Re: [Harp-L] Off the Wall in cherry blossom time

[Garry Hodgson <garry@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Isn't it funny how we associate the music we like with our own
> experiences, no matter how wildly these might differ from the
> circusmtances the led to the creation of that music?

music is an intensely emotional experience; it makes sense we'd make
those kind of associations.

> Anyone else have these incongruous associations with their favorite
> tunes?

i get all weepy when i hear the grateful dead song, "built to last".
the two choruses:

Three blue stars / Rise on the hill
Say no more, now / Just be still
All these trials / Soon be past
Look for something / Built to last

and:

One blue star / Sets on the hill
Call it back / You never will
One more star / Sinks in the past
Show me something / Built to last.

bring to mind my (3) children and a brother i lost, respectively.
in the same song, the lyric:

There are times when I can help you out
And times that you must fall
There are times when you must live in doubt
And I can't help at all

evokes the bittersweet nature of parenthood, when you want to do
everything for your children, but know that you can't.
----
the george winston album "autumn" evokes powerful memories
of the loss of my brother,  and a raw windswept october day when
we added his panel to the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

i also have powerful associations with the grateful dead song
"cassidy", from which my youngest daughter got her middle
name.  but that's a story for another day.

----
Garry Hodgson, Technical Consultant, AT&T Labs

that's the road the devil paved, if you think something outside
of yourself is gonna bring you happiness.  it's not; you gotta
look inside.  i'm still workin' on it day to day.

- jason ricci