Aug 6, 2007

The song is over

'This song is over
I'm left with only tears
I must remember
Even if it takes a million years'
.........The Who

If I could have asked for 3 boons, one of them definitely would have been for a chance to be a teenager in London in the swinging 60-s. I mean, can you imagine yourself in those glorious years of the british invasion? Being one of the first few people to hear bands like Beatles, The Who, Floyd, Kinks, Stones, Derek and Dominoes, Ramones etc etc etc, collecting bootlegs, queueing up in underground pubs to watch them play live, the psychedelic shows, the guitar smashing concerts, the LSD, the flower girls..

And can you imagine the devastation on hearing about the mindless deaths and breakdowns? Duan Alman, Hendrix, Morrison, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Lenon, Bonham, Barrett, the Lynrd Skynrds, Buddy...again the list is endless.

My last trip to Calcutta put me through a similar experience. A couple of musicians I knew have died. Bands I used to love have broken up. Some have given up the gig scene altogether. And the places where I used to be on first name terms with most of the people are now full of unknown faces.

And I felt old.

'The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death'.

And it wasn't a nice feeling. I think its not always a good idea to revisit the places from your past.

6 comments:

Scout said...

I totally agree. The past should be left where it is - in the past. But sometimes it's not that easy.

You too made the mistake of taking the walk down memory lane, and the way is accident-prone. I too have that habit.

S said...

arre tumi to bodhoy majhe majhe kolkata jao...ami prayei jai...kintu jotobar jai totobar mone hoy shob kamon palte gache, chena manush gulo kamon hariye gache. kintu nijeke maniye niye bar bar phire jai, karon kolkata chara baNchata-i mushkil.

Anonymous said...

you can run but u can never hide. Why did you have a bad feeling? afraid of death? certainly not you. Kuch nahi hai its just nostalgia and its your choice to cherish the memories or sadden yourself for what has been lost.

Anonymous said...

..hey bro..whats wrong pal?...come on..what do you mean 'places of past'?..
..you sounded as if you hv just come back after visiting 'mohenjodaro'...

even you hv changed so much...if YOU feel so upset..can u imagine how gracefully our parents r coping with the changes around them...?....cheer up pal..we need you here..

Shuv said...

vikas: generally man. bloody hell.

rip: i havent changed..sometimes the facade slips.

ghetufool said...

i had a similar experience when i visited this puja to my old mandap, where we friends used to gather for some great adda and live durga watching.

all new faces. all so very young and so very shameless!

no, bygones are bygones.