I love listening to Bob Seger songs. More than I ever did when I was younger. I'm assuming it has to do with being middle aged. Aren't most of his songs about that? Being middle aged and remembering your younger and leaner self? There's a part of me that listens to songs such as "Like A Rock" and I say to myself "Yeah, that's my song. He's singing about me."
I have to stop myself when I start doing that.
First off, I'm hardly rugged enough to be the character he so wonderfully describes in "Like a Rock".
I never stood there boiling in the sun. I would immediately find shade. I sunburned way too easily.
My hands were never steady and my walk was never quick and light. I was far too clumsy to possess such masculine confidence.
However, the part in "Like A Rock" that does get to me is the verse..
Twenty years now
Where'd they go?
Twenty years
I don't know
Sit and I wonder sometimes
Where they've gone
That I can relate to. Vanessa and I got married almost 21 years ago. The time has just flown by, although for her it seems much longer. Our son just turned 20 and is in college. Our sixteen year old daughter will be out of high school in just over a year. However, for me personally, when a song like "Like A Rock" comes on, I feel like I'm in a movie about my life and Seger is singing about me in the opening credits. (It's a screwball comedy)
But that's what I love about Bob Seger songs. Songs like "Night Moves" deftly capture that feeling of middle aged melancholy. Getting older. Remembering how we used to be.
And I can secretly pretend he's singing about a more macho version of me.
Say, did that thunder wake you guys up the other night?
DC
(DC is a disc jockey who rarely updates his blog. He can be heard singing Bob Seger songs off key and while dancing in his underwear)
2 comments:
I know exactly what you mean. I have always loved Seger's music, but the older I get, yeah, the more relevant he becomes.
Hard to believe the man will be 65 in a couple of weeks!
Another line that inspires when I'm frustrated is from Lock and Load:
Mediocrity is easy, the good things take time, the great need committment, right down the line
Hi Darrin,
A nostalgic post indeed. I can relate, although I'm 7 years older than you. Bob Seger won me over with "Night Moves". So I rocked to his music starting in the late 70s, well into the 80s (at which time I was bitten by the Jazz/Blues bug and never looked back).
On an unrelated note, a friend of mine recently paid you a visit. Her name is Kathie. Back in my college days in Japan I shared a house with Kathie's husband Keni Inoue. So I've known them both for over 30 years. Great folks, not to mention Keni's a phenomenal guitarist. Sure hope some of their songs find their way onto your airwaves. (My personal favorite on Inoue Ohana's ISLAND BLEND is the song "Point of View", hint, hint...:-)
Btw, we're both on FBI blogs. I'm the blogger behind Intercultural Twilight Zone. Will check in more often now that I know you're a Seger fan ;-)
Aloha!
Tim
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