Friday, March 09, 2007
Jak's Soundtrack
So, I have officially left California..as of about 11am this morning, I was exiting the state. Pretty crazy. Had a great last get together with the Browns, Renee, Steve, Charlie, The Crockers, etc. and was glad to have the opportunity to say goodbye yet another time. I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Albuquerque and will drive the rest of the way to Tulsa in the morning...drive has been good so far. Which leads me to the point of this post....
Music is an important part of my life...as, I believe, it is an important part of a lot of your lives. We hear certain songs and it can spark a memory or lift our spirits. There are times in our daily lives where we may be doing some tedious chore, but a favorite song will put an extra spring in our step and get us whistling while we work. And, even better, there are times in our lives when we are experiencing something special and an unexpected song comes on our radio or ipod and it is such a good fit, that the whole experience is enhanced. This does not happen often, but when it does, it is something to be thankful for.
Does anyone remember the movie Traffic? Steven Soderbergh directed it and shot the entire film with a yellow filter on the camera...it made the whole movie quite surreal. I thoroughly enjoyed it...what the hell does that have to do with anything you ask? what a random thing to say in the middle of this post you say? Patience young Skywalkers. Trust me.
At about 6pm MST tonight, I crossed from Arizona into New Mexico. I was heading East (obviously) so the sun was setting behind me. If you haven't been to western New Mexico it is filled with flat-topped mountains called mesas. The first mesa you see as you enter New Mexico is a brilliant, reddish-pink mesa. With the sun at my back, this mesa and the others around it were perfectly lit and absolutely beautiful. As I sometimes do when I am taken aback by nature, I start to think about deeper things like creation and life and death...just then, on my radio, Hootie starts singing "Not Even the Trees"...."Alone...as I sit and watch the trees...won't you tell me if I scream will they bend down and listen to me..." This will be my soundtrack for the next few miles...
I keep driving and the colors of the mesas turn from pink to red to yellow and I find myself in the surreal feeling of Traffic...my whole world has now turned yellow and it is beautiful.
Hootie continues to croon..."Little boy says to me 'where you goin' now son?' I said 'I don't know where I'm goin boy, I only know where I'm from."...
As the sun continues to quickly set behind me (somewhere over the Pacific I'm sure), it moves behind the large mesa next to me so I am thrust into the shadows, but the mesas ahead of me continue to be brightly lit...it now feels like I have moved into a darkened theater and am watching these mesas on the big screen and it is truly high definition.
"I see you in my dreams...and I wonder if your looking down at me and smiling right now...oh yeah, I wanna know, if its true...when He looks at me, can you tell me, does He realize, He came down here...He took you too soon."
So, the beautiful scenery around me has me thinking about the possibility of a Creator...Hootie (yes, I know his name is Darius, but I like to call him Hootie) is talking about a man who has lost his brother at an early age and is looking to nature for answers...and this always gets me thinking about my Aunt Janice who died WAY too early..which of course makes this big baby start to get verklempt. And Hootie accentuates it...
"Right now, I just can't see cause I'm feeling weak...and my soul begins to bleed..and noone's listening to me...not even the trees"
Probably more depressing a song than my actual feelings, but it seemed so fitting and it made that 5 minutes as I moved from Arizona into New Mexico absolutely memorable. Who would have thought that would be the highlight of the trip?
Anyway, one last word to those of you who know "the rest of the story..." and you know who you are...just to put a final exclamation point on everything, I arrived at the Burbank Marriott last night and there was a Lord of the Rings conference going on...so, I was immediately surrounded by dorky looking people in masks, capes or both. A fittingly odd end to an odd week.
OK. You people stay in touch!
Much love to all!
jak
Music is an important part of my life...as, I believe, it is an important part of a lot of your lives. We hear certain songs and it can spark a memory or lift our spirits. There are times in our daily lives where we may be doing some tedious chore, but a favorite song will put an extra spring in our step and get us whistling while we work. And, even better, there are times in our lives when we are experiencing something special and an unexpected song comes on our radio or ipod and it is such a good fit, that the whole experience is enhanced. This does not happen often, but when it does, it is something to be thankful for.
Does anyone remember the movie Traffic? Steven Soderbergh directed it and shot the entire film with a yellow filter on the camera...it made the whole movie quite surreal. I thoroughly enjoyed it...what the hell does that have to do with anything you ask? what a random thing to say in the middle of this post you say? Patience young Skywalkers. Trust me.
At about 6pm MST tonight, I crossed from Arizona into New Mexico. I was heading East (obviously) so the sun was setting behind me. If you haven't been to western New Mexico it is filled with flat-topped mountains called mesas. The first mesa you see as you enter New Mexico is a brilliant, reddish-pink mesa. With the sun at my back, this mesa and the others around it were perfectly lit and absolutely beautiful. As I sometimes do when I am taken aback by nature, I start to think about deeper things like creation and life and death...just then, on my radio, Hootie starts singing "Not Even the Trees"...."Alone...as I sit and watch the trees...won't you tell me if I scream will they bend down and listen to me..." This will be my soundtrack for the next few miles...
I keep driving and the colors of the mesas turn from pink to red to yellow and I find myself in the surreal feeling of Traffic...my whole world has now turned yellow and it is beautiful.
Hootie continues to croon..."Little boy says to me 'where you goin' now son?' I said 'I don't know where I'm goin boy, I only know where I'm from."...
As the sun continues to quickly set behind me (somewhere over the Pacific I'm sure), it moves behind the large mesa next to me so I am thrust into the shadows, but the mesas ahead of me continue to be brightly lit...it now feels like I have moved into a darkened theater and am watching these mesas on the big screen and it is truly high definition.
"I see you in my dreams...and I wonder if your looking down at me and smiling right now...oh yeah, I wanna know, if its true...when He looks at me, can you tell me, does He realize, He came down here...He took you too soon."
So, the beautiful scenery around me has me thinking about the possibility of a Creator...Hootie (yes, I know his name is Darius, but I like to call him Hootie) is talking about a man who has lost his brother at an early age and is looking to nature for answers...and this always gets me thinking about my Aunt Janice who died WAY too early..which of course makes this big baby start to get verklempt. And Hootie accentuates it...
"Right now, I just can't see cause I'm feeling weak...and my soul begins to bleed..and noone's listening to me...not even the trees"
Probably more depressing a song than my actual feelings, but it seemed so fitting and it made that 5 minutes as I moved from Arizona into New Mexico absolutely memorable. Who would have thought that would be the highlight of the trip?
Anyway, one last word to those of you who know "the rest of the story..." and you know who you are...just to put a final exclamation point on everything, I arrived at the Burbank Marriott last night and there was a Lord of the Rings conference going on...so, I was immediately surrounded by dorky looking people in masks, capes or both. A fittingly odd end to an odd week.
OK. You people stay in touch!
Much love to all!
jak
Comments:
<< Home
In the infamous words of Howlin' Wolf, "If you looks in your cupboard an gots plenty of food, but you still ain't happy, you gots the Blues."
Looking up the street last night and realizing there is no jetta, drums, music, friends,.I gots the Mutha of all Bluse.
We grew as friends, parents and musicians, and the latter has a uniqueness to it that only those who have experienced it could understand. (I'm reminded of our peers; John and Paul, Keith and Mick, Zigfried and Roy!...breaking up is hard to do)..
Rare and special is (as we say in literary circles "an understatement.") Like I hang in literary circles!, And to see it disappear way quicker than it developed makes me blue and I wonder what 'soundtrack' my next chapter is going to be set to.
Perhaps I need a road trip Eastward bound just to see what develops? Hum....
"Eastward bound, to see just what developes.
Sun setting behind me over the Pacific." (ummm, what rhymes with develops?) Yep, maybe I'll write my own sound track. I better get started cause I gotta long way to go.
Drive safely because we need you for the next Natty 5-9's Gig my pal. Peace. Greg
Looking up the street last night and realizing there is no jetta, drums, music, friends,.I gots the Mutha of all Bluse.
We grew as friends, parents and musicians, and the latter has a uniqueness to it that only those who have experienced it could understand. (I'm reminded of our peers; John and Paul, Keith and Mick, Zigfried and Roy!...breaking up is hard to do)..
Rare and special is (as we say in literary circles "an understatement.") Like I hang in literary circles!, And to see it disappear way quicker than it developed makes me blue and I wonder what 'soundtrack' my next chapter is going to be set to.
Perhaps I need a road trip Eastward bound just to see what develops? Hum....
"Eastward bound, to see just what developes.
Sun setting behind me over the Pacific." (ummm, what rhymes with develops?) Yep, maybe I'll write my own sound track. I better get started cause I gotta long way to go.
Drive safely because we need you for the next Natty 5-9's Gig my pal. Peace. Greg
Tonight after our meeting with the family therapist, my folks met us at Elephant Bar for a support group dinner. So in response to my last entry which stated I would make my own soundtrack, Claira began singing out loud, " We Are The Crackers".!!!
Thanks Claira. I'll be up late working on the melody to that little number. Greg.
Thanks Claira. I'll be up late working on the melody to that little number. Greg.
from the mouths of babes..haha
Dude, listen to this...the house we put an offer on today...the owners names are Charles and Robin!!!! How freaky is that?? Is your hair standing up on end?? I mean, more than normal?? ;-)
MISS YOU GUYS!!!!
Post a Comment
Dude, listen to this...the house we put an offer on today...the owners names are Charles and Robin!!!! How freaky is that?? Is your hair standing up on end?? I mean, more than normal?? ;-)
MISS YOU GUYS!!!!
<< Home
