Fallen Heroes
My heroes are beginning to fail me (all except my Dad of course). I am not sure if it because they are changing or I am changing.Last night, Jaclyn and I went to the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach to see my musical idol Jay Farrar and his band Son Volt.
After a seven year hiatus, Son Volt reformed and released a new record entitled Okemah and the Melody of Riot. The reason I emphasize reform is due to the fact that the original band is no longer together.
Unfortunately, I was less than awe-inspired by last night's performance.
From Memphis to New Orleans, in and out of railroad dreams, you're out there in scenes passing by..
Don't get me wrong. They played great and the music was better than 99% of anything else that you hear. But, I found myself thinking of the long drive home and trying to convince myself that it is ok to leave early because I have gotten my money's worth.
My apathy is the exact opposite reaction to the first time I saw Son Volt live. While the anxious anticipation of seeing the band whose music so moved me was enough to make me sleepless the night before, the reward of seeing them take the stage brought tears to my eyes. It saddens me that seeing them live does not have the same effect it once had on me.
Put whiskey on the wounds, salt the glass and say good-bye..
Perhaps I have become calloused as I have seen Jay perform several times over the past few years. Perhaps I now know too much about the man from watching interviews and reading articles. When all I knew of Jay Farrar was his music, he was bigger than life. His picturesqe lyrics and masterful songwriting could completely capture a moment in time that I could relive over and over again by simply inserting a CD into my stereo.
This legend who has managed to evoke emotional responses from me that I never knew existed, I now see as human with all the faults and fallibility that come with the package. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so.
Here for now, transient tommorrow. We're all living proof that nothing lasts..
It does make me realize that another era of my life has passed. I may never have that same excitement again that I once had, but I will always have the music. The music that continues to move me. The music that gets me through times both good and bad...
When we're all passed over, the rhythm of the river will remain..
posted by TinyElvis @ 12:24 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
This is a great post. I particularly like how you weave in and out of the lyrics of his songs. I feel like I am weaving in and out of your memory and your current thought process with you.
More importantly, I like the theme of fallen heroes. Do we grow out of things as we get older? Or was it Jay that changed? Or maybe more aptly put, who changed more -- you or the music?
There's an old saying from a famous greek philosopher that comes to mind here: "No man steps into the same river twice." The idea is that the man is not the same and neither is the river. Maybe that's what happening here with you and the music.
Just some food for thought.
I kind of know how you feel. I broke down and bought the Relix mag a couple of days ago, and finally felt that I know way too much about Jay. Kinda icky.
And no SV album will ever have the same impact on me that Trace did, and not just because its a damn fine album, but because I first heard it at a very specific time in my life that will never be duplicated.
Nice blog!
Ironic how one who uses the moniker "Tiny ELVIS" talks about an artist's decline....
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