Last Thursday I went to see one of the Bill Gaither Homecoming shows. As a child of the South I was raised on gospel music. I can remember going to gospel "singin" as a child. Multiple groups, usually quartets, would literally sing for hours. It's hard for me to remember many names but I recall names like the Blackwood Brothers, the Speer Family, the Happy Goodman Family and the Statesmen Quartet. I'm not sure which ones I actually saw but I do remember those.
So last Thursday night I found myself listening to some very talented modern gospel musicians for the better part of four hours. Apparently that tradition of long concerts is still alive and well. But there's definitely a difference in modern gospel with a lot more showmanship and innovation with video and sound. It works very well though.
Ironically the venue was the same location that I saw numerous concerts in the early 1970s. Way back then I was fresh out of the Army and lived within walking distance of the concert hall. It was brand new then. In fact I think I saw the first concert ever held there in 1973 which happened to be Ike and Tina Turner. And I saw many more after that--like the Doobie Brothers, the Eagles, etc. As I listened to the gospel music last week I couldn't help but relate back to quite different music that I had heard in that hall. I could literally recall much of my personal history of that time by the people I attended those concerts with. Some were pleasant memories. Some were not.
It was really quite amazing thinking of my life during that time period and recalling how all the different relationships begin, how they existed and affected my life and of course how they ended. Sitting in that same hall last Thursday night made me feel like I had gone back in time and in some ways the emotions overpowered me. They weren't negative emotions. They might have been a little bittersweet though. They were just the result of looking back at a different place and time. At that time I was twenty-five years old. Now I'm sixty. A lot of water has gone under the bridge.
I think it's good for each of us to look back in that manner. I know that time period gave me an additional foundation for my life that is still a part of me today. Thomas Wolfe was wrong. You can go home again.
September 8, 2008 in
Life |
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Beautiful. Thanks.
Posted by: Cielo at Sep 9, 2008 2:26:24 PM
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