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"Ring the bells that still can ring,
forget your perfect offering, there is a crack, a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in." Leonard Cohen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgYlqKxV54Q&feature=related
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Here's what's good and guilt-free on a hot summer day. Get a fat-free fudgesicle. Those are no good by themselves, but wait. Now pour yourself a tall glass of diet cola. Those are no good either but here it comes.....
Swirl the fudgesicle in the cola and take a lick, swirl and lick, swirl and lick. When the fudgesicle is gone, drink the cola. Terrible apart, almost decadent together, yes? That's synergy, baby! No calories, so heck, have another one if you want. You know, I could tour around all summer to folk festivals. Sigh....
http://folkfestivalscanada.com http://www.musicfestivaljunkies.com/2010-music-festival-guide Speaking of John Prine, he once said in an interview that he started writing the goofy songs to give his audiences comic relief from his sad, serious songs. Here's a line from a particularly heartbreaking one called Sam Stone about a drug-addicted Vietnam veteran with no future, no hope, and a suffering family pulled into his despair.
"There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes, Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose." John Prine There was a time a quarter century ago that all my friends were getting married and I thought the showers and stags and weddings would never end. That streak, of course, was followed shortly by a long string of births. Now the streak is a sad one -- funerals of parents in long, unrelenting succession including three this weekend. Of course there's a lesson in everything and this part of life's journey is a stark reminder to:
· figure yourself out · be who you are · worry less what others think · leave regrets behind · bury grudges and hurts · be angry and hurt a lot less · seek profound experiences like vacations or pilgrimages with those you care about · find a way to indulge those repressed inner spirits before it's too late  My wife and I spent Wednesday night and Saturday at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. There are elements of everything at a modern folk festival from big, flashy, commercial bands to one guy or gal with an acoustic guitar. Pete Seeger used to say that in the old days before commercialization, music used to belong to the people, and in every household there was someone who could play or sing who provided the entertainment on a Saturday night. At every folk festival there's someone like that. Someone who reminds me that despite pretenses, we're all just simple people trying to make our way. It's suprising how powerful those elemental connections can be if you let them inside. It never fails to bring a tear to my eye when I'm reminded that a lyric can be as simple and sweet as....
"There's a big old goofy man Dancing with a big old goofy girl Ooh baby It's a big old goofy world." John Prine |
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