But, Some Are. (RE: "Not All Who Wander Are Lost") Part III
My evenings, lately, have been sitting quietly in my apartment listening to the two Jackson Browne, solo, acoustic, live albums that exist. Man... this guy has melancholy down pat! Fountain of Sorrow? Listen to that without getting sad. I dare ya!
Anyways, there is also a tribute album that was recently released in which a bunch of different musicians cover some of Jackson Browne's greatest songs. One of the best covers, and best songs, is Running on Empty. I'm sure most people are familiar with the original, but have you heard the cover by Bob Schneider? It's wonderful and even more melancholy than Jackson's version.
Loving both versions, I noticed something in the lyrics. Schneider changed two things. In the original version, Jackson sings, "In sixty-five, I was seventeen..." and "In sixty-nine, I was twenty-one..." I don't know without googling, if Jackson really was those ages in those years, but Schneider sings, "In eighty-five, I was seventeen..." and "In eighty-nine, I was twenty-one..." Obviously Schneider is younger than Jackson, but -- again -- I don't know without googling, how old Schneider is. As I came to the realization that the change existed, I did some fast math. As it turns out, I was seventeen in ninety-five and twenty-one in ninety-nine.
I could make the lyric change, too, if I ever sang it. In those years, I wasn't living the way that Jackson says he was in the song, but over the past few years I have certainly grown more in that direction.
Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels
I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through
Looking into their eyes I see them running too
Running on - running on empty
Running on - running blind
Running on - running into the sun
But I'm running behind
This post is a continuation from here. Part I is here.
Fifth Leg: Detroit, MI to Cleveland, OH. 170 Miles. 2 Hours, 30 Minutes.
As I drove out of Detroit and reached the highways, I was pleasantly surprised to see speed limit signs A) that were in Miles Per Hour (because all the Canadian signs were Kilometers Per Hour) and B) that the limit was 70mph.
I stopped about halfway between Detroit and Cleveland at a rest stop. It was nearly one in the morning. There wasn’t much traffic at this time of night, but it was a good time and place to stop and sleep. I had learned a lot from sleeping in my car on that last road trip I took. This time, I had extra blankets for cushioning, a sheet instead of a blanket to sleep under, and two battery operated fans to hang by the windows.
I set up my “bed” in the back of the Honda Fit and hung one of the fans, directing it at where I would be sleeping. I had trouble hanging the other one and just set it next to me. I was cool and slept really well through the night.
I woke up at 7:30, stretched, and looked around. There were cars parked near me that were there last night and some that had not been there. I got out of my car and brushed my teeth right there in the parking lot. A few parking spaces away, was a red SUV. A woman exited the back of the SUV and was wearing pajama pants. She noticed me, brushing away and also wearing pajama pants, at the same time that I noticed her. She smiled and stretched. I nodded my head to her.
When I finished brushing... yeah, I just spit right there in the parking lot... I hopped back in my car and changed into clothes. Then, I freshened up in the restroom, returned to my car, and hit the road again.
(More of this flatness on the way to Cleveland)
(Stadium)
(Other stadium)
I reached the city center of Cleveland and started looking for a place to park. Working my way toward the coast of Lake Erie, I saw signs for "Event All Day Parking." One parking garage was charging ten dollars and when I realized I would need to park four blocks further away in order to get a better parking deal, ten dollars didn't seem too bad.
After parking, I walked down towards the lake to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was always part of the road trip from the beginning of the planning stages. It was about twenty dollars for an all day pass. I was there right at 10am when they opened, hoping that I wouldn't be spending all day there, but definitely wanting to see everything. The building is an interesting work of architecture. Once inside, you see escalators going up and down. You can see the second and third floors and parts of floors that are above those. It was quite a maze, in fact.
While I was waiting in line, I overheard a couple talking about the Sex Pistols. Sid and Nancy, in particular. The woman asked the man, "Do you know any Sex Pistols songs?" He said, "No." She said, "Nobody does. No one knows any of their songs and wouldn't know one if they heard it. They are only famous because Sid murdered Nancy." And I thought, I wonder how my album sales would be effected if I murdered someone... Then, I thought, maybe I should think of other ideas to increase sales...
(Telecaster prototype)
(Johnny Cash)
("Rick James, BITCH!)
(What do ya know! Jackson Browne's guitar and handwritten lyrics!)
(Janis Joplin, including the envelope which held an invite to her funeral)
(Joni Mitchell artifacts)
A few years ago, I fell in love with an electric guitar. It's a sexy thing with a beautiful voice. I bought it. It's a Fender Telecaster Thinline '72 Reissue. Walking through the Hall of Fame, I did a double take when this caught my eye:
Not a '72, but a '69 Thinline Tele. It looks very much like my '72 reissue. I'm so in love with this guitar's style... Dayum. I wonder what our kids would look like...
Tom Petty is one of my favorite songwriters. Here is a jacket of his and a Rickenbacker guitar. He loves Rickenbackers. I'm really not a fan.
(Springsteen)
(Springsteen)
(Springsteen)
(Springsteen)
(Springsteen)
(Springsteen)
(Bowie)
(The Stones)
(Conor Oberst, who I just saw live a couple weeks ago)
(Mellencamp)
(Wilco)
The Rock Hall is basically a museum of Rock and Roll memorabilia. There are also films and video exhibits. One large, movie theater sized room and screen was showing the 25 Year Anniversary concert. I watched part of this, left and had some lunch at their snack bar, and returned to watch some more.
All of the walking that I had been doing on the trip was starting to get to me. I had developed a blister on my right foot, which made me favor it when I walked, causing a blister to form on my left foot. Sitting down for a little bit felt good.
One exhibit, was a video of this year's inductees, with highlights of their performances and their acceptance speeches. I got a little emotional watching the Nirvana performance and speeches. Dave Grohl made an amazing speech. He said something about musicians on posters and how you shouldn't look at them and think that you can't one day be that. It was very inspirational. Dave Grohl says a lot of great things.
(Cat Stevens)
I stopped in the gift shop before leaving and bought a shirt for my niece and one for my nephew. It's really great to have kids to buy things for. I wouldn't wear a shirt that says, "Future Rock Star," but it's cute as hell and needs to be worn by someone!
(I was given free picks for filling out a survey)
(Rock & Roll Blvd.)
I left the Rock Hall and walked back to my car. Then went off to explore the city. There were crowds of people near the harbor area looking... up. I heard some loud noises coming from the sky and realized that there were fighter jets flying by. Apparently, it was an air show, which was the "event" that parking garages were charging so much for. It was cool seeing planes flying in between skyscrapers. I couldn't get a picture of them near the buildings and I really just wanted to see the Hard Rock Cafe... not planes.
Cleveland felt like a ghost town. After being on a few busy Detroit streets, I was surprised to find so few people around. This was Sunday, which could have been a contributing factor. Who knows.
(Cool church)
(Sports arena)
I made my way through the city to the Hard Rock Cafe. I used the GPS map app on my phone and followed it around blocks of buildings. What I didn't realize was that there was an underground mall that would have cut my walking distance in half. Hard Rock was on the ground level, but there were three more floors beneath it with fountains and stores and subways and stuff.
(Guitar art -- guitart?)
There wasn't much else that caught my interest in Cleveland. There was one street leading away from a center square that seemed to have restaurants and shops, but the bus pulled up and I decided to take that back to my car. It was four-thirty by the time I reached the parking garage.
(To be continued...)
Part IV is coming soon! In the meantime, you made it this far and deserve a treat! If you don't own my album yet, I'm offering a free download of Count on Me (for Rain) for a limited time. Visit this link to snag it!
Anyways, there is also a tribute album that was recently released in which a bunch of different musicians cover some of Jackson Browne's greatest songs. One of the best covers, and best songs, is Running on Empty. I'm sure most people are familiar with the original, but have you heard the cover by Bob Schneider? It's wonderful and even more melancholy than Jackson's version.
Loving both versions, I noticed something in the lyrics. Schneider changed two things. In the original version, Jackson sings, "In sixty-five, I was seventeen..." and "In sixty-nine, I was twenty-one..." I don't know without googling, if Jackson really was those ages in those years, but Schneider sings, "In eighty-five, I was seventeen..." and "In eighty-nine, I was twenty-one..." Obviously Schneider is younger than Jackson, but -- again -- I don't know without googling, how old Schneider is. As I came to the realization that the change existed, I did some fast math. As it turns out, I was seventeen in ninety-five and twenty-one in ninety-nine.
I could make the lyric change, too, if I ever sang it. In those years, I wasn't living the way that Jackson says he was in the song, but over the past few years I have certainly grown more in that direction.
Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels
I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through
Looking into their eyes I see them running too
Running on - running on empty
Running on - running blind
Running on - running into the sun
But I'm running behind
This post is a continuation from here. Part I is here.
Fifth Leg: Detroit, MI to Cleveland, OH. 170 Miles. 2 Hours, 30 Minutes.
As I drove out of Detroit and reached the highways, I was pleasantly surprised to see speed limit signs A) that were in Miles Per Hour (because all the Canadian signs were Kilometers Per Hour) and B) that the limit was 70mph.
I stopped about halfway between Detroit and Cleveland at a rest stop. It was nearly one in the morning. There wasn’t much traffic at this time of night, but it was a good time and place to stop and sleep. I had learned a lot from sleeping in my car on that last road trip I took. This time, I had extra blankets for cushioning, a sheet instead of a blanket to sleep under, and two battery operated fans to hang by the windows.
I set up my “bed” in the back of the Honda Fit and hung one of the fans, directing it at where I would be sleeping. I had trouble hanging the other one and just set it next to me. I was cool and slept really well through the night.
I woke up at 7:30, stretched, and looked around. There were cars parked near me that were there last night and some that had not been there. I got out of my car and brushed my teeth right there in the parking lot. A few parking spaces away, was a red SUV. A woman exited the back of the SUV and was wearing pajama pants. She noticed me, brushing away and also wearing pajama pants, at the same time that I noticed her. She smiled and stretched. I nodded my head to her.
When I finished brushing... yeah, I just spit right there in the parking lot... I hopped back in my car and changed into clothes. Then, I freshened up in the restroom, returned to my car, and hit the road again.
I reached the city center of Cleveland and started looking for a place to park. Working my way toward the coast of Lake Erie, I saw signs for "Event All Day Parking." One parking garage was charging ten dollars and when I realized I would need to park four blocks further away in order to get a better parking deal, ten dollars didn't seem too bad.
After parking, I walked down towards the lake to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was always part of the road trip from the beginning of the planning stages. It was about twenty dollars for an all day pass. I was there right at 10am when they opened, hoping that I wouldn't be spending all day there, but definitely wanting to see everything. The building is an interesting work of architecture. Once inside, you see escalators going up and down. You can see the second and third floors and parts of floors that are above those. It was quite a maze, in fact.
While I was waiting in line, I overheard a couple talking about the Sex Pistols. Sid and Nancy, in particular. The woman asked the man, "Do you know any Sex Pistols songs?" He said, "No." She said, "Nobody does. No one knows any of their songs and wouldn't know one if they heard it. They are only famous because Sid murdered Nancy." And I thought, I wonder how my album sales would be effected if I murdered someone... Then, I thought, maybe I should think of other ideas to increase sales...
A few years ago, I fell in love with an electric guitar. It's a sexy thing with a beautiful voice. I bought it. It's a Fender Telecaster Thinline '72 Reissue. Walking through the Hall of Fame, I did a double take when this caught my eye:
Not a '72, but a '69 Thinline Tele. It looks very much like my '72 reissue. I'm so in love with this guitar's style... Dayum. I wonder what our kids would look like...
Tom Petty is one of my favorite songwriters. Here is a jacket of his and a Rickenbacker guitar. He loves Rickenbackers. I'm really not a fan.
The Rock Hall is basically a museum of Rock and Roll memorabilia. There are also films and video exhibits. One large, movie theater sized room and screen was showing the 25 Year Anniversary concert. I watched part of this, left and had some lunch at their snack bar, and returned to watch some more.
All of the walking that I had been doing on the trip was starting to get to me. I had developed a blister on my right foot, which made me favor it when I walked, causing a blister to form on my left foot. Sitting down for a little bit felt good.
One exhibit, was a video of this year's inductees, with highlights of their performances and their acceptance speeches. I got a little emotional watching the Nirvana performance and speeches. Dave Grohl made an amazing speech. He said something about musicians on posters and how you shouldn't look at them and think that you can't one day be that. It was very inspirational. Dave Grohl says a lot of great things.
I stopped in the gift shop before leaving and bought a shirt for my niece and one for my nephew. It's really great to have kids to buy things for. I wouldn't wear a shirt that says, "Future Rock Star," but it's cute as hell and needs to be worn by someone!
I left the Rock Hall and walked back to my car. Then went off to explore the city. There were crowds of people near the harbor area looking... up. I heard some loud noises coming from the sky and realized that there were fighter jets flying by. Apparently, it was an air show, which was the "event" that parking garages were charging so much for. It was cool seeing planes flying in between skyscrapers. I couldn't get a picture of them near the buildings and I really just wanted to see the Hard Rock Cafe... not planes.
Cleveland felt like a ghost town. After being on a few busy Detroit streets, I was surprised to find so few people around. This was Sunday, which could have been a contributing factor. Who knows.
I made my way through the city to the Hard Rock Cafe. I used the GPS map app on my phone and followed it around blocks of buildings. What I didn't realize was that there was an underground mall that would have cut my walking distance in half. Hard Rock was on the ground level, but there were three more floors beneath it with fountains and stores and subways and stuff.
There wasn't much else that caught my interest in Cleveland. There was one street leading away from a center square that seemed to have restaurants and shops, but the bus pulled up and I decided to take that back to my car. It was four-thirty by the time I reached the parking garage.
(To be continued...)
Part IV is coming soon! In the meantime, you made it this far and deserve a treat! If you don't own my album yet, I'm offering a free download of Count on Me (for Rain) for a limited time. Visit this link to snag it!