Sunday, August 16, 2009

Talk To Me

I've been taken back to my youth by a visit from the woman who was most influential in my young life. She was a rebellious and unconventional young woman who grew to be a classicist, an academic, an intellectual, and ever more conservative in her lifestyle. I want her to talk to me for as long as it takes to make me understand this journey toward the right when traveled so far from her radical youth. I was not as radical as she in my youth but have grown ever more so in my old age. We still have the same affinity for each other but we have moved past each other and are on such different journeys now. I can't bear the thought that the thirty years since we last saw each other is a marker for how far we've grown from each other. She, as much as my terrible family, influenced the journey I took toward this now, this here, this fascination with words and their power. We won't have another thirty years. We are old women striding toward death and time is of the essence. What sent us on these philosophical trajectories? Why are we here now at this time in our lives and in the vast scheme of things and places, so near and yet... Thirty years is a lifetime and for us like a blink of the eye.

23 comments:

Unknown said...

Adore the "Talk To Me" like I adore Joni... thought provoking piece. I've run into folks from the past this way; always leaves me a little hollow for a day or so and then I begin again. You can decide to feel cleaner or you can feel cheated or like you are being hit from left field, but you can't go back. Good piece.

Ghost Dansing said...

she studied Charlie Mingus.... heavy jazz inflection.... Joanie is nothing short of genius.

Ghost Dansing said...

Joni.... sorry

Mike said...

Raised on Robbery is my fave Joni song. Also one of the funniest songs ever played on pop radio. Brilliant.

Stella by Starlight said...

Utah, I've discovered that true friendship transcends politics. Sadly, many of the Boomers went Right as they left the 60s. I believe we all pick our paths and follow them—usually not knowing why until we choose the next.

Stimpson, I love Court and Spark in its entirety, especially "Twisted." AndBlue. And Ladies of the Canyon.

Blueberry said...

Joni's voice has changed as much over the years as many people's philosophies change as they age.

Saoirse in Spokane said...

Ghost is right, she is a genius. To write the song Woodstock so perfectly and never have been there was genius.

Isn't funny how friends who were so close can grow so apart, but, we keep them and their friendship somewhere inside to cherish for all our lives.

Have a fun Monday.

themom said...

Lovin' Joni. I will be curious of any answers you may receive from your friend. We take such stange paths in life it seems, but questions remain.

Gail said...

Hey Utah-

I/we are 'Boomers' here and Woodstock alumni - survivors. and we love Joni.

And friendship? Ya, it's complicated some times - I am all over the emotional spectrum as of late as a 10 year friendship is ending. Talking made things way worse. I knew it would, and I swore I was going to be silent and I really didn't say all that much but the truths I did spew, devastated her - all quite sad.

Oh my I've rambled again.

Later,
Love Gail
peace.....

La Belette Rouge said...

It was the movie "Love Actually" that introduced me to Joni. The first song of hers I ever heard is "Bot sides now". I just need to hear the melody and I get misty.

I have a friend who turned extreme right and fundamentalist Christian. I friendship did not survive.I am confident that the philosophical changes played a big part in that.

Laura said...

I've had a similar experience with a friend from the past.
I really wanted it to be the same as it was .. but it wasn't.
I hope that the eggplant parm turned out fab. :)
((Hugs))
Laura

Cirze said...

Well, I'll be darned!

Your lovely, touching prose and my favorite Joni duo.

You are mighty, mighty, mighty,
WOMAN!

S

Went far left - with Joni.

jmsjoin said...

I can't wait to hear Joni but It is not your experiences it what they do to you or you do with them!

Commander Zaius said...

...how far we've grown from each other.

Not making light here or trying to be funny but you want to talk about how far people grow away from each other? My brothers are freaking birthers.

Utah Savage said...

Oh Beach. That's the worst! How do you remain sane and out of jail?

Jaliya said...

There's so much heart in that one paragraph, Utah ... and Joni Mitchell is the perfect muse for a foray down the memory lane of friendship ... Funny how some people can arrive when we're young, leave a lifelong impact, and influence the course our life takes ... Yes, it's a shock to encounter someone who's become so "other" to how you once knew them ...

"We won't have another thirty years" ... < chills >

Re: Joni Mitchell -- I first heard "Twisted" when I was 17 and man, that song was a saviour! I also met a mentor that year and about a decade later, phoned her for a reference ... What a slap in the face that call was ... Nowadays I'm just thankful that I met her at all -- one hug from her saved my sanity when I was seventeen ...

ROBERTA said...

been a fan of joni's since "blue" - and talk about changes - she wrote the book!

i was a feminist in the 60's & 70's who turned fundigelical in the 80's to emerge into more liberal views in the late 90's -

life takes a strange course. i really can't explain how my views changed so dramatically - but i lost friends when i became more fundy in my thinking and found them again when i "turned episcopal" as my more conservative friends like to call it :)

it still remains that we are the same - connected at the deepest levels because we are human beings, searching for something that feeds our souls.

Sherry Pasquarello said...

you put it very well.

Randal Graves said...

How does one grow into being a wingnut. I'll never comprehend such a process.

As for BB, I think he imbibes an adult beverage now and then. ;-)

darkblack said...

'Chicken squawking'

...always love the dialog between Joni and Jaco.

;>)

D.K. Raed said...

I've got a similar-sounding friend who has traveled far away from our shared liberal radical youth. She is now a god-fearing right-winger. I remain friends with her by NOT talking about those subjects. The day I decide to talk to her about it will be the end of our friendship.

Sorry I've not been around UT. I am building a new home. Yep, from the ground up. Heatstrokes and all. Should be done by xmas.

Stella by Starlight said...

I can't see the video, but I am guessing you posted The Circle Game. I love The Narcissist's Daughter as a title.

That's our Utah—the muse of cyberspace.

Stella by Starlight said...

Oh, I have to post this: Joni Mitchell once remarked: "Madonna represents everyting that's wrong with the music industry." As you infer, I second Joni Mitchell's astute comment.

She's an artiste extraordinare.