I [heart] Davids It helps me to say these things aloud, I think.

I am so excited! Tomorrow Dave and I and our friends Mike and Nicole are all going to see Gordon Lightfoot in concert! I am a huge fan and I’m terribly excited to get to see him in concert. I was raised on Gordon Lightfoot. I know must of his music by heart. He is truly a folk god, and I just can’t get over the fact that we’re going to see him. This is so thrilling for me. I’m gonna cry buckets at the show, most likely.
Plus, he reminds me of my dad. Can you tell which is which?

And yes, they’re both older now, with less hair, but these are my memories we’re talking about here.

Yet another in the series of music-related flashback posts. I found another tape I’m not sure I can throw away. Two Nina Simone songs, which probably helped fuel my life-long love of the artist (that, and Point of No Return). Rene and Georgette Maugritte. Marc Cohn, Counting Crows, U2. Good stuff!

This one was made by Kara Prosise, probably in high school, but maybe a little bit later than that. I’m sure she expanded my musical horizons. Kara always had a really diverse taste in music, drawn to a capella and classic old jazz as well as current rock and tasty, lightweight pop music.

This is the soundtrack.

Ah, Matthew Berube. Intelligent, erudite, eloquent. Definitely witty. Wonderful penmanship and wonderful taste in music. And heck, pretty dang cute and a snappy dresser, to boot. I was so enamored of him when I first met him, and was shocked when he was interested in dating me. We dated, but I don’t think it ever really counted. He was in college, I was in high school, and he was away a lot. And then it turns out I didn’t know him at all. He had some crazy life in college that I couldn’t understand. I remember that there was some girl he was in love with who raked him over the coals. He didn’t have any shred of emotion left to feel bad for having had that experience at the same time as he was supposed to be dating me. And I remember that he got fired from his job as a gravedigger. I think he thought that was the nadir of his life. I hope he was right about that.

Then, we reconnected when I was in college. He helped me do some research on Hal Hartley for a film paper. Who am I kidding, he did all the research for me. I wrote a paper and got an A minus (and fell hard for Hartley‘s movies, too). Then I sent a copy of the paper to Hartley’s studio. Hal made several notations on the paper and sent it back to me, congratulating me on a job well done. Heh. I still have that as a souvenir.

I always liked Matt, but in some ways felt he was out of my league. In other ways, I felt it was the other way around. It was like it was fated never to be.

Then he went off to Korea to teach English. I figured he would be happy there. I thought he would fit better as an ex-pat over there than a regular Joe over here. And I thought he’d find a nice Korean wife to settle down with. I hope he’s happy.

And then the other day I gave myself an assignment – to listen to all my mix tapes before finally tossing them. This was the first one I pulled out of the case. The first tape Matt made for me. I still have all his old letters (note: if you ever wrote me a letter, chances are I still have it). How can I throw this tape away?

Side A: Moist Songs
Side B: “Louder than Brahms”

Some of my favorite songs have haunting telephone rings in the background that you can hear if you turn the volume way up. I love that slightly modern incorporation into music.

Life on Mars (David Bowie) 3:52

Steven’s Last Night in Town (Ben Folds Five) 2:54

Know of any other good ones?

I need a service that keeps me up-to-date with all the stuff I love cuz I never know about things until it’s too late. For instance, I just found out that Billy Bragg is playing tonight at Duke. I would LOVE to go but I can’t. Sad sad sad!!!

I tried to convice Dave that I should go or otherwise I’d have to fly to England to see him, but he didn’t go for it.

Am listening to the David Bowie station on LastFM. A Roxy Music song just came up, and when the artist changes, the bio information displays for that artist.

As I read this, I finished the sentence in my head…
“…not important.”

Hahahahahahah!

Gordon Lightfoot is playing at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville on February 12th. Anyone interested?

Since Dan died and David had a birthday, I’m a little nervous about getting to see my treasured idols before they die.
He was in a coma for two months in 2002 as the result of serious illness. And he rarely comes this far south of the border. And this year he turns 70!

I want to go!!