Louis Armstrong Video
I don't normally post to links to videos or the like, but seeing this featured on Digg today just made me smile... and it's Louis, so I had to share.
Another Time
Last Sunday evening Mike and I were playing a few games of chess -- which is to say that we did a lot of talking while randomly moving pieces and forgetting whose turn it was -- when we started discussing our favorite Chris and Johnny (aka Storyhill) songs. The topic was mostly started by the random playing of a remarkably bad Chris and Johnny song from the MP3 playlist; we obviously didn't want to dwell too long on such a song as "My Little Friend."
One song that we both number among our favorites is "Another Time." What is interesting, is that we both view the song in a different light. Mike sees the song as a reflection on the past, mostly due to the following verse:
How long since we were kids?
The crazy things we did.
Like throwing apples at cars,
measuring the skids,
and blaming the neighbor kids.
On the other hand, I see the song as being all about the unknown future. The song starts out with:
You wish them well, what else can you do?
They're on their way. So are you.
You look forward to another time.
To tell them how it's been.
This verse, and this song, used to haunt me. Graduating from college was in some ways a traumatic experience for me, as it is for many twenty-somethings. Realizing that the time of my life of spending every day with most of my closest friends in the world was over, I didn't know what to expect from the future. One of my greatest fears was that we would all become "Christmas card" friends. You know, those friends that you hear from once a year via the two-page holiday letter, filling you in on where they went and what they did over the previous twelve months -- reading about the changes in their lives instead of being there to share the experience. And that feeling of separation was summed up in this song.
But recently I have found that these lyrics no longer fill me with dread nor haunt my thoughts. Even though I wish I could remain close to all my friends, I realize the impossibility of that desire. It may be that I am finally beginning to feel a little bit older; feeling that I am now more suited for adulthood than college. Or it may be the recognition that I am now a different person than I was seven years ago and with that difference comes a feeling of peace in having friends who come into my life for a season and then head out again; sometimes for good, sometimes for just awhile. I don't care for them any less or look back on our shared memories any differently, I just would rather look forward to another time. And that is how this song now speaks to me.
Another Time
You wish them well, what else can you do?
They're on their way. So are you.
You look forward to another time.
To tell them how it's been.Some days are dungeons while others shine,
They burn in your memory like turpentine.
Some grapes and raisins, summer wine
And you tell them, “Some time.”Tomorrow's so bright that it burns his eyes.
Everyone is happy, he's happy with life,
He's got a kid in the cradle, a car and a wife.
That's how to say that you've been.How long since we were kids?
The crazy things we did.
Like throwing apples at cars,
measuring the skids,
and blaming the neighbor kids.So much for college and the higher mind,
You read for pleasure when you've got the time.
You found a job, it works you fine.Thanks for dinner and the table wine,
Someday I'll settle and I'll bring you to mine.
I look forward to another time.