My First Love - Richie Havens
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Let the river rock you like a cradle
Climb to the treetops, child, if you're able
Let your hands tie a knot across the table.
Come and touch the things you cannot feel.
And close your fingertips and fly where I can't hold you
Let the sun-rain fall and let the dewy clouds enfold you
And maybe you can sing to me the words I just told you,
If all the things you feel ain't what they seem.
And don't mind me 'cos I ain't nothin' but a dream.
The mocking bird sings each different song
Each song has wings - they won't stay long.
Do those who hear think he's doing wrong?
While the church bell tolls its one-note song
And the school bell is tinkling to the throng.
Come here where your ears cannot hear.
And close your eyes, child, and listen to what I'll tell you
Follow in the darkest night the sounds that may impel you
And the song that I am singing may disturb or serve to quellyou
If all the sounds you hear ain't what they seem,
Then don't mind me 'cos I ain't nothin' but a dream
The rising smell of fresh-cut grass
Smothered cities choke and yell with fuming gas
I hold some grapes up to the sun
And their flavour breaks upon my tongue.
With eager tongues we taste our strife
And fill our lungs with seas of life.
Come taste and smell the waters of our time.
And close your lips, child, so softly I might kiss you,
Let your flower perfume out and let the winds caress you.
As I walk through the garden, I am hoping I don't miss you
If all the things you taste ain't what they seem,
Then don't mind me 'cos I ain't nothin' but a dream .
The sun and moon both arise
And we'll see them soon through days and nights
But now silver leaves are mirrors, bring delights.
And the colours of your eyes are fiery bright,
While darkness blinds the skies with all its light.
Come see where your eyes cannot see.
And close your eyes, child, and look at what I'll show you;
Let your mind go reeling out and let the breezes blow you,
And maybe when we meet then suddenly I will know you.
If all the things you see ain
quote t what they seem,
Then don't mind me 'cos I ain't nothin' but a dream .
And you can follow; And you can follow; follow...
Songwriters: Jerry Merrick
[video:https://youtu.be/IEazNNJEcm0]
Please regard this as a space to honour one of the best …
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First loves? - I fell in love with Joan Baez
in the late sixties as a highschool student.
I think their love is kind of a first one.
Bob Dylan et Joan Baez
https://www.euronews.com/live
for years she denied this song was about him.
nobody was fooled.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMHSbcd_qI]
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
Have you seen the entire documentary,
No Direction Home, about Dylan's early career by Martin Scorsese? It's a good one.
Mockingbird's song
Back before Katrina, when I was living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, there was an oak tree next to my driveway, about 15 feet from my house. I remember every spring, my car would be coated with oak tree pollen, a greenish-yellow powder on everything underneath the tree.
Anyway, at that time in my life, I was doing work in various courthouses across southern LA and MS, which required that I get up early in the morning and drive for 1 to 2 hours, work for several hours, then drive back home. I often did more work in the evening in my home office. That schedule made for some long days.
One day, a mockingbird decided to take up residence in the oak tree. The way I discovered that fact was when the mockingbird started to carry on at 1 o'clock in the morning.
The thing about mockingbirds is, they don't exactly sing. The reason they're called "mockingbird" is because they mimic the calls of other bird species. They chatter. They squawk. They trill. They perform one call or "song" for a few moments, then switch to another, and so on. And they're LOUD.
Every night at 1 AM, I'd be sleeping, and that mockingbird would start up and go on for half an hour. I tried going outside, clapping my hands and rustling tree branches, making noise, hoping that would scare the bird off. Nope, apparently mockingbirds don't scare easy.
Then I got the idea to pull out the garden hose and aim a jet of water high into the tree, hoping that would have some effect. I did that for a few nights. I remember thinking, if any of my neighbors are awake, they must think I'm nuts. They wouldn't have been wrong, either, because that damn bird was driving me crazy.
I considered calling the fire department for help, but what was I going to say? "There's a bird in my tree!" Suuure, lady.
After a few days of being assaulted with a garden hose at 1 AM, the mockingbird finally left and didn't return.
Thinking about it, my mockingbird encounter would have made a great premise for a short story. In the horror or paranormal genre, maybe. Or dark comedy, since that's how I think of it now.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
My buddy nicknamed Hippie...
...had a similar story about waking up hung over. A mockingbird was outside his window which he heard say...Hippie, Hippie, hungover, hungover, sick, sick, sick...repeatedly.
Here's a recently departed friend singing his song "little gray mockingbird"
https://www.facebook.com/Songwriters.Listening.Room/videos/1015517238287...
We performed the song last weekend at the folk festival.
All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thank you lookout for honouring your friend
who looked and sounded like a wonderful person.
Thank you for your mockingbird story,
and glad you remembered it with affection.
So many bests in my life.
I hope we're not limiting ourselves to music because my first love was an actor (unless, of course, we count Michael, who left our school forever after our first semester of kindergarten).
I often "met" them "through the magic of television, when the object of my new affection was either already dead or very old. And many of them have since been "outed" posthumously as gay or bisexual, mostly by people who are repeating old rumors. Inasmuch as I was highly unlikely ever to meet any of my crushes, none of it mattered.
My very first crush at age nine was long-underrated actor Cary Grant, whom I first saw in Gunga Din, a film made before I was born. IMO, it was not that Grant always played himself, as has been written about him. It was that his acting appeared effortless and natural, as all professional acting should. He never won an Academy Award for a specific film, but they finally did give him a well-deserved lifetime achievement award.
I remain faithful to my childhood crush in the sense that my heart still skips a beat when I see his pic or hear his name. However, I have, thank heaven, loved others since Michael and Cary.
A gif of Grant at age 35 in the 1939 film, Gunga Din
Cary Grant in 1986, the year he died at age 82 of a massive stroke. Still dazzling, even with his face obscured by those unsuitable specs. The photo may not even do him justice. A friend of mine had seen him around that time at a Hollywood gathering and told me that Grant was still the most head-turning man in the room. In Hollywood.
Yes, those glasses don't do him any favours.
Thanks Henry - ((( Henry and Cary)))
The BBC used to repeat a French adventure series
"The Flashing Blade", in the late 60's to mid 70's, every summer.
Set in the Thirty Years' War............
Anyway, I always fancied "Isabelle de Sospel":
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
I'll have to check her out,
thanks Bollox.
Like HAW, I'll go with an actor. Not sure 'first love'
would be an appropriate descriptor--just my favorite drama/series actor, the inimitable Peter Falk.
We subscribe to Netflix so that we can watch, and rewatch, and rewatch, and rewatch the Columbo movies and programs. Practically know all the movie scripts by heart.
Pushed this evening, so, will just furnish a couple of links, in case anyone cares to take a stroll down memory lane. (Mr M has put me on an 'online diet,' until I meet a few metrics--such as completing the research we need to determine where we're going to land in retirement. )
#Columbo
and, this site,
The Columbophile
which provides a list, and an excellent, detailed synopsis of each Columbo episode.
I could probably name my favorite 15-20 episodes, but, definitely not just one!
Mollie
[Edited: Correction - 'meet' not 'met.']
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Although Columbo sounded familiar,
I had to consult youtube. I remember seeing some of those episodes and enjoying them. There's something very endearing about a quirky detective that has heart.
jodie foster.
saw her in tom sawyer, then in the TV series based on paper moon. never got over her. never saw The Accused, because I couldn't bear to see "the scene".
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
"never got over her"
The heartache of first loves.
Thanks all for revealing your earliest fancies.
I was never much of a tv watcher, but I would have to say my favourite tv show as a youth was I Love Lucy. I definitely loved Lucy.
It’s interesting to look back at the actors and musicians whose characters spoke to us strongly. It’s also interesting to consider why, and how much of their influence we still carry.