off to elsewhere

I awoke this morning – so grateful for another day – my mind all swirly with music. For instance, while writing my Morning Pages the song “Maybe” by The Chantels (1958) appeared (“Maybe, if I pray every day…”), followed quickly by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers’ “Government Center”, (1972), such a joyous Boston song (“They got a lot of great desks and chairs, at the Government Center”), cooler for me than even “Roadrunner”.

Then, out on the early walk these two groups arrived – The Moody Blues and The Guess Who – and the wonder of their first major hits, entirely unlike anything they did thereafter. For The Moody Blues that song was “Go Now” (1964) (“We’ve already said…”), not in the same aural universe of “Ride My Seesaw” or “Dear Diary” or “Tuesday Afternoon”. And The Guess Who (in disguise) had a fabulous rocking hit with “Shakin’ All Over” (1965) (“Quivers down my backbone…”), surely far, far away from my eardrums vibrating “Share the Land” and “American Woman” and “She’s Come Undone.” These songs arrived on my walk – me playing the host, this music arriving as my guests.

Finally, because I had the chance to courteously say “Good morning” to so many passersby – dog walkers and baby-carriage pushers and plain old strollers just like me – the song “Morning Girl” (1969) appeared, with its (“You know love is more than kissing, a whole lot more.”) Sugary poppy as it is, I love this song – like I love every song already noted. And isn’t it wonderful I got to wake up again and my ears still work and my spinal cord and all its nervy children still vibrate in joy and my bewildered, don’t-know mind has no brakes at all for this endless dancing.

The title of this post – off to elsewhere – likewise showed up right out of the blue in todays Pages. Right away I knew it would be the title here, no matter what the post was about. It felt like its arms were, are, wide enough to hold most anything.