The night before last, I was listening to some really good music from out of my pre-adolescent past... Issac Hayes, David Porter, Curtis Mayfield, Temptations, Chairman of the Board, Freda Payne, and an assortment of others who are long forgotten now, except by people of a certain age bracket. The music brought back some fond memories.
The next day, I loaded up my CD player in the car with Stevie Wonder's 1972 breakout album "Music Of My mind", The Main Ingredient's "Afrodisiac", Black Ivory's "Don't Turn Around", and then, I took off for work. The difference is, I didn't go my usual route. I drove through a neighborhood... an old neighborhood that I used to live in, used to hang out in, and used to feel pretty good in.
I know that I am dating myself by saying this but, the music sounded so much better in my car than it ever did when I had a record player (not a turntable but a record player) because the record ticked, popped, and pinged as it played. This music was from a certain summer, which I'm not going to talk about on this post, that was particularly nice. I had my first real girlfriend, I learned how to swim, and I started growing that summer, if you know what I mean (and I figure if you're over 13 years old, you do).
I rolled my car window down and I could almost smell the faint odors of pizza, hot dogs, and marijuana that was just beginning to be experimented with by some of my more "advanced" friends. We were becoming teenagers and the whole world seemed new. The music was good and the times were good.
The wonder of selective amnesia... I peered around at this neighborhood and a lot of the homes which had been so well kept were now boarded up. This was a tree-lined block and even the trees were gone. A lot of the "characters" I knew are now dead or, at least, not living around there anymore. The girls are now women with children and some are like me, grandparents by now.
I liked taking the trip back down memory lane but, at the same time, I wouldn't trade all that I have learned and all that I have become to go back to that point in time again. It was just nice to remember it. You really can't go home again. You should only just drive by, look, smile, and keep going, as I did. So, I started my car, smiled, and pulled off towards the road that would lead me to my job.
The next day, I loaded up my CD player in the car with Stevie Wonder's 1972 breakout album "Music Of My mind", The Main Ingredient's "Afrodisiac", Black Ivory's "Don't Turn Around", and then, I took off for work. The difference is, I didn't go my usual route. I drove through a neighborhood... an old neighborhood that I used to live in, used to hang out in, and used to feel pretty good in.
I know that I am dating myself by saying this but, the music sounded so much better in my car than it ever did when I had a record player (not a turntable but a record player) because the record ticked, popped, and pinged as it played. This music was from a certain summer, which I'm not going to talk about on this post, that was particularly nice. I had my first real girlfriend, I learned how to swim, and I started growing that summer, if you know what I mean (and I figure if you're over 13 years old, you do).
I rolled my car window down and I could almost smell the faint odors of pizza, hot dogs, and marijuana that was just beginning to be experimented with by some of my more "advanced" friends. We were becoming teenagers and the whole world seemed new. The music was good and the times were good.
The wonder of selective amnesia... I peered around at this neighborhood and a lot of the homes which had been so well kept were now boarded up. This was a tree-lined block and even the trees were gone. A lot of the "characters" I knew are now dead or, at least, not living around there anymore. The girls are now women with children and some are like me, grandparents by now.
I liked taking the trip back down memory lane but, at the same time, I wouldn't trade all that I have learned and all that I have become to go back to that point in time again. It was just nice to remember it. You really can't go home again. You should only just drive by, look, smile, and keep going, as I did. So, I started my car, smiled, and pulled off towards the road that would lead me to my job.
Hey Keith,
ReplyDeleteI like how you talk about some of your old friends as "characters". I can so relate to that.
Time were different back in the day weren't they. And I'm like you, I wouldn't trade what I've learned for anything I used to have.
Most of my old friends are either dead or have "relocated" also. It is amasing how many friends I had when I was younger, and now I don't talk to any of them anymore. I guess it does make sense though, most of the old friends were into some real nonsense back then and many of them just never grew up.
It's funny when you grow up and figure a few things out how little you will put up with that seemed like acceptable behavior at one time.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Later bro!
Good Post..I've done the same thing myself..Visited my old hood.
ReplyDeleteI love your introspective posts
ReplyDeleteKeith.
I haven't forgotten any of those groups and performers you named..That was good music..
ReplyDeleteNice post...It was smurfier than your last few, but they were all good posts and needed ones..don't think that they weren't.
ReplyDeleteLove your tastes in music Keith!-:)
ReplyDeleteI can so feel where you were coming from on this post.
ReplyDeleteMy mother told me that the older you get , the smaller your circle of real friends becomes..I have found that to be so true..and I'm only 31.
ReplyDeleteNice Post...That's something I oughta do..Load my playlist with some of my favorite old school jams and go crusin through my ex's neighborhood.....Nah, can't do that,he'd think I was stalking him...lolololol
ReplyDelete@Angie B. - You would be stalking him...don't front-lolololol.- :)
ReplyDeleteKool post and all and maybe I might get to that point..but right now ,I aint interested in lookin back..Too much ahead of me.
ReplyDeleteGood Stuff, Good Stuff!
ReplyDeleteI liked this post...I so identified
ReplyDeletewith what you did.
Nice Post!
ReplyDeleteI guess I can kind of relate to this...I can definitely relate to the music...I love all of those people you were listening to..Especially Stevie!!
ReplyDeleteRevisiting your old stomping grounds eh? Yeah, we all should do that every now and then.
ReplyDeleteCool post brother!
ReplyDeleteYour title says it all, you really can't go back home..All you can do is take a look, smile and keep going just like you said. Good post!
ReplyDeleteMy past is probably too painful to revisit...I don't visit old schools,old neighborhoods, nothing..but I appreciate what you were trying to say in this post though.
ReplyDeleteLike I always tell my wife...
ReplyDeleteForward Motion Baby!
Nice post keith...i love reminiscing about old times, especially with some good music. Home is really where the heart is.
ReplyDelete