Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Hurricanes. Floods. Wildfires. Nuke threats. Politics. Fake news. Bad beer. Violence.
Sometimes I think that I need to just get away from it all. Stick me in a stasis chamber and call me when it’s over. If not that, let me just fly away. Sing it for me, Lenny. From nineteen ninety-eight.
I often stream this song when I’m walking around on warm, sunny days.
‘The Way’, by Fastball, came out in nineteen ninety-eight, a particularly pleasant, enjoyable and successful time of my life. A jaunty song with several beat change-ups, it had easy to hear and understand lyrics. The song seemed to be telling a story about adults running away.
Anyone could see
The road that they walk on is paved in gold
And it’s always summer, they’ll never get cold
They’ll never get hungry
They’ll never get old and gray
You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere
They won’t make it home but they really don’t care
They wanted the highway
They’re happier there today, today
source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/thewaylyrics.html
Later, while driving around, I learned from a radio show that the song was about an elderly couple who ended up missing. The wife had Alzheimer’s and the man was recovering from brain surgery, yet, they made the amazing decision to drive to a festival. Several weeks later, they were found dead in a ravine, several hundred miles off course. Fastball speculated that they’d decided to go off in another direction.
Whenever I think of this song, and it’s often, it seems, because it gets stuck in the stream and keeps looping through, I think of an elderly couple in sunshine, running, laughing and playing, hiding from and evading their children as they enjoy a childlike day.
I’ve decided it’s time to upgrade. In accordance with that decision, I’ve replaced my mental jukebox with a mental iPod. Yes, I’ve gone digital.
That required me to transfer all my music from the old jukebox to the iPod. That required a lot of time. Although the mental jukebox was old, it still performed pretty well, only occasionally not playing something correctly. It was pretty full, though. Mom loves music and so does my older sis. The two were feeding me songs from the beginning. They influenced me to continue the pursuit of listening to music throughout my life.
This might have a tangible effect on these posts. I may end up repeating some songs and memories. Sorry about that. These things sometimes happen during upgrades.
The song chosen today was influenced by that realization. It also features a performer who’s had a long, impressive career. This selection strikes me as apropos for these backslide sidestep shuffle politics that seem to be permeating global legislatures. I know you’re reading with bated breath and asking, Seidel, what’s the song already?
I’ll tease you no longer.
Well, maybe one more paragraph. This song was enjoyed while I was living in Mountain View, California, commuting to work at PAS in Palo Alto for my first employment after retiring from the Air Force. I retired in November, 1995, and started working for them in December, 1995.
Here it is, then, from 1998, Shirley Bassey and the Propellerheads with ‘History Repeating’.
It’s a mellow Friday here in Ashland, a breath between storms. Temperatures remained down in the teens but we expect to hit thirty again. A warm front is coming in so temperatures in the thirties are expected, and lots of rain.
That’s why today’s song is appropriate. The warmer weather is still cold, like blue on black or tears on a river. But we’re mellow, reflective and waiting.
From 1998, the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, ‘Blue on Black’.
Michael Seidel, writer 