All the snow has turned to water Christmas days have come and gone Broken toys and faded colors Are all that’s left to linger on
~ John Prine, Souvenirs ~
Souvenirs was my introduction to John Prine. I loved the sound, I loved his words. I love the way it transports my soul to a place many years ago, holds me in a place not so distant, and soothes everything about where I am today.
Those first lines of the song sound like the melancholy of January to me, and the images that follow feel like the way we cling to our precious memories and view life through what we remember of the past. Broken hearts and dirty windows, etc.
Just some of my favorite lines. Thank you, John Prine.
The ying/yang of a rainy night. The sights and sounds a sensory feast, and yet a scene that scares me a bit. Living with tall trees overhead means living with that feeling. In the middle of a windy storm, I don’t know whether to sit by the window and enjoy the light show, or to hide out in the basement.
I look outside and think about birds sheltering down in the elements, and wonder what in the world they think. When they’re at the beginning of their night and wake in the dark to the clamor of thunder and the gushy sounds of rain pouring down through trees and shrubs to the spot where they’re trying to rest. I understand birds are light sleepers, but they don’t seem to wake up and start tweeting in the middle of a midnight rain. Some definitely tweet at the beginning of a daytime rain. As if to say, “Hey, in case you didn’t notice, folks, it’s raining. Better find cover under some branch.” And I imagine the rest of the birds roll their eyes and think, “Yeah, smarty pants, like the rest of us didn’t notice.”
So do the dads come flying to the aid of the nest when it starts to rain hard? As far as I know, they don’t. I’m not sure we have studies, but I don’t think so. The mother, though, the mother spreads her wings over the little ones and must think something like, “Give me a break, I’ve been at this all day trying to keep these guys fed and content, and now in the middle of the night, when I’m not likely to go out and hunt juicy worms… now… now we get this rain. Like, can’t I at least get a decent night’s rest?” I haven’t found this information at the Audubon site, but what else can those birds be thinking?
“Well, I love a rainy night It’s such a beautiful sight I love to feel the rain on my face Taste the rain on my lips In the moonlight shadows Showers wash all my cares away I wake up to a sunny day ’cause I love a rainy night yeah, I love a rainy night
Tall white pines and a path that takes you. It doesn’t lead you, it takes you.
Do you know the long soft needles of a tall white pine? A pine tall enough to meet the sunny sky in the last moments of a December day. North Country meets Norwegian Wood meets what? I don’t know. It’s gentle. Or it’s pain, or it’s a place to leave behind.
When you choose your favorite lyrics to a Dylan song, it’s hard to find THE lines. I have this thing – sort of a pretty unimportant guiding principle. If I single out the same musical lyrics more than once, if it’s a sequence of lines or a few words, if those are the words I remember or I want to remember after I hear a song, then I guess I love those words.
In the darkness of my night In the brightness of my day
Bob Dylan works a magic with images nobody else can do. And in the middle of all that you find words you plainly love.
I caught a ride on the dreamland express last night. I was sailing on an ocean of blue. And right there by my side, Much to my surprise, Was you…. You said, let me be the end of your rainbow. Let me be the stars up above. Let me be the one that you long for, darlin’. Let me be the one that you love. Oh, let me be the one that you love.
The words are John Denver’s, from Dreamland Express. A sweet romantic old song.
The photo’s mine. One of my all-time favorites, from 2019, and the best rainbow I’ve ever seen. It stretched out across the big sky in front of me and came to rest in the trees, a couple hundred feet away. I wanted to run over to the trees just to find out what I’d find, you know, whatever it is you find, at the end of a rainbow.
First, you want to picture him. One-of-a-kind in that blue sky / white cloud suit, his impish grin, and those big brown eyes, drawing you in….
Okay? Ready?
One, Two, One, two, three, four.
I was working part time in a five-and-dime. My boss was Mr. McGee. Seems that I was busy doing something close to nothing But different than the day before. That’s when I saw her, ooh, I saw her. She walked in through the out door, out door.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[lyrics from Prince’s Raspberry Beret]
[This is a re-post. Prince passed away five years ago, a genius lost much too soon.]
When rain has hung the leaves with tears, I want you near to kill my fears, to help me to leave all my blues behind. For standin’ in your heart is where I want to be and long to be. Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind
etikser 