius.)

Edit: Using Google Images, I determined that this photo was taken in Miami Beach, from a room in the swanky Fontainebleau Hotel. Dad was really at the top of his game around the time his life was coming apart.  

Remember hooper's song?

The Day Before They Blew Up The World

I love that song. And I imagined all of the small, personal, heartbreaking stories that could be explored in a TV series about the day before the world might end. This story could be one episode.

It was really the 3/4 Fest that motivated me to finally make a go at recording this. I wasn't thinking about any parallels to current events, or the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. For once I've got a song prepared in advance of a pertinent event – and 30-years in the making as well.

[Jean Pierre]

Thank you Ted for this interesting additional information

[Blooby]

Glad it got posted in this form. It has a fragility that is hard to capture. I know I would overcook that slide accompaniment, but it is perfect where it is. 

I should learn to sit on songs until they're ready.

Blooby

[Rene Asologuitar]

The Missiles of October

©1999, 2022 Ted Johnson
++++++++++++
Lovely composition, Ted!
Your are a storyteller, and this song is truly original, with lyrics so "from the heart".
I love the vocals, and the instruments, especially the slide.
Great work!!!
I can imagine Neil Young on this production.
Thank you.
Rene

[Zoltan]

This is evocative. I really like the way the story unfolds. The sounds (the sights you're able to conjure with the lyrics). Poetic and yes slightly reminiscent of of something Neil Young might do, but with a touch of something different.

Well played and produced. Cheerios for TJ & JP, the men riding the missile!