Rockin’ Thursday LXXI

A quick commentary before introducing today’s song.

So…Yesterday, someone didn’t know that English is the official language of Liberia. After all, the country was founded as part of an American project to relocate African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans from the U.S. to Africa during the American Civil War.1 History matters more than we think.

We all know he doesn’t like to read, but my goodness, at least read the key leader engagement binder that I’m sure his staff prepared for the meeting with African states. It’s embarrassing, not only for the Liberian President and everyone in attendance, but for all Americans, that the leader of this country does not take the time to prepare before important engagements.

Anyway, I’ll stop here because I’m still celebrating my birthday, and I don’t want to get too angry about what happened yesterday. It probably makes for a good meme, though.

For today’s Rockin’ Thursday, I’ve got a song that was released just before I was born.

“Smoke on the Water” is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple, released as a single in May 1973. It reached the #1 spot on the U.S. Billboard charts that same year. The lyrics are based on true events, chronicling the 1971 fire at the Montreux Casino in Montreux, Switzerland.2

You can access the lyrics here.

I hope you enjoy the video, and have a wonderful Rockin’ Thursday, my friends!

Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water
  1. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/09/trump-liberian-president-english ↩︎
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_on_the_Water ↩︎

62 thoughts on “Rockin’ Thursday LXXI”

    1. That’s a great statement, Violet. Our willingness to accept that level of mediocrity is appalling. I hope we do better in the future and raise the standard. If not, we are doomed. Thank you so much for the birthday wishes!

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    1. Thank you, and you’re so right about that. “The weave,” as he calls it, it’s just incoherent rambling. That’s one of the reasons I stopped listening to what he has to say. I don’t have time to connect dots and try to make sense of his talks.

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  7. Happy Belated Birthday, Edward! I enjoyed your blog post. The song brought back memories, but I have a few years on you…. I was in college when that song was released in 1973.

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  12. Oh….that’s a good one! I will be rockin’ that down beat all day…there’s nothing like “Smoke on the Water”. And I’m with you about the stupidity. OMG…times a zillion. Embarrassing is the right word, I think. Better than some others that are less appropriate for public consumption.
    Continue to celebrate your birthday, Edward! As much as we can, many of us are trying to focus on the good stuff. Birthdays? Yes, yes! 🥰

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      1. I understand and why I rarely listen to music when I’m writing and only occasionally when I’m reading. I either want to sing or dance. 💃🏻 Hope you’ve had a wonderful birthday week with more joy on the way. 🎵

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  18. This was a good history/geography lesson. And thanks for reminding me of Smoke on the Water. I think I was 13 when it came out. I loved it. A few of the boys in my small town school had a garage band, and for whatever reason, they got to play at something in the school gym. I can still feel that bass vibrating through the floor and through the bleachers into my feet. 😀
    Another July birthday? (Mine was on the first.) Think of this link as a belated invitation to the weird blog birthday party I gave myself. Happy birthday, Edward. Many, many happy returns — and hugs.

    A Birthday Thank You & A Process Hodgepodge

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  23. yes, to the orange one and his idiocy. and I’ll move on from that. happy birthday! and I’m definitely older than you because I loved this song and was in middle school when it came out and we used to blast it!

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  24. Absolutely not worth ruining your birthday and can laugh at those memes I can only imagine! 😡🤡
    You know me, I’d of added one.. Lol! 😂
    Great song, great group!!!! ☄️
    Keep having fun! 🤩❤️

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  25. Ahhh, love Deep Purple, especially the song Knockin at Your Back Door.
    Smoke on the Water takes me back to Jr high dances, where I discovered I was not shy when it came to expressing myself on the dance floor.
    Ha! Maybe I should have been. Then again, only my “loved” ones laughed at me, everyone else thought I was cool.

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