Prog Digest – An Xperience Column
Written by Staff on September 7, 2024
Prog Digest – An Xperience Column – by Klyde Kadiddlehumper.
Inspiration is a funny thing. It hits you when you least expect it – and usually with interesting results.
Today – well, it is the hot tub. Yup – Klyde and Constant Companion have a hot tub. No, no time travel. And yes – outside. Just enough Scandinavian blood in my veins that a hot tub session in the middle of a snowy winter’s evening is a wonderful thing. While this was a nice, cool, sunny afternoon, these old bones always enjoy a little respite from time to time.
Funny thing about hot tubs. A dear, departed friend of mine – one might say my brother from another mother – would always go on about folks like me having a hot tub outside. As he would put it, there are plenty of folks with whom he grew up, or were from the same general neighborhood, who had hot tubs. Just NOT outdoors. He’d always say that people like me were nuts to go outdoors in the middle of winter, in the cold and the snow, to get in a hot tub. And then, get out.
The completely inappropriate nature of the comments we would say to each other is the stuff of legend.
Anyway.
It is said that inspiration is the mother of invention.
Genius – 50 percent inspiration and 50 percent perspiration.
Inspiration guides the hands of a sculptor who will insist that the stone upon which his hands currently chisel is simply a statue waiting to be released from the stone.
I would like to posit here that not just the “accepted” “great” works are the result of inspiration. Crafting a truly fantastic, memorable pop song seems, to me, to be as much inspired as inspirational. Being able to do both, well, that is a gift.
The duo of Hall and Oates wrote, produced, and performed some of the great pop songs of all time. Entertaining as hell, crafted to within an inch of their lives – but I would not call them inspired. “She’s Gone,” “Rich Girl,” “Sara Smile” – great pop songs, they tell a story – but groundbreaking? Perhaps not so much.
Jimmy Webb, on the other hand, well – that’s another story. For the younger folks out there – Jimmy Webb has written EVERYTHING (almost). “Up, Up, and Away” – the Fifth Dimension made it a hit (and yes, it was actually about balloons people, and there is a story about his father the preacher, a radio station GM, and a gun), “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Where’s The Playground Susie,” “Honey Come Back, ”Wichita Lineman” (all Glen Campbell), “MacArthur Park” (twice, 10 years apart, with Richard Harris (1968) and Donna Summer (1978)). Indeed, his autobiography is titled “The Cake and the Rain.” As he puts it: “Ya leave one cake in the rain …” Linda Ronstadt’s rendition of “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” off “Get Closer” will make you cry your eyes out.
The kicker: “Galveston.” Glen Campbell’s 1969 version was, indeed, a hit. However, its upbeat nature belies a much more important message. Meant not to be an upbeat ditty; it was about a soldier who was wishing he was anywhere except where he was. Dreaming of romantic encounters of his past to get over his fear of dying.
That, dear friends, is inspiration. Are they pop hits and great pop songs? You bet. Yet, So. Much. More.
Yeah – hot tubs are a great place to relax and let your mind wander. In this case, to take a walk through your past – perhaps, once more across MacArthur Park.
Until next time.
Klyde
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