Poets and storytellers
I decided to fire up my Dell Jukebox tonight for the first time since I landed in Bangkok. As I moved through my songs creating a new playlist I decided to stick mainly with American acts. It didn't start out that way, but about halfway through I realized everyone I had picked was American. From that point it became a conscious effort.
Since I started with Weezer and worked my way back up the list, Bruce Springsteen was one of the last names I came to. Mercifully I had loaded two of his live discs before I left, one of which contained the most exquisite version of Thunder Road I have ever heard. It is obviously the start of a concert in the 70s, and is also obviously in a small venue. The only things you hear are a harmonica, Bruce, piano, and ever so briefly a xylophone. It is perhaps the best live rendition of any song that I've ever listened to. The fact that it is one of Bruce's best song makes it even better. He is truly a poet and one of the great American songwriters.
What is funny is that Kully, Matt and I were discussing just that topic by the pool in Koh Samui last week. Well, in the pool. With plenty of beers to lube the conversation. We tried to settle on who we considered the three greatest American rock artists ever. I think we finally settled on Elvis, Bruce, and Dylan (in no order) while allowing that there is some room for argument.
In any case that discussion is what made me dig into my Bruce selections to see what gems I could find. I think I will be listening to the rest of those albums very soon.
While I can't say that I've felt homesick on this trip a little dose of Bruce let me close my eyes and drift back to America for a few brief minutes. The power of great music to evoke such feelings and flights of fancy never ceases to amaze me.
And to end, I say a small "thank you" to Bruce and all the other storytellers for telling their stories as well as they do. Because in doing so you tell all of our stories, and you do so more eloquently than we could ever hope to do. That's why we buy you records. That's why we made you famous.
posted by Jeff D @ 5:15 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Great post! I can completely relate. I'm not a huge John Mellencamp fan and he's by no means one of America's elite historical rock stars, but after living over in Japan for nearly a year now, I do love sitting back and listening to his "Pink Houses" song. Not only reminds me of the USA, but of Southern USA.
Although I'm not a huge Dylan fan, either, I can't argue much with your Top Three selections, because Dylan embodies much of the spirit of American music.
-Mike
ps: How about some pictures? I want to plan a Thailand trip and seeing your pictures is just the motivation I need.
Pictures are on the way. I just needed a true broadband uplink to load them and blessedly I have one in the computer lab in my dorm. I've uploaded about 300 so far, many more to come. And I still have the 3GB of pictures I need to rescue off of contaminated (by virus) drives/cards. I think I posted something about that.
Thailand is great, but I would make certain that you go to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. You can fly there easily from Bangkok. It is truly one of the most amazing places I've ever been.
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