Alexandersmap

    Month: December 2022

    • The Day After Twain’s Birthday

      “Annihilation has no terrors for me, because I have already tried it before I was born -a hundred million years -and I have suffered more in an hour, in this life, than I remember to have suffered in the whole hundred million years put together. There was a peace, a serenity, an absence of all sense of responsibility, an absence of worry, an absence of care, grief, perplexity; and the presence of a deep content and unbroken satisfaction in that hundred million years of holiday which I look back upon with a tender longing and with a grateful desire to resume, when the opportunity comes.” ― Mark Twain, The Autobiography of Mark Twain

      Since I completely missed Mark Twain’s birthday yesterday (surely he didn’t mind), I thought a short post on the day after would be appropriate. We all ought to spend more time with clever people—people who don’t just say clever things but people who look at the world in a certain way that help us see what was right in front of us all along. Twain was certainly clever in that way.

      Dead now longer than he was alive, I imagine he’s made the most of the opportunity for peace and serenity that comes from passing from this world. I’m not particularly ready to join him, but take his words to heart. We weren’t alive far longer that we have been, and so it will be on the other side. We ought to be at peace with that, while using this unique opportunity to live as boldly as we can. Happy belated Birthday, Mr. Twain.

    • Thoughts on Christine McVie Passing

      I never did believe in miracles
      But I’ve a feeling it’s time to try
      I never did believe in the ways of magic
      But I’m beginning to wonder why
      — Fleetwood Mac, You Make Loving Fun

      Fleetwood Mac was seemingly everywhere in the late 1970’s, and I was just old enough to appreciate what I was hearing, but young enough that the complex emotions rolled out in the lyrics of the individual band members went way over my head (pun intended). Most of the attention was on the rest of the band, but Christine McVie was quietly contributing a huge catalog of hits herself. She passed away yesterday at the striking age of 79. Why is 79 striking? Because it’s both older than a rock star is generally remembered as and younger than a person ought to be when they leave us. Life is indeed short.

      A few years ago I started developing a list of favorite Fleetwood Mac songs that were going to be the basis of a blog post. I reviewed it and put it off, feeling it was mostly a greatest hits collection and not a deep enough dive into their very best songs. But the thing is, Fleetwood Mac’s very best songs also happened to be massive hits. What do you do with that but accept it for what it was? The right mix of talent and chemistry and timing thrown together in a recording studio when seemingly everyone was ready for the message they were delivering. Musical magic: somewhat overproduced but sounding ridiculously delicious.

      I don’t hold you down
      Maybe that’s why you’re around
      But if I’m the one you love
      Think about me
      — Fleetwood Mac, Think About Me

      I never did see Fleetwood Mac in concert. By the time I was old enough to start going to concerts myself I was on to bands like U2, The Clash and Duran Duran. We shove aside the familiar in favor of whatever is next as we come of age. But we never forget our foundation, do we? Eventually we recognize that it’s as much a part of our identity as our favorite teachers growing up. There’s something to this soundtrack of our lives business. At their most silently powerful, songs anchor us to a certain time in our lives and can unite us in a time too many are divided. McVie, together with the rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and her ex-husband John McVie were in turn the anchors of that band.

      We all know that artists fade away in time, but their songs remain. The same week that Christine McVie passed Irene Cara also left this world. It’s like the early 1980’s are disappearing before our eyes like that scene in Back to the Future when Marty’s family begins fading from the photo and then Marty himself begins to fade away as the implications of going back in time are realized. But that’s life, isn’t it? We hold the line in our time and give the reigns to the next generation. We all fade away eventually. What remains is the work that we did in our time here: raising families, building businesses, creating art or crafting ridiculously delicious sound worms.