Tag Archives: music

Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa

Posted on by learning to live like water

When I went to Florida I stayed for a couple of nights with a friend from high school who lives in the town I’m moving to.  Turns out she’s been singing the blues at local places around there for over a year.  One of her favorite female blues singers is Beth Hart.  I have to sheepishly admit I did not know her.  My friend put on a few youtube videos of her, one was with Jeff Beck at the Kennedy Center honoring Buddy Guy. I realized I had seen it, live, because it was way tooo fabulous not to burn a spot into your psyche.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward, really forward, to going with my friend to see her sing.

Anyway after she played the Hart-Beck Kennedy Center video,  she “introduced” me to Joe Bonamassa, except when I heard him, I remembered that Scott had already introduced me to him, and I loved him.  One of those moments where we weren’t having sex, lol.  Listening to and discussing music.  With our clothes on!  (Ok sometimes we were naked, but not having sex, lol. Just sayin’ it wasn’t what some people wanted to believe it was!) OMG, and we did that with books too!  Anyway, my friend played the video below, and all I can think when I hear it, is damn…that was me last fall.  October 3.  And damn, I want to love someone else like that.  Except, I don’t want to ever have to watch him walk away again.

Listen to it…I bet you’ll feel the same.

Energy-Laden Random Thoughts

Posted on by learning to live like water

Feeling all over the place this morning.  Trying to put this stuff in some kind of random order, so I know where I am.

I went out with a friend last night.  First time I have been out in ages, maybe since S and I split up.  It was good for me.  We went to a little Italian restaurant and sat at the bar.  It’s in a small town on the Connecticut River. A band began to play at 9, and opened with Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic”, which is one of my favorite songs of all time.  Then they did Van Morrison’s “Caravan”.  Also love that.  Love Van Morrison.  Then they did 2 Neil Young songs, “Old Man” and “Heart of Gold”. Love him too.

It’s been AGES since I listened to live music. They were pretty good too, and funny between songs.  They could have used a sax on the Van Morrison stuff but it was still great.  I was sitting in my bar stool, singing along, kind of seat dancing to it.  I laughed when they played Tom Petty “I Won’t Back Down” because the first time I saw a psychic, I was battling with S over his offers of a “nice afternoon”, aka a physical relationship.  And the spirits and guides that showed up, the psychic said, came in singing that song.  She, the psychic, had never met me before, and only knew my first name.  She said, “they’re singing Stand your ground, don’t back down.”  My friends kept looking at me while she was telling me this, we had just discussed this on the way to the psychic in the car.

So here I was listening to this music, first “Into the Mystic” which S always said was his favorite Van Morrison song, and Neil Young.  One night S and I watched a 2 hour special on Neil Young.  I remember laying in his bed one afternoon listening to a Neil Young CD, such a pleasant afternoon.  And then “I Won’t Back Down” which made me laugh.  Lots of his energy hanging around me.

It was around all day yesterday, I was feeling his energy.  Strongly in the morning, not so much in the afternoon.  Then last night at about 1:30 I was wide awake and had some very strong feelings from him.  I fought with myself not to do what I would have done 2 or 3 months ago and sent him a text asking if he was ok, or wanted to talk.  It felt panicky.  But I didn’t.  I knew that doing that would end up in the wrong place, would be taken wrong.  And just because I feel it, doesn’t mean he wanted to talk to me.  If he did, or does, want to talk to me,  he knows how to reach me.  I let him deal with it himself, and finally got to sleep by sending him reiki to calm him down energetically.  Of course, he didn’t ask, but if he doesn’t want the reiki energy he won’t get it.  It will just hang outside his aura.  It can never hurt….  I felt everything calming finally, maybe it just calmed me.  But anyway, I got 4 or 5 hours of sleep finally.

Thinking  of going to the shore this weekend.  We are having exceptional weather for December.  Sunny, not too cold. I need to put up a notice at the yacht club to try to sell my boat slip, and I haven’t been to the water for a long long time.  It would do me a lot of good.  Maybe take a sandwich over to the park where S and I had our first date.  It’s a beautiful place.  I don’t think it would trigger anything bad, but would bring some peace.  Maybe tomorrow, it’s going to be close to 60°, which is crazy here in December.

So it’s all good.  I’ll get a lot of stuff done around the house today, make a nice dinner for my son and I.  Maybe catch up with some friends.  Just a nice quiet life.

 

Delta

Posted on by learning to live like water

Delta means difference.  There is a difference between what I think, or thought, about my relationship with S, and the reality of it.  The symbol for Delta is a triangle.  Which, apparently I was part of, made so without my knowledge, by the thoughtless, care-less, selfish behavior of another.  But, when we know better we do better.  This is one of my favorite old songs, which was put in front of my face the other day.  I hope you enjoy it.

Waking stream of consciousness
On a sleeping street of dream
Thoughts like scattered leaves
Slowed in mid fall into the streams

Of fast running rivers of choice and chance
And time stops here on the delta
While they dance, while they dance

I love the child who steers this riverboat
But lately he’s crazy for the deep
And the river seems dreamlike in the daytime
And someone keeps thinking in my sleep

Of fast running rivers of choice and chance
And time stops here on the delta
While they dance, while they dance

While they dance, while they dance
While they dance, while they dance
While they dance, while they dance

I Should Stop a Listening to My Music

Posted on by learning to live like water

On my phone when I go to lunch. There is too much to remind me of S.   Songs like Harvest Moon by Neil Young.  Slow dancing in his living room to it. Laying on his shoulder…  I put a lot of Neil on after that. Van Morrison, Someone Like You. Always thought that was about S. 

Also lots of music that brings back the pain, and I don’t want to revisit that either. Silver Spring by Fleetwood Mac, Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd, Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez. 

I think I better switch to Pandora.  Less chance of a trigger.  Struggling a little today.  First time all week, probably because it’s a long weekend, and once again  I’m alone. Dammit. I’ll be ok. 

I’m posting this from my phone. Don’t know if the YouTube link will display. 

Hot Summer Day

Posted on by learning to live like water

This song has been in my head this morning, because it’s late summer and going to hit 90°F today.  I saw this band, It’ A Beautiful Day, back in 1970 when I was in college.  They blew me away.  They made one album, then had issues with royalties or song rights or something.  Now they have re-recorded a lot of their music under David LaFlamme, the leader and incredible violin player. The recording is from Tanglewood in 1970, so is not real hi-tech but still is awesome. These are the lyrics.  ENJOY!

Hot summer day (Hot summer day)
Carry me along
Oh, hot summer day (Hot summer day)
Please carry me along
Hot summer day
Carry me along
To its end
Where I begin

Long summer dream (Long summer dream)
Sliding round my mind
Those long summer dreams (Long summer dream)
Are leaving me behind
Hot summer day
Carry me along
To its end
Where I begin

Circling like a river
Over brightly colored stones
Breaking up my soul
And taking part of me home
Leaving the other half
To tumble all alone
Love, love, where did you go?

Hot summer day (Hot summer day)
Carry me along
To its end where I begin
Those long summer dreams (Long summer dream)
Still spinning round my mind
And they end where they begin

And I want to grab that river
And stop the love that’s dying
Because I know that somewhere
Deep inside my soul you’re still lying
Waiting to awaken
And shake that river’s flow
Love, love, where did you go?

They told me that the sun turned green
I said I didn’t know
And they told me that the moon turned blue
I said it didn’t show
And they told me that I looked a fool
And I said I’d let that go
But when they told me that our love was dead
I had to turn and go

Oh love
Love
Love
Love
Love
Where did you go?

Hot summer day (Hot summer day)
Carry me along
To its end
Where I begin
Long summer dreams (Long summer dream)
Sliding round my mind
And they end
Where they begin

Circling like a river
Over brightly colored stones
Breaking up my soul
And taking part of me home
Leaving the other half
To tumble all alone
Love, love, where did you go?

Burning Man

Posted on by learning to live like water

Today my son was off work, so he and I made a run to Sam’s Club to restock the house.  He has gotten into going to music festivals recently.  He went to one in NJ, at Giant’s Stadium.  He’s going to another in NY over Labor Day and next summer some HUGE festival in Las Vegas.  We have been talking about festivals, Woodstock forward.  I didn’t go to Woodstock, I lived in the midwest then.  I told my son I’d really like to go to Burning Man.

His eyes got huge. “Really, Mom???”  It’s like a hot bed of drugs.”   “Well, sure,” I said.  “Name a festival that doesn’t have HUGE amounts of drugs.  Doesn’t mean you have to do them.”  I told him that I know a lot of people my age that want to go someday. So after he calmed down, he told me about a documentary on Netflix called Spark, which is about Burning Man.

It’s not about the music, it’s really about the art, the huge performance art.  It seemed to be about people being free, and conscious of the environment, living in the moment.  It seems like it gets crazy, but it’s so non judgmental.  And crazy in a fun way, though with the fire I guess it could easily get out of control. But mostly just crazy fun!

I was chatting on text with A who was at a teeny little country music festival up in Michigan, and he told me Burning Man is on his bucket list.  He said he plans to take his trailer with him and park it there. We said maybe we’d meet up there.  Who knows what the future can hold.  I had fun chatting with him anyway.  Amazing to talk to someone via text for a couple hrs who never tries to make me feel bad about anything.  There is never an unkind word. I feel like I just woke up from a bad dream, into one that is absolutely pleasant.

I am really blessed.  I have so much to be grateful for, and so much going on in my life.  Gonna go back to my default mode and be grateful.  My trip to NY, my carpal tunnel surgery to end the stupid pain I have.  New carpeting in my TV room, a move to a warm place and no more winter, a far off dream of Italy and Burning Man, an awesome kid, a great bunch of friends, a loving family.  And a male friend, who, at the very least, makes me feel like what I say has value.

Burning Man would be so much fun though……

Gliding Home to the Music

Posted on by learning to live like water

It’s snowing AGAIN. I think I’m getting used to it, because it is not pissing me off so much. Really for a month it has snowed every 3rd day. At first it was like a foot, all the time, sometimes more. Now it’s about 3” or 4”, maybe 6”. But not enough to keep me home, not enough to panic about. Just enough to make me take the long way home, that has no hills, but takes me an hour.

So I sit in my car, put on my music, make sure my water bottle has water in it, and prepare for a long slow drive on the back roads. Every song has a million memories, or provokes a million thoughts. Easy to drift away, as long as I keep my eyes on the road.

Neil Young, Like a Hurricane. “You’re like a hurricane, there is calm in your eyes….” The coolest guitar riff in the middle of that song. Old time rock and roll. “But I’m getting blown away, to somewhere safer where the feeling stays…” Oh, been there. Been there.

Fleetwood Mac, Silver Spring. “Did you say she was pretty? Did you say that she loved you? I don’t wanna know, baby, I don’t wanna know….” Been there too…. “So I began not to love you, turn around and see me running. I’ll say I loved you years ago. I’ll say you never loved me, no…..” Yep. That’s how it was….

Blind Faith, Can’t find My Way Home. “And I’m wasted, and I can’t find my way home.” That could be a whole entry, how many times I have been lost, and looking for way to get back home? Too many…

Van Morrison, Have I told you Lately? Such a beautiful song. Just so beautiful. Still waiting to sing it, and have it sung to me.

David Crosby, Music is Love. It is, isn’t it? Everybody’s sayin it sayin it sayin it.

Van Morrison, Someone Like You. “I’ve been travelin’ a hard road, Had been lookin’ for someone exactly like you, I’ve been carryin my heavy load, Waiting for the light to come shining through.” The eternal search.

Judy Collins, In My Life. This is my favorite Beatles song. And I love Judy Collins clear strong voice singing it. “There are places in my life, I’ll remember all my life, though some have changed. Some forever, not for better, some are gone and some remain. But you know they’ll never be forgotten, the people and things that went before, I know I’ll often stop and think about them, but in my life, I love you more. ” Oh there are so many, so many of those places. The list grows daily.

I could go on and on. Every song is a chapter in the story of my life. I love them all. I could listen to them over and over again. And do, lol.

But that’s the way, I guess, to live like water with another New England snowfall. Just put the music on and glide home.