The Langdon Auger Show
August 24th 2026
Featured Artists: Level 42, Richard Harris, Linkin Park.
Todays show is about emotional damage/trauma or whatever you feel when you lose someone who you used to love deeply, it is a reminder of what you may have lost. It can come in dreams later on…even 16 years later. Ok that was veiled attempt to say it was me, how do you ever overcome something like that? Still wondering that myself, i would share how, if i knew. Level 42 has a great song which explains it “Something About You” The lyrics deal with a love that has suffered from games or mistakes. Lines like “making mistakes is a part of life’s imperfections” and “is it so wrong to be human after all?” acknowledge that flaws and struggles are natural in relationship. But yet here we are thinking about old loves lost all these years later. “MacArthur Park” first recorded by Richard Harris in 1968 and written by Jimmy Webb is a dramatic, surreal reflection on a painful and devastating breakup, and there is a little something different with the Donna Summer version of the same song. I personally think it is one of those brain manifestations that we will never understand. It is hard especially when you try and get yourself out of that mood.
In this archived August 24 edition of the Langdon Auger Show, Ward explains how listeners can request songs through the website chat. He says he’ll play songs that rarely make it onto Mental Health Radio, from the 1940s through today. Between tracks, he shares stories and his own take on what some songs mean.
About this episode
Ward’s dance segment includes Queen’s “Now I’m Here,” which he sees as a return to the band’s rock roots. He also tells listeners to stretch, hydrate and not push themselves.
He describes Level 42’s “Something About You” as a song about relationship ups and downs and the connection that can linger after people part ways. Later, he reads Linkin Park’s “Papercut” through anxiety, paranoia and self-doubt, then recounts the story he associates with Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park,” including a romance near the park and a painful breakup.
Full spoken transcript
Transcribed from the recording and lightly edited for readability. Song lyrics and recorded interludes are omitted. Some audio could not be transcribed; those gaps and unclear words are marked in brackets. Timestamps are approximate. The comments reflect the speakers’ own experiences and views.
Full spoken transcript (click to collapse or expand)
00:00:00
[Audio not transcribed.]
00:03:48
1994 album “Dig.” That is, of course, I Mother Earth and “So Gently We Go.” It’s Monday, August 24th. Thanks for tuning in to Mental Health Radio. We’re here until 8 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
We want to welcome you into the Langdon Auger Show. We play all kinds of great music, and if you want to hear a request, it’s pretty easy to do. If you’re on our website, go down a little bit and you’ll see the live chat. Put your username in there, save it, then go down into the chit chat and say, “Hey, you got this song.” If I have it, I most certainly will play it.
We’ve got all kinds of stuff for you today. Randomize! We’re going to try to play songs that don’t play a lot here on Mental Health Radio, so it’s either their first or second time played, or maybe this will be their debut. We don’t know. We’ll have to see. We play all kinds of music, from the 1940s to modern day, so hopefully you enjoy today’s journey. We’re going to start off with a big hit from 1968. They were the hottest-selling band in Canada, believe it or not, at that time, and that…
00:04:59
[Audio not transcribed.]
00:05:00
The Guess Who and so many others. So here we go.
00:05:03
[Audio not transcribed.]
00:16:19
Oh, a song all about trying to get traction in a bad relationship that you’re in, trying to get your gears going and all that kind of stuff. And, of course, they did a great job. That was from their fourth album, so that’s where the four comes in. “Four Wheel Drive” was just becoming really popular back then, so Randy Bachman has a way of doing metaphors, and he did it right there, of course. “Four Wheel Drive” and Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
The Stampeders were in before that with “Sweet City Woman,” and Mashmakhan with “As the Years Go By.” It’s 13 minutes after 6. Thanks again for tuning in, everybody. Hope you’re having a good time so far, but we’ve got lots of great music coming your way, so let’s keep it going with a little 10cc.
00:17:02
[Audio not transcribed.]
00:28:22
Of course, ZZ Top and “Pearl Necklace.” We just lost Frank Beard. He died on the 17th of this month at the age of 77. Billy Gibbons is the only one left in the band, of course. Dusty Hill passed away in July 2021 at the age of 70, but Billy’s still out there as the only remaining [original?] member of the band. They continue to perform. Elwood Francis took over bass from Dusty Hill after he passed, and Michael Monahan stepped in for Frank Beard when he had a health leave and subsequent passings. So yeah, ZZ Top is still out there.
Van Halen was in before that with their album “5150.” That was their seventh album and Sammy Hagar’s first single with the band, “Why Can’t This Be Love.” 10cc started that set off with “The Wall Street Shuffle.” It’s 6:25 right now. We’ve got great tunes coming your way, like this one.
00:29:23
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
00:42:13
Taking you all the way back to 1988 and his “Heavy Nova” album, of course. That is Sir Robert Palmer, who we lost in 2003 to a heart attack. Unfortunately, he was found in his hotel room, but the man had so many big hits. Not just solo, either. He was in that supergroup Power Station. So many great songs from that as well.
We had Tom Petty from the “Full Moon Fever” album and “Running Down a Dream,” and Dire Straits with “Money for Nothing.” Everybody remembers the video. It’s actually about a true conversation Mark Knopfler heard in an appliance store in New York. These guys were moving TVs and watching MTV, and they were saying all that stuff. He thought, “This is too good.” He had to write it down in a notepad, just to make sure he got it correct.
Well, thanks for tuning in. What are we at? Almost 20 minutes before seven, so our dance portion of the show is coming up. Hopefully you’ll stick around for that one. We still have great tunes coming your way. And how about this one? Crystal Gayle, such a big star in the 1970s, and this is probably one of her better songs, in my opinion.
00:43:42
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
00:50:06
That’s, of course, Brewer and Shipley, “One Toke Over the Line,” and it is exactly what it sounds to be. You know, they were sitting in a railway station in New York, I think it was, and they smoked a little bit too much hashish. They came up with this because they had to do a show in Kansas City. And, yeah, of course, the song got banned across the United States.
There was even Lawrence Welk confusion when they performed on the Lawrence Welk Show. It was taken as modern spirituality, completely missing the drug references, such as [lyric excerpt omitted], and all that kind of stuff. Before that, of course, Edison Lighthouse and “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” from a 1971 album. We started off with Crystal Gayle, probably one of the biggest voices of the 1970s and just such an amazing voice.
How are you doing so far? We’re about 10 minutes away from the dance portion of the show. Hopefully you’re listening in and liking the songs so far, because we’ve still got more coming your way. Big controversial song, but not really. Next. Next.
00:52:40
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
01:03:53
Great song, taking you back to 1970 from their self-titled album. That is, of course, Sugarloaf and “Green-Eyed Lady.” Paper Lace was in before that with “The Night Chicago Died.” It sounds like a great story, with Al Capone and the worry about his dad and all that. It’s not true, but it is about a young man whose dad is a police officer. He wonders if his dad is ever going to come home and makes up all these elaborate stories. The song never actually happened. It’s just one of those things.
Of course, we started off with another one of those songs: Ohio Players and “Love Rollercoaster.” When they released the album and the DJ heard the little scream about two minutes and 53 seconds in, he thought there had been a murder in the recording studio while the Ohio Players were making their “Honey” album. He made up this grandiose story, but it turned out to be the keyboardist making a screeching noise. It added to the mystique of the album and the song, but once again, it was just not reality.
It’s one minute after seven, which means it’s the dance portion of our show. Hope you’re ready. Hope you’re stretched out. Hope you’re hydrated. We’ve got a couple of good ones for you here today. We’ve got three today. Dance as you will. Don’t push yourself. Let’s get on with it. I love this song. It may not be a dance song, but I think it is. You tell me.
01:05:29
[Audio not transcribed.]
01:17:51
That is, of course, Irene Cara and “What a Feeling.” That song came out in 1983, from the “What a Feeling” album, but it was used in so many… It was used in “Flashdance,” obviously. That was the most obvious one. And also in the TV show and movie, I believe, “Fame.” She won the Oscar for that song, and unfortunately, Irene died in 2022 at the age of 63 in Largo, Florida. But yes, that is most definitely a dance song.
Before that, of course, we had Don Henley, which was used in the “Coyote Ugly” soundtrack, and “All She Wants to Do Is Dance.” Then the song we weren’t quite sure was a dance song or not, I think it is, was Queen’s “Now I’m Here.” That was released on their “Sheer Heart Attack” album.
The reason they did that was Brian May had hepatitis, so he was kind of just sitting around trying to… The band had to take a break, and he was kind of a little, kind of mad that he caused all this. [Timing uncertain.] So he wrote that song, and it basically brings them back to their roots, because that’s where Queen really started out: rock, heavy rock. Queen I, Queen II, and then they went in a different direction and became world famous. It’s one of those albums where they wanted to remind people that they could still rock, and “Sheer Heart Attack” most certainly did. One of my favorite Queen albums. It’s 7:15 right now. Let’s get back to some music.
01:19:27
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
01:29:34
That’s, of course, Level 42 and “Something About You,” which was released in 1985. It’s a song about the complications and ups and downs of a relationship, a lingering connection after you kind of went your separate ways. You know, [lyric excerpt omitted]. Just such a great song about that, because there’s always a lingering attraction after you kind of leave somebody, because something always reminds you of them, shall we say.
The name Level 42 comes from Douglas Adams’s book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” where the number 42 is the ultimate answer or the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. Before that, of course, Kim Wilde with “Keep Me Hanging On,” and Dolly Parton, a megastar herself, with “9 to 5.” It’s almost 7:30, so let’s continue on. Got a great tune right now from Richard Harris.
01:31:22
[Audio not transcribed.]
01:44:44
From their Hybrid Theory album, released in 2000. Of course, that is Linkin Park with “Papercut,” and it’s supposed to be all about intense anxiety, paranoia and the exhausting mental trap of self-doubt. Just like a paper cut, it’s always there, stinging in its sharp irritations, and it mirrors intrusive thoughts and psychological pressure. Basically, the mind just won’t shut the heck up. The lyrics, they say, portray alienation, where normal day-to-day interactions start to feel like threats because the mind distorts them. It’s like [lyric excerpt omitted]. And it’s an aggressive inner critic, always making you feel like a darker self trapped inside your body. It is an amazing tune.
Before that, we had an album released on this day in 1987, “The Lonesome Jubilee” by John Mellencamp. I was lucky enough to see this tour in Toronto at Exhibition Stadium. The fiddle player’s name was Lisa Germano. It was her birthday, and man, did she ever put on one heck of a show along with John Mellencamp, one of the best concerts I’ve seen in a long time.
Before that, we had the song written in 1968 by a guy named Jimmy Webb. Richard Harris did “MacArthur Park.” It’s about a real, dramatic and sudden reflection of a painful and devastating breakup. Jimmy Webb based it on a real-life romance with a girlfriend who worked in an insurance office near MacArthur Park. They spent all their time on lunch dates, paddleboat rides, and all that emotional backdrop. Then it was just the end of it. He said it was like [lyric excerpt omitted]. Quite an emotional song there.
We’re at 7:42, 7:43, so we only have about six more songs left in the show. Pardon me, but we better get to them.
01:47:06
[Audio not transcribed.]
01:50:00
Not a… [Unclear fragment.]
01:50:00
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
01:59:03
The 1994 album “Bargainville.” That is, of course, Moxy Früvous and “Stuck in the ’90s.” Before that, we had Stevie Nicks. That was from her third album and, sorry, I just lost the name of it. I guess it doesn’t matter. Her third album was “Rock a Little.” There we go. Unlike most of the stuff in Stevie Nicks’s book of music, she did not write that song. It was written by Chas Sanford, who also wrote John Waite’s “Missing You.” If you listen closely, there’s a little similarity between the two songs.
The Pointer Sisters started off that set with “Slow Hand.” Looks like I’m going to be a little bit over today, but I’ve got one more set of music. Better get right to it. Canada’s very own Tegan and Sara.
01:59:54
[Interlude or untranscribed audio.]
02:09:58
Great song there by Brad Paisley and, of course, Carrie Underwood with “Remind Me.” Terri Clark was in before that doing a great version of Trooper’s “We’re Here for a Good Time,” and what a great job she did. Tegan and Sara, Canada’s very own, appeared in Lilith Fair 2010 and performed “Hell.” Sarah McLachlan is one of the co-founders of Lilith Fair, and it’s a celebration of women in music. Tegan and Sara, great song there.
Well, that’s it for me. I ran about six minutes overtime. Hopefully you guys got nothing better to do, or at least it can be delayed until later. We have great music coming your way with John Lee Hooker. Miles Davis is coming up. We’ve got ABBA in about a half an hour, so stick around. Happy mental health to you, and thanks for checking us out today. We’re back tomorrow starting at 6 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. That’s it for the Langdon Auger Show. We’re just going to leave you with one more song. Great Canadian band by the name of Marillion. And you might have heard this song once or twice before in your life.
02:11:05
[Audio not transcribed.]