I was thinking about Dad this weekend. I carry his license in my inside pocket of my coat. I was also thinking about the 2 songs that make me think of how sad the loss of my (our) parents is. The one that makes me think of Mom is Phil Collins' song "Against All Odds". It was in rotation on Mtv the summer after she died when I was staying at Brenda's house. I instantly cry whenever I hear this song - even to this day. I know the song is about a love triangle - but if you think of it in terms of someone you love dieing it truly encompasses how I feel about losing Mom.
PHIL COLLINS - "AGAINST ALL ODDS"
The song that makes me think of, I guess, how I feel about the loss of Dad is probably an odd choice. It's "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. I've never seen "The Wall" but ever since I heard it when I was a kid I've always felt it to be the saddest, loneliest song. I know what it's supposed to be about but I've imposed my own interpretation to it (as I did with the "Against All Odds" song). My reaction to it has less to do with the specific lyrics then the over all tone and feeling conveyed.
PINK FLOYD - "COMFORTABLY NUMB"
I miss them both very much.
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I remember them with different music. Mom always loved Smetana's "Moldau", and Dad, of course, would whistle Rossini's "William Tell Overture". He whistled it the last time we saw him alive, even though he could no longer speak. I've always thought of him when I've heard it, now more than ever. The other night I was driving home and it came on the radio; they were talking about the Lone Ranger. I thought of Dad.
I love "Comfortably Numb". I saw Pink Floyd perform it live at the Oakland Coliseum. "United We Stand" edges it out for my favorite song off the album. I have the videotape of "The Wall" live in Berlin somewhere, but it will probably be thrown away soon.
Your blog is linked from mine now, by the way. I doubt you'll get any visitors from it... but you might :)
Yeah - that was great how Dad started whistling the William Tell Overture (aka Lone Ranger Theme).
The 2 songs I mentioned instantly bring me to tears whenever I hear them. Yes, I made myself cry at work just posting the songs.
The lyric "The child has grown, the dream is gone" from Comfortably Numb seems particularly poignant (at least to me) with regard to losing Dad. Speaking to the fact that you lose a lot of what it feels to be somebody's child when you lose a parent. You lose a big part of your identity.
Well for me at least, it's just like I'm just sitting around, waiting to die. I'm of the age where my generation is beginning to die (young, they'll say). In a couple of years, it will be commonplace. And then I'll really be on the short list and then I will be gone forever having done absolutely nothing in this world that will last, aside from raising Allyson and Andrew.
In that sense, all this writing I do on the web does have a purpose; I'll live a little longer on the web through my words. I wonder how much of writing and blogging specifically is just a bid to go on just a little longer.
This is the kind of writing, by the way, I did on my first blog that I deleted. You can see why I didn't think anybody would want to read it. But you're my sister so you have to :)
@Brenda - Where'd you get the info. that your generation is dying at younger ages. Off the website that tells you the date and time you'll die? (re: IT Crowd episode) I actually heard the opposite - that people are living longer. SO THERE!
Hi Guys, Your Dad visits me on a daily basis,whether its watching a stray spider constructing a web on one of my failing plants or listening to "Fingal's cave overature" on my sputtering tuner, he seems to be present here. He was very proud of all of you. I think we all feel like we're processing through life adding little or no value but that isn't the case. I like to think of the pebble and ripple metaphor where any action has an effect on something else. All of you have made wonderful positive contributions to this world. The exsistentalist road is too easy to adopt..and it doesn't apply to any of you...Love U-Bruce
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