It’s the revolving door, mildly insistent but insinuating argument
again.
I am self-stuck in the past endlessly reliving things
I already know, making myself unavailable for new
experience.
Even when steeped in ancient history studies, I have always tried
to honor Charles Fourier’s tenet “il
faut être absolument moderne.” But in a world where so-called
“thought leaders” dictate so-called “post-modern” ideas and values to
would-be acolytes and it is considered essential above all to
despise Sarah Palin with passion rendering Christ’s Passion cool
and platonic by comparison, I am finding
it difficult to board the train.
Driving to-and-from Washington yesterday retrieving Mulan from her
stimulating weeklong academic program, I tuned Pandora
to my Pretty Things channel. Caroline liked
and asked about a non-Pretties track she liked; neither of us were
familiar with the song or the artist. She’s
fairly new to Pandora and wasn’t aware that the service mixes up the music
to include “simpatico” material with eponymous artist channel fare. This time we heard a fine,
tight contemporary r&b tune in the Pretty Things/Rolling Stones tradition. Both the music and lyrics were catchy,
non-retro-derivative and bright. Caroline
took the opportunity to renew her challenge to me to try again to open my
mind to new, non-ancient music and let light and air penetrate and
freshen my Miss Havisham attic-mind. In
her loving view, I might “live a little.”
Reading one of Andy Warhol’s entertaining books a long
time ago, I remember him mentioning how important it is to try to listen
to well-intentioned advice, and clearly one should pay close attention to one’s
own wife. So, for her sake at least, I
guess I’ll try to climb out of my rut.
In the meantime, however, I am happy to share again this
superb psychedelic era Pretty Things track, which I have always
loved and also this break-frame Small Faces number immortalizing the band’s
amphetamine dealer.
All Aboard! And as we
leave the station, let’s please get rid of Daylight Savings Time or at
least the twice-yearly time changeover. Post-modern
society neither requires nor desires it.
Curtis, I've dealt with the curse/blessing(?) of revisiting the past - sometimes it is all-consuming, frequently it's background music.. However, as real time passes, I find that although I am probably condemned to redigest my history, particularly irrevocably embedded life events, I find myself able, at times, to "live a little". Barry's advice, as well. Nell
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try (I think). Still, there's so much of the past still to discover. Caroline benefited by sitting in record company meetings every week (on a scheduled basis; really it was more like every day) being exposed to new music that the company was considering releasing, which she would need to work on. That really kept her mind and ears open. I live like a hermit. One thing I've noticed, in terms of the "new past" (as far as music goes), most of the unreleased, alternate versions of songs were unreleased for a reason. Yesterday I actually heard a version of Here Come The Nice, the terrific Small Faces single, as it was released on 45 rpm in France. It was very close to the definitive, well-known UK version, but just didn't have that extra special something. A live version of their All Or Nothing from Australia blew my mind, though. Don't know whether you've ever heard the alternate RCA Studios-version of Eight Miles High. Close but just not there. The cutting room floor exists for a reason. Jane, by the way, was in Washington for a very good national security-related conference for high school students. It was a great program that broadened her interests and expanded her insights. I'm exhausted (we all are) from the driving and time-changeover. Curtis
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