Led Zeppelin "Stairway To Heaven"

It's starts very, very slowly, quiet and small, taking quite a bit of time to get going.

Everything about it seems to have deep, deep meaning, though you have no idea what that could possibly be.

Ugh, the middle goes on and on forever, and you really does feel like it could never end.

Then, all of the sudden it speeds up toward the end, which is both exciting and totally throws you off-balance, to the point where your not sure at all what the hell is happening, what you are feeling or what you are supposed to do.

And then it ends, as quietly as it arrived, leaving you to figure out what the hell to do next.

(Maybe you are the same) I went through a long period where I just didn't want to associate with it, but now, looking back, I have fond nostalgia for it.

Am I talking about High School or "Stairway To Heaven"?

My 25th high school reunion is on Friday.  I don't know who the DJ is (not me!), but they should probably play "Stairway," as it was our prom song.

How did we think that was a good idea?  Is there a worse song to dance to?  Sure it starts slowly enough, but what the hell do you do when Plant gets to the "As we wind on down the road" part?  Do you continue to slow dance with your partner, pretending that the tune has not turned into a rock song so you can hold onto those precious last moments where you are pressing your body against a member of the opposite sex?  Or do you give it up and do your "Rock Out!" dance?  ("Freaks And Geeks" explored the same issue with "Sail Away")

I haven't listened to "Stairway To Heaven" in years, but I felt like I should for this post.  And I think I'm finally past the hump of the song being a totally burned-out cliche.  I actually enjoyed it again.  Yeah, some of the lyrics are very hippie-dippy, but it's a helluva song.  I can even put up with the flute.

I kind of feel the same way about high school.  I had no desire to revisit the awkward teenage years for my 5th, 10th or 20th reunion---I steered far clear.

But my view of the long, long, seemed-like-they-would-never-end years (that still somehow managed to end abruptly, dumping me fully into another chapter of life), has softened considerably.

So I'll be in Newburyport on Friday, and hopefully I'll enjoy the trip back to a certain, somewhat cliched place and time, as much as I enjoyed revisiting "Stairway."

But if the DJ plays it, I'll be sure to sit that dance out.


Hear the song on Youtube.


See the "Freaks And Geeks" scene on Youtube.

Van Morrison "Moondance"

Drunken.  Angry.  Flute solo.

Well, there are 4 words that you rarely find together.

Which is why I was so confused at 3 in the morning last Saturday night.

We were staying at my Mother-In-Law's house, in Brewster.  I was dreaming, but I was hearing music.  At some point it occurred to me, that it wasn't a dream.  Then it occurred to me that it wasn't the TV---I had shut that off as I was falling asleep.  And it wasn't coming from a stereo inside the house.

And it wasn't a recording.

No, someone was outside of my Mother-In-Law's house, playing the flute.

Now, I can't prove that this person was angry.  Or drunk.  But based on the fierceness of the playing, as well as the number of missed notes, I feel reasonably certain about both.

Details in the light of morning were further convincing.

Apparently, without going into unnecessary detail here, my Mother-In-Law's next door neighbor is going through some very hard times.  And this was not the first time he had come out to his own porch in the middle of the night to exorcise his demons via his flute---in this case, loudly enough that it woke up all 6 of the adults that were sleeping in various parts of my Mother-In-Law's house.

Because of my half-asleep state, coupled with the I'm-wicked-annoyed-but-this-is-ridiculously-hilarious infectious laughing from my wife, I couldn't quite pick out what he was playing, though the tunes seemed familiar.

But somewhere, 30-plus minutes into the performance, he did launch into "Moondance."  I recognized that one.  Though it is pretty funny to hear only the flute part.  I can only imagine that he had learned it as part of a band.  So he wasn't playing a "solo" per se, he was just playing a "part," sans the rest of the band (thankfully, sans the rest of the band, given the hour).

And if you think this story is hilarious, know that, as part of his personal troubles, the mystery-flautist is soon moving---perhaps to you're neighborhood!

PS.  More than one person asked if my Mother-In-Law lived next door to Ron Burgundy.


Hear the song on Youtube.

What I think of, when I hear the flute . . .

See it on Youtube.

Well, she's not angry.

Hear it on Youtube.

Joe Bonamassa "Quarryman's Lament"

Sometime, I should probably write a whole week's worth of entries about songs that have been ruined for me, by something having nothing to do with the song itself.

When I first played Joe Bonamassa's "Quarryman's Lament" for Laurel and Barbara and other friends on the mvyradio staff, well they all raved.

Maybe it is a good track, but unfortunately, I can't take any song with a flute solo seriously. Not since seeing this scene from "Anchorman."

Now listen to Joe Bonamassa, and try to not just laugh at how pretentious the flute sounds.