Is a great treat. He can put more expression into a phrase with his raspy, Louis Armstrong sounding, voice then any emotionally overwrought pop singer you'd care to match up against him. He wasn't only writing songs about the joys of recreational drug use either, which in the "Just Say No" era of Regan's United States took some nerve; he had a wonderful sense of humour that was put to good use as well.
"Get Hip To Shirley MacLaine" is a part mocking, part respectful take on her New Age proclamations of the 1980s. "Dig what I'm saying/It's all in the brain/When you don't have nobody else/You always got your higher self" is delivered in a tone of voice that invites you to laugh, but at the same you're not quite sure if the old "Hipster" isn't quite taken with the idea of never being alone again, or the fact that he could have been here before and loved you since 1448. The live cuts on the disc aren't of the greatest sound quality, but what they're really good for is giving you a ... more.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.