Today, I decided to vary in my background music as I drove to work. Instead of the usual anime songs, or the classical songs which held a dear place for a few days, I took one of the old neglected CDs in my small collection. Unknown to many, “The Best of Peter, Paul and Mary”. That was the wisest thing I did all day.
When the first song, “Blowing in the Wind”, started playing, it felt like five years had gone back. The only reference to the recent past I could find to relate with that song was the use I made of it in my Quest for the Cap of Danaan, that beautiful piece of gameplay that was usurped from me. I remember precisely, the Jester said “The answer is floating in the drink!”. The Jester and the Beggar in Astrid made me laugh at my own writings for half an hour the day I put that huge marvel together.
It was impressive, I note, that after all this time I still remember all the lyrics, not only to that one, but to the following, “Too Much of Nothing” – which I never truly understood back then – and to a number of others, like “Early Mornin’ Rain” and “Day is Done”.
But of course, I only have this CD in my collection because of one song. “Lemon Tree”. Perfect. Not the song – the idea, the situation. “Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet. But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.” Beautiful analogy in its context. Fortunately I put it back into the past later today; I need no relation between the present and “Lemon Tree”.
“Leaving on a Jet Plane” was odd to hear. I knew it was on that CD, but I always remember it with John Denver – and always followed by “Goodbye Again”. Besides, the last time I heard of this song was in a blog I used to read, now long gone (thus no link), where it served as frame to a pictured situation which much resembled the song’s own. I found it interesting then, mainly because I believed nobody else knew the song at all, but that was all. I found it interesting today, because that was the first fact I associated with it.
The apex of past revival was reached with “For Lovin’ Me”. I always considered this the theme song of the relationship between an innocent young girl called Laya and a devious heartbreaker called Faulkner, Conrad Faulkner. He broke her heart twice, so foolish she was. I remember the first time well: white wine never tasted as bad as that day. If I ever, ever have the courage, maybe I will write about the misadventures of lady Laya Landale, the Poet of Scorpions. But I need a whole lot of alcohol to have that kind of courage. Back to the point.
It was funny that in the stupid mixture of present and past that erupted from the CD, the wrapping up song would have to be “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. From a very selfish point of view, that could be the closing theme to a recent chapter in my own life (what a terrible, terrible expression – chapter in my life; argh, argh) – for future reference, it involved polar bears. And, no less, I see a parallel to that chapter forming before my eyes – not only a simple parallel, but something much bigger. Time will tell how much of a parallel it remains once it extrapolates the original.
I used to say “Time will tell” a lot. When time did tell anything, it was most often not in my favor. So I stopped using the expression.
Tonight I wonder which CD the gods will put in my hands tomorrow. But I am seriously thinking about hopping back to the safety of my Inuyasha or Kenshin Op-Ed collections. I believe I have enough past for this page of the novel.
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