I wrote this July 19, 1997 and just rediscovered it. Amazing what your soul can know before it exists. I believe we’re on the train.

“The Picture of the Man Whom I Can’t Describe”

Why can’t I describe him, you ask? Well, I could if I looked at the picture and told you of his ashen eyes, his polished hair, the Armani suit and Gucci watch with just the right amount of stubble to be fashionably unkempt. But you know, that is not what I think it is to describe a man. The man I want to describe doesn’t look a particular way. It’s not in his picture portrait photograph portfolio. It’s his mind, his spirit, I seek. Does he love himself, know himself, can he be free to love his children and dance naked in a lake of loveliness? Does he prattle on about Aristotle or does he invent fairy tales as the children climb on his lap and look at the stars? I want to know this man. The man of the children. He who knows his nature and is not frightened to be himself. He sings in harmony and laughs from his soul. He has time to think. He looks in my eyes and sees beyond the brown to the smile. He sees the tears and doesn’t rush to wipe them away, but sits looking at them, cherishing them, knowing each is a gift from God to wash away unclarity and so he says a tiny thank you for each one and is blessed with some of his own. His hand holds mine, but it is not patronizing nor protecting, just loving and supporting, saying, “I can’t do it for you, but I am here with you. You are never alone.” His smile is the brightest neon white and his heart smiles through to the world past his lips. I want them to kiss me, on the cheeks, on my forehead. We are a team. I am strong yet vulnerable and so is he. We do not frighten each other. Only love is real. I wonder if he is? He is materializing, I believe. Perhaps not complete in his final form yet, but then neither am I. As I grow so will he and we will recognize ourselves in each other. So, you’re the one I’ve been growing with. I wondered when I would find you. Perhaps you’ve already stood facing each other but the mirror was not complete yet. There remained work to be done, so you kissed your silent goodbyes until you meet again, hoping that next time you’ll be taking the same train and this time you can share the ride.

What makes me think I know this? Because, the heart knows all. You have been striving to build this your entire life, and the time of fruition is here.

First, don’t plan. Think, postulate, wonder and look in places you know the answer couldn’t possibly be. That is your foundation. The absence of control. For once you accept that no plan is ever executed perfectly, you realize how worthless a waste of time it is. Life is not meant for planning, it is meant for doing, being, living and feeling.

This is your next task. Love, live, feel, experience. Listen to the voices in the wind and the song of your heartbeat. Be still and hear the harmony in your head. It is the pied piper, leading you where only you should go.

Next, take that step. Go there. Be it by boat, train or hitch-hiking in a stinky 18-wheeler with a tobacco-stained hick behind the wheel. He’s harmless. You can tell by his toothless grin and the sparkle in his eye and the Three Musketeers bar he offered as you got in. He knows where you’re going, just sit back and take in the view.

He’ll drop you in a place you didn’t know existed. The back woods of Kansas where the air smells of cedar and occasionally you can almost taste Mrs. Olson’s apple pie. She left it on the windowsill hoping you’d follow the aroma right into her rocker and fill her heart with your song of the toothless trucker you laughed with as you realized you knew all the words to “Convoy”.

I met a muse; a wintry mix
of cherry blossoms and snow-shine
She said don’t worry about my season’s attire
it was on sale, and fits me perfectly

I asked about those timeless things
And she denied the weather as it rained
She’d promised something I don’t recall
I’m pretty sure with fingers crossed behind her back

I’ll let you in on a little known fact
the Autumn sun falls sideways, and
it does
fit her perfectly

We just finished learning this one and the guitar was very fun to learn albeit a bit of a challenge. Jackie’s going to be singing lead which is a break from what seems to be our norm where I’m John and she’s Paul

Here’s some fun facts I found:

• While Mia Farrow inspired such men as Andre Previn, Frank Sinatra and Woody Allen, her sister Prudence left her mark on John Lennon. According to Nancy de Herrera’s book, All You Need Is Love, Prudence met The Beatles on a spiritual retreat with the Maharishi in India, which she attended with Mia. When Prudence, suffering depression, confined herself to her room, Lennon wrote this hoping to cheer her up. It did.
• Prudence Farrow wanted to “Teach God quicker than anyone else,” according to John Lennon. She would lock herself in her room trying to meditate for hours and hours. From A Hard Day’s Write, by Steve Turner: “At the end of the demo version of Dear Prudence John continues playing guitar and says: ‘No one was to know that sooner or later she was to go completely berserk, under the care of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. All the people around were very worried about the girl because she was going insane. So, we sang to her.’”
• Ringo had left the group as the White Album sessions got very tense, so Paul McCartney played drums. When Ringo came back a short time later, there were flowers on his drum kit welcoming him back.
• The guitars were overdubbed 6 or 7 times.
• John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics were auctioned off for $19,500 in 1987.
• Lennon considered this one of his favorites.
• Siouxsie And The Banshees covered this in 1983. Their version went to #3 in the UK and became their biggest hit.

Another fun fact brought to you by J&J Factoids, Rubber Stamps, and Political Fondu, Inc.

Well, we’re performing the Beatles’ White Album next month and are learning the songs. Back in the U.S.S.R. is the first track on the album and I thought it would be fun to start looking up some of the “song facts” about each of the songs (at least those I can find facts about). Here are some interesting things I dug up about this one:

• Mike Love from the Beach Boys was sitting in a hotel lobby when Paul McCartney came down for breakfast. The two of them chatted for awhile, and Love suggested that The Beatles incorporate a little bit of a Beach Boy sound in a song, “Like we did in California Girls.” McCartney was impressed with the idea and used some Beach Boys’ elements in this song: Instead of “California Girls” is was “Moscow Girls.” Plus, the definitive Beach Boy “Oooeeeeoooo” in the background harmonies.
• The title was inspired by Chuck Berry’s “Back In The U.S.A.”
• Things were tense when they were working on this album, and Ringo walked out during recording, briefly quitting the band. Paul McCartney played drums in his place.
• The Beatles originally wrote this for wafer-thin actress and model Twiggy.
• The line “Georgia’s always on my mind” in a play on the Ray Charles song “Georgia On My Mind.” It has a double meaning, since Georgia was part of the U.S.S.R.
• Elton John performed this when he toured Russia in 1979. Billy Joel also played it when he toured Moscow in 1987. (thanks, Adrian – Wilmington, DE)
• Paul McCartney used this as the title to an album he released only in Russia in 1989. In 2002, McCartney called his US tour the “Back In The US” tour.
• This opens with the sound of an airplane flying from left to right across the speakers. Stereo was relatively new, so this was very innovative for the time.
• On August 22, 1968, following an argument with McCartney over the drum part for this song, Ringo walked out on The Beatles. He flew to Sardinia for a holiday to consider his future. While there he received a telegram from his bandmates saying, ‘You’re the best rock ‘n’ roll drummer in the world. Come on home, we love you.’ On his return, he found his drum kit covered with flowers. A banner above read, ‘Welcome Back.’

So there ya go We’ll be adding others as we work on them.