Going Down Hard/The Aging of the Boomers: Part two – What Happened?

Bob Dylan, en concert en novembre dernier à Londres. Paris Match 2014

                                 

Perspective makes the world go ‘round.  We listen to the same music, view the same movie, taste the same food and opinions vary:  the perspective varies.

My thoughts on aging are influenced by my perspective, unique to me because of my experience, my trials and tribulations, successes and failures.  We each see things the way we do from our point of observation. 

Poets are the great observers of all times. 
     
They assimilate objective events and subject them to their perspective (there’s that word again!).  Along the way these thoughts are put into words from a language that the poet is familiar with.  They might chose their own or perhaps a foreign dialect that they’ve mastered.  
   
Samuel Beckett’s poems in French, comes to mind. 

Whatever. 

The writer/poet/essayist expresses their concept, their perspective to share with others.

Nuff said…

Now, the other day I was leafing through ‘Paris Match’ which is roughly the French equivalent to ‘People’ magazine in the U.S.   I landed on a page where there were two photos. The first appeared to be a homeless person well nigh seventy years old, destitute in appearance with a sad expression on their face.  I read the caption. It was a recent photo of Robert Plant, the voice of Led Zepplin.

Next was a photo of what I assumed to be an old retired butcher or shoe repairman. Wow, Bob Dylan…a double for Moses.

It occurred to me at that moment that the aging process just fell upon the Boomers like a huge boulder from a high cliff…bam!!  All of the sudden everyone went from “…looking pretty good.” To “My God, what the hell happened?

As a touring and recording musician during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, I’ve been interviewed quite a bit recently for online and print magazines because of the stars that I performed, toured or recorded with, like Tim Buckley, Judee Sill, Lena Horne, Randy Crawford etc.

The twenty-something interviewers are always fascinated when I describe to them a world they’ve only encountered in history books. 

Over the next few weeks I will share some of my “old geezer” perspectives with the hopes that those who weren’t there then, but wanted to be, can get a sense of what was, which they can have for the now.                        

(What did he just say?)   Later…Art 




                                              (© Copyright - Art Johnson -  Monaco 2014)