Aloha!
"Every man's memory is his private literature."
~Aldous Huxley
Waikiki in the distance. Taken from Palolo Valley"Everybody needs his memories.
They keep the wolf of insignificance
from the door."
~Saul Bellow
Lei Stand in Chinatown, Honolulu"Pleasure is the flower that passes;
remembrance,
the lasting perfume."
~Jean de Boufflers
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Growing up in Philadelphia
we were blue collar and ethnic,
but we were urban people
with a patina of middle-brow sophistication
when needed;
My parents knew how to dress and behave
at the parent/teacher meeting.
Country Music
was the sound of OTHERS:
Rural, Super White, Conservative.
It was the music of folks that hated folks like us
even before I was a freak (what others called 'hippies').
Let's just say that it wasn't what we heard at home.
But the folk movement
made us look at C&W as a true folk expression,
sequined sports jackets, bouffants and all!
Plus it was marvelously transgressive
for me to be a country fan.
Youthful rebellion - so predictable.
Merle Haggard's Okie From Muskogee
about summed up the gulf.
But later,
through his tribute album to
I became a fan of ole Merle.
In fact I became quite a country fan.
My pal Jim and I even drove to
Great Adventure in New Jersey
so see Willie Nelson in his
Blue Eyes Cryin` in the Rain period.
When we got there
it was coming down pretty good'
and only a handful of us waited in the stands.
But Willie and his band,
Sis on piano, and that nice Jewish boy on mouth harp,
played us quite a nice intimate little set.
What a great memory!
Last night I caught the PBS' American Masters
devoted to Merle.
It brought back so much!
I'm glad hubby went to sleep a bit early
so I could just sit there and cry.
A whole period of my life opened up to memory.
I though of how Jim used to sing
and I wished I could hear it one more time.
So many great songs!
I've been listening on Pandora & Grooveshark all day.
If I had to pick just one Merle song to share,
Working Man Blues comes to mind,
but it has to be this one:
Listen to it with my Aloha....
Let Merle sing YOU back home too...
"I'm 70. At this point if they gave me a life sentence,
it would only be a few years.
So F**k `em!"
Merle Haggard
