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Hey, there friend! Welcome to Tuesday! You've landed at the only place in the internetosphere that combines a mission for music with the passion to ponder. It's the blog commonly known as Tuesday's Musical Notes! Well, it's commonly known to those folks that read it! You know who you are! Thanks, BTW!!! You can get to know the Notes better by checking out the archives. Search by your favorite song or artist, or just peruse through the years of Tuesday's Musical Notesland. 
Tuesday's Musical Notes is part of the Cross & Kin Entertainment group (Next Cross & Kin video at a YouTube link near you very soon!). We look forward to coming to you every week with great songs from all over the place and time.
Here at the Notes, we attempt to introduce you sometimes to music with which you may not be familiar. Music that has a story, not only in its lyrical content but the tale of how it got placed on a recording. Today is no exception. You probably know the artists, and maybe the album, but the title cut is one that I've never heard on the radio, or chosen to stream (does that sound all hip for the modern day?). It is the neglected stepbrother of the now iconic song, "Sound of Silence" (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Sound of Silence" (Simon and Garfunkel)) and pales in comparison to the "happy, happy, joy, joy" vibe of "Feelin' Groovy" (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" (Simon and Garfunkel)) from the band's third album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.
It is a pretty little folk song from the age when we needed pretty little folk songs. Here's Simon and Garfunkel with:
We found it surprising that there is no video of the duo of Simon and Garfunkel doing this song live, but there are several contributing factors as to why. The song is the title track from their very first album. More folk than pop, Wednesday Morning 3 A.M., was not a stellar debut album. Recorded a month before your intrepid blogger's bday, the record met with disappointing sales. Both its cover and label boast the subtitle, "exciting new sounds in the folk tradition". The marketing manager for the label should have been fired. Folk music had existed for decades, but wasn't this kind of hippie folk music a new bend on the genre? How could it have an exciting new sound or a tradition? But, I digress. The record only gained the attention of the listening public after its rerelease. Attempting to capitalize on the popularity of the overdubbed "The Sound of Silence" the rerelease of Wednesday Morning 3 A.M. hit #30 on the Billboard 200 after the album had received including the non-folksy instrumentation of bass, electric guitar, and drums.
The song "Wednesday Morning 3 A.m." is a brief ode to watching one's loved one sleep. Well, an ode in the sense that you're watching your loved one sleep after you've just robbed a liquor store and are feeling guilty for perpetrating a crime. Ah yes, that's the folksy part, right? I confess that even though I was born during the time period and love 60s music, I don't get this kind of folk music. Perhaps it has something to do with not looking good as a beatnik. Regardless, "Wednesday Morning 3 A.M." was never released as a single and happens to be from one of the worst-received Simon and Garfunkel albums. No wonder you haven't heard it...until now. You're welcome!
It is however classic Simon and Garfunkel and begins the stage presence of the duo that brought us the aforementioned hits of "The Sound of Silence" and "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" as well as "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Mrs. Robinson". Best Simon and Garfunkel Songs - submitted by westofohio on thetoptens.com
The title of the song comes from the moment in time the narrative describes. Wednesdays are usually known for being good days...unless you rob a liquor store and are feeling remorse, but we've covered that. The only downside about Wednesdays in Notesland? They aren't Tuesdays! Wednesdays are cherished by many as "hump day" and it has been said the best time to make a request of your boss is this "middle of the work week" day. Here's an article with a few other tasty tidbits about Wednesday: "22 Wacky Facts About Wednesday" by Jack DeGraff, updated December 12, 2022 - thefactsite.com
We see that Wednesday has its place in history as well. Specifically, in the last week of Jesus.
The middle of Jesus' last week gets a little confusing. Each of the Gospel writers wrote from a differing perspective, and John tends to not follow a chronology at all. Probably because of his background in tax collecting, Matthew, has the closest "frame by frame" timeline reference point. We see several things occur in today's passage that probably occurred on Wednesday.
1) Jesus tells His disciples once again that He is to be crucified, but gives a specific day for it to happen. Matthew supports Jesus' statement by telling us about the activities of the chief priest and elders as they go about preparing for Jesus' arrest. Even in ancient Israel, we see that a "ruling class" of people are careful to avoid bad optics. “Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.”
2) Jesus moves to Bethany to a house owned by a leper named Simon. We know very little about Simon other than this episode in Matthew and its parallel in The Gospel of Jesus as written by Mark, an evangelist, chapter 14, verses 3-9 NASB/AMP/ESV/KJV Simon's house is used in one of the most beautiful displays of honor and worship ever recorded in the Bible. A woman who is not named brings an alabaster jar of ointment and begins to anoint Jesus' head, honoring Him and preparing Him for what is to come. The Bible records that some were shocked at this elaborate and wasteful display.
“Why this waste? For this perfume could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” While the Bible never specifically identifies these folks, some have surmised, based on the next events described in Matthew, that Judas is the one making the commotion or at the very least plant the seeds for the comments to be said. Judas was the purse holder, the treasurer if you will, of the traveling band that followed Jesus. It also seems that he was an embezzler and his motives for this statement were probably not as motivated by compassion for the poor as they were for his purse.
3) The narrative immediately shifts to Judas' betrayal. Notice that Judas sought out the chief priests and scribes who were already looking for a way to have Jesus arrested. He went to them. “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” Later on while on the cross, Jesus would say, "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they are doing". This forgiveness was for Judas as well. We'll see later how Judas reacted to this provision of forgiveness.
Thirty pieces of silver was the deal made for Judas' betrayal. At this time, thirty pieces of silver would have been the common wages for about four days of labor. Depending on which coin of silver this was, that comes up to $91 and $441 in today's economy. Matthew tells us that at that point, Judas began seeking the right opportunity to do just that. More importantly, Judas' actions go about as fulfillment of Scripture. We see in the actions of the prophet Zechariah a very familiar activity: Zechariah 11:12-13 NASB/AMP/ESV/KJV
So the stage is set. The pieces have been put into motion. Passover is coming and sides are being taken.
A prophecy of impending death, an anointing for burial, and a betrayal that sets everything in motion as it was planned from the foundations of the world. I don't know about you, but that makes for a full Wednesday in anyone's life, much less what was going to happen in the remainder of the week for Jesus.
"...For I know with the first light of dawn I'll be leaving
And tonight will be all I have left to recall..."
And tonight will be all I have left to recall..."
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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