regrets

Recently I've taken up trying to play the guitar....again. Don't laugh. In the process I remembered a song by Don McLean from 1972 or thereabouts that had some nice acoustic guitar work on it. I have the album (an actual LP "long play") but I thought I would like to download it off itunes. The name of the song was "Narcisissma." Not only wasn't the song there, but the whole album was missing from the itunes store. Bummer. No Beatles, no Led Zeppelin and now no Narcisissma on itunes.

In the process of a google search I read somewhere that Don McLean regretted making the album. Well Don, if I had recorded a song like Narcisissma or some of the others from that album I would be pretty proud of them.

Some of the words to those songs have stuck with me for over 30 years. "On the Amazon" was as creative as anything the Beatles wrote about an octopus's garden. The More You Pay (The More It's Worth) is a story of a boy who bought an old horse at an auction for two bits and has a lot to say about what has real value in life. In Bronco Bill's Lament there is an old man reminiscing about his life.
"I coulda been most anything I put my mind to be
but a cowboy's life was the only life for me
it's a strong man's occupation ridin' herd and livin' free
but strong men often fail
where shrewd men can prevail
I'm an old man now with nothin' more to say
but oh god how I worked my youth away
You may not recognize my face I used to be a star
a cowboy hero known both near and far
I perched upon a silver mount and sang with my guitar
but the studio of course, owned my saddle and my horse
but that sixgun on the wall belongs to me...."

It's some really good and memorable philosophy set to music. I have the album, but regretfully no record player.