“Day Tripper”
It might not technically be a B-side, but it was the “flip side” to “We Can Work It Out” and recorded during the sessions that produced the Rubber Soul album. The single was released for Christmas and as a result may not have been given the full attention in writing, but even then both songs are solid offerings. The lyrics of “Day Tripper” are an allusion to a number of things, but mostly towards somebody’s (the narrator) spiritual awakening – sort of. Instead of fully committing, they take day trips to enlightenment. BeatleSongs tells us this is mostly (80%) written by John with some contribution by Paul and Tell Me Why posits this song is among “Ringo’s finest moments” as a drummer.
And what a trip yesterday turned out to be. It started with landing in Boston about 6am. Thankfully it was a non-stop flight, so I was able to get a little bit of sleep on the plane. It wasn’t very good (or deep) sleep, but it wasn’t like being completely awake the whole time either.
We take the subway to Cambridge, because that’s where Harvard and M.I.T. are (Boston is actually a small city geographically) and as a result some great places to eat. Veggie Galaxy is a vegetarian diner, and I ate there last time I was in Boston. Everything there is like you would normally get at a regular diner, but it’s vegetarian.
After breakfast Stephen and I went to Starbucks, grabbed some coffee and hopped on the internet. I was able to finish yesterday’s post, check email, Stephen was able to check about renting a car (to go visit his family) and we were killing some time before heading over to the hotel.
We get to the hotel, it’s something like 9:30 and of course our room isn’t ready. Dropping off our bags we head out.
The U.S.S. Constitution was one of the things I absolutely wanted to do while here this time. I had mentioned before how the last two times I walked the Freedom Trail I either didn’t cross the river or went to Bunker Hill instead. This time it was directly to the ship and it was well worth the visit. I highly recommend taking the time to see the U.S.S. Constitution if you’re in Boston. You can make it last as long or as little as you want, just be sure to listen to the active duty sailors give their tour about the ship.
It was lunchtime now so we went to the North End and stood in line for pizza. It was good pizza, but it wasn’t worth spending an hour in line for.
Wandering around a little bit we get back to the hotel about 2:30 and our room still isn’t ready. We wait in the lobby and I fall asleep until it is. This was followed by a nap in the room. Not a very long one, but enough.
My friend Marianne met us for dinner and the three of us then went to the first night of the Hometown Throwdown together. It was great to see her, it was two years sine I’ve seen her – last time I was in Boston, actually.
Oh, but the show itself. What a show it was.
Mephiskapheles was one of the opening acts, and one I was interested in seeing. They were a very good warm-up to the main attraction.
Looking dapper in their suits The Mighty Mighty Bosstones came out playing hard. It was a good set with plenty of crowd pleasers and lasted a good 2 hours.
What got me was when they ended the night by playing their version of “Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love” a song that I never expected to hear them play. Originally released on their first E.P. it’s a hard rocking cover of the Van Halen classic, but with horns.
On Twitter the person behind the Mighty Mighty Bosstones account asked for ideas of what songs fans wanted to hear at the Hometown Throwdown I submitted that one saying that though I had seen the band several times before I had not heard them play this song. Needless to say I was thrilled when that opening gutar riff exploded out of the speakers.
It should be noted the sweater Dicky Barrett is wearing is one he changed into for the encore.
Back at the hotel and in bed by midnight. Not a bad day at all.