As I approached my 40th birthday, I was thinking about getting old. That led to memories of my dad and grandpa. Dad always greeted Grampa with, "How are you doing?" Grampa always replied, "It's no fun getting old." That was as close as he ever came to complaining. I can still hear Grampa saying it, and after visiting Grampa, I can still hear my Dad repeating it. It seemed like a song waiting to be written.
It didn't have to wait long. The dark rainy New Zealand winter was forcing us to spend a lot of time in the van. Unfortunately, for the first time in almost 20 years, I was without a guitar. Never again. I had to work out the song in my head. Poor Heather had to put up with endless renditions of me whistling the guitar solo. After searching New Zealand's eBay equivalent for a month, I finally broke down and bought a used guitar and a calculator-sized digital recorder.I spent the next month playing with my new toys - recording, re-writing lyrics, and arranging drum tracks. I was hoping to have the song finished by Christmas, but a funny thing happened - summer! The sunshine and long days meant less time in the van and less time for music. Now that the rain is back, and the days are getting shorter, I've found time to finish it. Click here to enjoy it while you can (mp3). Getting old ain't much fun.
1 comment:
That looks like Mike McCready's favorite guitar that he plays Yellow Ledbetter with.
Post a Comment