I read an article this morning: singer Glen Campbell has been transferred to a facility because of his Alzheimer's. A few years ago he had announced he has the disease and scheduled a tour before his symptoms worsened.
Now I've had his hits in my mind all day. It's trite to say, but songs like Jimmy Webb's "Galveston" and "Wichita Lineman" and John Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind," and others are part of the soundtrack of my late childhood/early adolescence. Hearing them brings me back to hometown landscapes. The power lines along U.S. 51, seen on weekend drives with my parents, reminded me of Webb's song about the lonely lineman and, in turn, made me wish I could find love in my life. (I was only fourteen or so, but that's a painful age.) John Hartford's song is so poetic and wistful, about a kind of commitment to a person that's different from having a life together.
We keep in thoughts and prayers Campbell and his family, and also a singer I loved a few years later: Linda Ronstadt, who recently retired because of Parkinson's.
No comments:
Post a Comment