Plague Journal, Turning Away From The Mad King

November 20, 2020 Jerry King Comments 0 Comment

There are times when “reality” is just too much. Yesterday I felt as if I had reached such a time. I must turn away from thinking about “the mad king” who tightens his grasp upon power. He wants nothing more than to negate the outcome of the election of several weeks ago. All the while more and more of us are dying from a pandemic, which he ignores. I know that I will think more about him in the future. Time will be needed to understand the damage that he has done to our republic.

Now I must consider that life is more vast than this momentary flash of madness, that the sublime whispers to my attention. This song calms me as if it’s an angel sighing whenever it is played on the radio. Do we not encounter the old songs while we drive on the car radio?

I am reminded of my slight experience with “dating” during my high school years. Only upon two occasions I asked a girl to accompany me to an event which I desired to attend. A concert with a date, that’s double the excitement, right!? Indeed! On those two occasions I dated the same girl. With a look-back from the opposite end of my life, how silly the practice of dating appears to have been. A feature of the teen culture, the “date” brings back memories of Dick Clarke’s American Bandstand on TV, rock n’ roll, and hot rods. All of these were features of that time, contributing much to the person who gazes at this glowing screen here and now.

As I said I dated the same girl on both occasions. She was a “date” which is not the same as a friend. Really, I hardly knew her. I feel sad to realize that. I hope that life has treated her well, that she is happy and has children and grand children.

This song reminds me of a past time in my life. Especially the opening notes with the oboe are tinged with a patina of sadness, a reminder that time is a matter of loss, “passing away.”

“Traces” is a 1968 song by the American rock band Classics IV. Released as a single in January 1969. The Classics IV were a band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, in 1965, given credit for beginning the “soft southern rock” sound. The band and its lead singer Dennis Yost are principally known for the hits “Spooky”, “Stormy”, and “Traces”.