arlo and family
i probably live less then two hours from a man whose music i have been listening to since the sixth grade– there has always been an arlo record, cassette tape, and/or cd in close proximity to listen to when i would get that arlo urge–
during the past decade i have found myself looking back to folks like arlo and wondering where and how so many americans such as myself have gone wrong– simple basic concepts such as love, peace, and compassion for ones’s fellow man and woman have been thrown out the window as americans have trampled each other as they’ve stampeded up blackberry lane, clutching their starbucks coffee in an effort to get to that private gated community, slamming the gate on others outside, unable and unwilling to see their need– and we wonder why teens set one another on fire over bicycles–
listening to the guthrie family helps to put things in proper perspective– arlo himself stated during the performance that it was great to be singing the old songs but sad that things in the world still sucked and brought the need for some of the songs–
arlo and the family sang some of woody guthrie’s songs, the most famous of course being “this land is your land”– it was excellent– arlo sang verses rarely sung and talked within the song about how the song had become international–
after the concert we went to the elevator and it was jammed with people trying to go home– the elevator lowered one floor and the door opened– no one was getting off and who was standing there? arlo stood there holding his shirt and vest that he had been wearing and was in a tie-dyed t shirt– he looked at the elevator and said “there’s a whole lot of folks in there, isn’t there?”– we were mostly frozen (was that really arlo?) and then the doors shut muting any further debate–
in summation, an excellent concert by an excellent family– i hope they continue playing for many more years– we definitely need them–
- Posted from my iPhone
