It’s about the joy.<\/p>\n
Last night I heard "Lightnin’ Strikes" on the radio.\u00c2\u00a0 Lou Christie might be unknown to the younger generation, but he’s in the DNA of baby boomers because of this one electric hit.<\/p>\n
Listen to me baby, you gotta understand<\/span><\/p>\n The lines mean little on paper, but if you heard Lou emote them you’d get it, he’s imploring, the intensity connects, the falsetto in the chorus is just icing on the cake.<\/p>\n But it wasn’t just Lou Christie, I also got hooked by Bobby Vee’s "Take Good Care Of My Baby".\u00c2\u00a0 You know how there are songs you know but you don’t?\u00c2\u00a0 When this was a hit not only had I not reached puberty, I didn’t even own a transistor.\u00c2\u00a0 Still, back then music poured out of speakers everywhere. Before the headphone era, before boom boxes gave public music a bad name, there’d be speakers strung at the pavilion at the beach, windows would be open…you were exposed to the sounds of the city.\u00c2\u00a0 Speaking of which, is John Sebastian a member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame?\u00c2\u00a0 He should be.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve heard "Daydream" twice this week.\u00c2\u00a0 Now that guy might have flamed out, his voice may be toast, but for a moment there he burned as bright as anybody.\u00c2\u00a0 The Lovin’ Spoonful make one phenomenal greatest hits playlist, and all the songs sound different, hell, my favorite is "Six O’Clock".<\/p>\n Still, the song I can’t stop playing is "Running On Empty".\u00c2\u00a0 Even though it’s a fan favorite, it never really resonated with me, maybe because of the line "I don’t know about anyone but me".\u00c2\u00a0 It seemed to undercut the whole song, Jackson Browne was a beacon, he seemed to know so much, now he doesn’t?<\/p>\n But when Jackson played this the other night it energized me in a new way, had me on the edge of my seat singing along.\u00c2\u00a0 Stripped down, absent the rock hysteria, it was a story straight from the heart, a tale told by a buddy in a bar.<\/p>\n Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels<\/span> That’s what’s so weird, it’s behind you.\u00c2\u00a0 When you’re in your twenties you look around and say you’ll come back.\u00c2\u00a0 But you almost never do.\u00c2\u00a0 Now when I go someplace I take a long hard look around. Because most likely this is it.\u00c2\u00a0 You take your junior year abroad, backpacking across Europe, believing you’re a world traveler, then you end up rooted to your house and family in the suburbs wondering where the time went.<\/p>\n I didn’t take my junior year abroad, I wasn’t about to sacrifice a ski season.\u00c2\u00a0 And in an era before iPods and even Walkmen, I wasn’t eager to leave my music behind.\u00c2\u00a0 But by time "Running On Empty" came out I was in law school.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost a complete waste of time, but I had my first significant relationship and learned what the insiders know so I don’t feel inadequate, but you don’t need to know all that, you’re better off living.\u00c2\u00a0 Getting on the bus or in your car watching the road rushing under your wheels…if you survive, if you don’t find yourself thirty five, broke, with no economic options.<\/p>\n So we don’t take those risks, the artists take them for us.<\/p>\n Which is why Jackson sings:<\/p>\n I don’t know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels<\/span><\/p>\n Because if you weren’t there, you don’t really get it.<\/p>\n Like the show.<\/p>\n You can listen to the record ad infinitum, but it’s a different experience from going to the venue, from seeing the live performance.\u00c2\u00a0 You get in your car or board the train, you walk to the hall, they rip your ticket and you’re inside.\u00c2\u00a0 Waiting.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what so much of rock and roll is about, it builds excitement. And in the old days it took them that long to get it together.<\/p>\n And then there’s that rush when the act hits the stage.<\/p>\n And the great sustain.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like making love.\u00c2\u00a0 Ninety minutes of exquisite pleasure.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, it’s in the dark!<\/p>\n And you go home and play the record, trying to relive the memories.<\/p>\n And sometimes they put out live albums.\u00c2\u00a0 But usually they’re reworked, remixed, they lose some authenticity in the process.<\/p>\n But if you’re really lucky you get a bootleg.\u00c2\u00a0 It doesn’t even have to be the show you were at, because the energy, the intimacy remains the same.<\/p>\n After Jackson’s performance of "Running On Empty" Friday night I combed my library for every version of the song I could find.<\/p>\n Of course I had the original take.\u00c2\u00a0 And the one with David Lindley, from their album together, but neither had that sound, of the acoustic with the effect, that made this rockin’ number come alive in such an intimate setting.<\/p>\n And I’m playing all the MP3s and then…<\/p>\n There are people talking in the background.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s clapping.<\/p>\n And that guitar sound.<\/p>\n The whoop of recognition when Jackson sings the opening line.<\/p>\n And it’s an audience recording, not something people are supposed to pay for.\u00c2\u00a0 You can tell that Jackson’s on a stage ten or fifteen feet away, you hear the people the person doing the recording is sitting next to.\u00c2\u00a0 Whispering along.<\/p>\n That’s what seeing Jackson Browne acoustic is like, a religious experience.\u00c2\u00a0 And you don’t shout in the synagogue, you don’t shriek in church.<\/p>\n And then:<\/p>\n Everyone I know<\/span> And then Jackson stops singing.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, he’s still playing, but just like Friday night, the audience is taking over, they need no direction, no encouragement, the line is in their blood, they can’t help but sing it out loud.<\/p>\n I DON’T KNOW ABOUT ANYONE BUT ME!<\/p>\n The assembled multitude is whispering.\u00c2\u00a0 And with everybody in attendance doing this, all the believers in the chapel, it becomes a religious experience.<\/p>\n I can’t stop playing the MP3.\u00c2\u00a0 Over and over again.<\/p>\n What do they say?\u00c2\u00a0 The record business is in trouble but music is doing just great?<\/p>\n I downloaded this show from Atlantic City’s Music Box two and a half years ago.\u00c2\u00a0 It was recorded six months before that.\u00c2\u00a0 But it sounds just like yesterday.\u00c2\u00a0 Friday night to be exact.\u00c2\u00a0 Because freeze a live moment in music and it lasts forever.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, the imperfections are the hooks.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d say you feel like you were there, but it’s more about intertwining the music with your memories.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like finally having pictures to your soundtrack.<\/p>\n But really it’s the reverse.\u00c2\u00a0 Music is the soundtrack to your mental movies.\u00c2\u00a0 A track may have been recorded once, but it can live inside you forever.<\/p>\n I’d love to stick around but I’m running behind<\/span> I’m running really fast.\u00c2\u00a0 And if I told you I knew where I was going, I’d be lying.\u00c2\u00a0 I tried to play that game.\u00c2\u00a0 It didn’t work.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t want the future planned out, I want each and every day to be a surprise.<\/p>\n Which leads to a lot of blind alleys and dead ends.<\/p>\n But I just turn around and double back, and explore a new route, wiser for the experience.<\/p>\n You can buy insurance.\u00c2\u00a0 Go to graduate school.\u00c2\u00a0 Start a profession.\u00c2\u00a0 Or you can walk the tightrope without a net, which is scary, knowing there’s no protection, nothing to save you, but it’s much more thrilling.<\/p>\n And that’s what life is supposed to be.\u00c2\u00a0 A thrill.<\/p>\n And that’s exactly how I feel listening to this live rendition of "Running On Empty".<\/p>\n Thrilled.<\/p>\n (P.S. The Lovin’ Spoonful are in the R&RHOF.\u00c2\u00a0 Thank god!)<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s about the joy. Last night I heard "Lightnin’ Strikes" on the radio.\u00c2\u00a0 Lou Christie might be unknown to the younger generation, but he’s in the DNA of baby boomers because of this one electric hit. Listen to me baby, you gotta understand The lines mean little on paper, but if you heard Lou emote […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-10R","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3897"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3899,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3897\/revisions\/3899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields<\/span><\/p>\n
Everywhere I go<\/span>
People need some reason to believe<\/span><\/p>\n
You know I don’t even know what I’m hoping to find<\/span>
Running into the sun but I’m running behind<\/span><\/p>\n