Music of the Day, 21 June 2025

that's how it goes

I just learned that today is Make Music Day. Normally I give such things no attention, as they’re accorded even less importance than many US/religious holidays that have become little more than performative displays of consumerism. And there’s no way I would inflict my amateur tootlings on my flute to anyone, especially since I’ve not played it in months.¹

However, I’m more than happy to share a track cowritten by a guitar icon whose name immediately came to mind; and I’m delighted that the track the radio station in my mind served up has not been featured in this space yet. So without further ado:

It’s impossible to trace my shift to harder rock and metal in the ‘80s, but I strongly suspect that Ozzy Osbourne—and especially the inimitable Randy Rhoads—played a big role. I’d heard heavier stuff before, of course, but Rhoads’ guitar playing made me sit up and take notice.

Not being a guitarist, I can’t articulate what it is about his playing that enchants me, but it does, and “Crazy Train” is a great example of why. Of course its riff is iconic and the solo a blistering beauty, but it’s more than that: Rhoads’ brilliance just shines throughout, and it’s in service of the song, not shredding just for the sake of it. It’s a tragedy that he died so young.

I chose this live performance rather than the studio version off of Ozz’s 1980 solo debut album, Blizzard of Ozz, for two reasons: the energy of the band is fantastic; and Ozzy changed the last line in the last verse—”I’m living with something that just isn’t fair”—which has long been the only clunker for me in the perceptive song. When I was a kid, I learned pretty young not to complain to my mom about something not being fair: “Life isn’t fair, Jackie” was always her response, and at some point, I started thinking about that and realized how true it is.

We were a Rock Band family, and “Crazy Train” was one of our favorite warmup songs. Depending on who else was playing, I’d either be on drums² or singing. Both were loads of fun. There are so many happy and important memories interlaced with the song for me that I don’t think I’ll ever tire of hearing it.

1. it sits on my desk where I left it when I last practiced, and I don’t know what sidetracked me from my regular practice

2. never beyond the beginner level though; for some reason, the limb independence that my martial arts practice developed did not cross over much to playing drums, even on that simple kit