Wednesday, May 22, 2013

light my fire

Passions
Warm glows
Playing with fire



Fire shows up often in lyrics. Remember the line "...We're living in a powder keg giving off sparks..."? Fire, explosions, we do get emotional. Even "smoke gets in your eyes" can give meaning to a song.





Past posts here have referenced Chicago Tribune columnist, Mary Schmich before. I quoted her words on life's stages in this recent post. Today she wrote about the passing of a member of the Doors, Ray Manzarek. She has the ability to describe the common feelings of events like this.

She wrote in today's column:
"At a certain point in life, every time a public figure dies, you feel the pinch of your own mortality. It's not the same as sadness, though you may feel sad.
The pinch is simply the recognition that all of us belong to a cultural moment, and famous people are the most visible representatives of our moment. When those people transit into the next orbit, they take a piece of our times and us with them. Their departure is a forecast of our own voyage out."

Like others the name, Jim Morrison, pops up in my head when the Doors music is played. Ray, I learned, was inspired by Bach in creating the very recognizable organ intro of the song.  Playing the song takes me back to a summer in the sixties.  Old songs have a way of giving me an eclipse of the mind.
 


14 comments:

Cheryl P. said...

I feel the pinch of my mortality when ANYONE dies. The pinch is painful if the deceased is my age or younger. OUCH!!!

lisleman said...

It certainly is a painful pinch maybe even a punch when you know the deceased. I think she was referring to people dying who we really don't know compared to celebrities dying. thanks

Tami said...

I'm having trouble posting. :(

Tami said...

It is sad when a famous person passes away. It's not the same as a loved one, and yet you still mourn. To you, that person was connected to you in some way. That connection is now gone.

lisleman said...

Disqus problems?

lisleman said...

I guess the more the famous person was connected to your life (favorite music, movies, art, political movement) the more noticeable the lost connection is. Learning that Ray Manzarek wrote that familiar intro to a memorable song of my life brought out a connection I didn't realize existed. Even with limit connections it still makes me think of aging and mortality. thanks

lisleman said...

Yes the close family and friend ones are special. I think she was describing how we feel something for people we never physically met but with who we became emotionally connected. thanks

Pat Fortunato said...

I don't know what it says about me, but I felt terrible when I realized that both members of The Odd Couple were done. All four if you count the movie!

lisleman said...

it says you following Broadway and movies.
thanks

Mrs4444 said...

I can relate--I agree with Ms. Schmich. Thanks for sharing this.

Secret Agent Woman said...

That ad is kind of repulsive. If someone blew smoke (especially cigar smoke which is particularly disgusting) in my face, I'd not only not follow him, I'd run in the opposite direction.

lisleman said...

Blowing smoke in a person's face is an arrogant gesture. Now that we know more about the dangers of second hand smoke you might consider it criminal. I found that picture in a collection of old ads somewhere, probably an email. There was a brief period where I thought cigars were sorta cool. Thank goodness I came to my senses or maybe I should say regained my senses and stopped smoking all together. thanks

Agent 54 said...

Uh, yeah, uh most youngins nowadays when they think of fire think of firing up a fat one (doobie, joint,).

lisleman said...

"light my fire" - I've never used the expression (not that I used the expression much) in reference to actually burning or smoking something. I always thought of "fire" in this expression to mean an internal emotional fire. Hits, smoking, drag are a few of the words I associate with the joints of my youth. Now the joints of senior years are totally different and not as much fun. thanks

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