This weekend, my wife and I went to the Nashville Symphony with her dad. We do this quite often, as it is always a great performance in a great venue. However, this performance was a little different. The Classical Mystery Tour is a band that impersonates The Beatles with the backing of an orchestra.
I had read great reviews about the show but was not prepared for how cool it was. Impersonators can be hit or miss, and these guys definitely hit. They had the voices. They had the mannerisms. “Paul” played a left-handed guitar when he was actually right-handed. They also had the clothes. The band started with the mid 1960s suit look and changed into the Sgt. Pepper look. Then, they went to a 1970s style with “John” wearing his famous white suit.
I liked the entire show, but a few moments stood out. Hearing “Live and Let Die” with an orchestra was awesome. I know it is not a Beatles song and saying it was my favorite could be considered sacrilege, but it was awesome. I also liked “Imagine”, another solo effort. When it comes to actual songs by The Beatles, their rendition of “The Long and Winding Road” was great.
It was during “The Long and Winding Road” that my mind starting going to places other than the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. It went to a young man lying in the dark with his headphones on. That was me, and that is what I used to do every night before going to sleep. I cannot count the number of nights that I woke up with music still playing in my ears.
“The Long and Winding Road” was exactly the type song I would listen to. It is slow, melodic and, in my mind, kind of sad. Of course, I like all kinds of songs and have a fondness for heavy metal, but the slow and sad ones have always held an attraction for me.
As I listened in the dark, I would imagine myself being the sad one in the song. I would bring up any heartbreak or hurt that I had experienced and used it to bring up a melancholy mood. It may have been fatalistic and was definitely emotional martyrdom. However, that was me. I was always bad about imagining myself as the one in the movie who gave up the girl for a later cause. I guess that would make me Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.
In the dark, I would listen to these sad songs and play movies in my mind. In those movies, I was always the one who watched others walk away or was the one who was doing the walking away. I guess that is why I ended up having a good time in therapy.
I do not do that anymore. I still listen to sad songs, and they still entertain me. However, I do not place myself inside of them. I listen to them as an outsider who is happy with where he has ended up in life. Placing myself in sad songs probably meant that I was not happy with where I was in life. Now, that is not the case. I am happy with where I am.
That is a song with a different verse. That is also where my mind went as “Paul” sat at the piano and sang “The Long and Winding Road” as the orchestral sounds filled the room.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 