Can’t remember the last time I heard this song but it was probably when I was in the midst of hell, no exaggeration there and I am glad the memory has faded.
Not all memories fade that way and I know this to be true because of what and how I remember certain things. Some go away and some don’t, periodically surfacing for unknown reasons determined to ask me. “do I have your attention?”
The thing is, I am willing to stick my hands in the flames sometimes to see how hot they burn and to test my will against them.
Might not be the smartest thing, but we are who we are.
Sometimes people ask about Facebook posts and videos because they assume there is a message or meaning they have missed.
I always tell them if I want them to understand I will make it very clear that I am speaking to them, cuz if Johnny wanted to update June in public that is exactly what would happen, otherwise it is private.
Hell, it could be private three or even four times and it would be understood by those who needed to know and ignored by everyone else.
If you have been around long enough or know me well you know I am always working on my craft and testing out combinations of phrases, words and expressions.
Forever trying to improve my skills while knowing I will never consistently hit the standard I wish to achieve with more than flashes of thunder and lightning.
And any time I sense or feel like I have tapped into it I am going to go in search of the spark and try to blow upon it so that it will turn into something that warms my hands and yours.
It is not always easy because it can leave me hyper alert of when it is not around and it can be very cold floating untethered through outer space.
So I write and I write and I write some more, knowing very few of you will see my work but ok with it because those are the current rules.
****
Flipping around the stations I come across the tail end of Walk The Line, just before June finally says yes to Johnny and wonder how much is real and how much is cinema.
Wikipedia says they got engage in ’68, but I can’t find whether is is January, May or August and I quit looking because it doesn’t matter.
Don’t really need to know that, got more useless trivia stuffed inside my head than most but I find myself stuffing more in.
Some of it is because I am eminently curious and some because my mind needs to be occupied in some way.
Hell, I am on vacation and still took three phone calls and answered a bunch of emails. In part because I have a big project that I cannot let sit now because of coming deadlines and in part because I sense opportunity.
I sense a chance to make things happen and it is hard not to go for it.
This album came out my senior year and there is not a song on it I don’t like, though there are some that are just ok.
Been to two of their concerts and thought they were both great. Got some memories of sitting in a cafe in Jerusalem listening to the music go an entirely different direction and hearing the Scotsmen sitting with me start to debate about whether they could listen to this version or if it had to be this one.
Reminds me of a conversation I had with someone about sporting events and how they said they didn’t care if they went to any but conceded they might go to something like the Kentucky Derby because it would give them an excuse to dress up and buy a cool hat.
****
Got Joe Cocker covering With A Little Help From My Friends and give him credit for making something out of it because far too many are watered down versions that aren’t worth listening to.
Of course Joe is gone now as are half of the Fab Four so all we have are these clips online which isn’t to say there aren’t good bands/musicians now because there are but there are so many I didn’t get to see live.
That is how it goes, some things happen before you were born or old enough to participate and some pass you by because you didn’t recognize the importance of taking them on when you had the chance.
