Janis, Joni & Tracy

It was the late summer & autumn of 1974, Detroit, living in Mom's house.  I was only a few weeks out of the Marines, that 2 years was done for.  In the summer or autumn, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had just rejected my job application that I had interviewed for (in regards to a clerk's job, not special agent), and the auto industry was laying off people left and right -- I didn't apply for work with one of the Big 3.  I was a little depressed, and then I came upon some albums by Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell, the former being the great singer who was already a few years deceased by '74, but Janis and Joni buoyed me out of depression.  I listened to them for hours lying around in my bedroom.  I kind of remember that season as the Season of Janis & Joni; those two great singers lifted up my spirits.

A decade and a few years later, Minnesota, probably 1988 (the Dukakis v. Bush year), another period of doldrums, and another great singer to shake me out of them.  This time, Tracy Chapman, who was gaining great acclaim around that time for her hit song, "Fast Car."  I also loved "Baby, Can I Hold You Tonight."  

Paraphrasing "Fast Car":  "You've got a fast car, and we're gonna leave all this behind."  That's right, for this campaign's purposes, leaving politics as usual behind  -- and for good if you vote for me.

- Mark Greene, U.S.M.C. Veteran

State Representative Campaign Website

[Revised 7/26/18.]