Into

Sunday, November 2nd, 2008

A few nights ago I watched the film, Into the Wild. It was very skillfully done — Emil Hirsch was brilliant — and I was prepared to be affected. It was a sad thing, some say a stupid thing. It gave me pause to think of the dreams and razor-sharp idealism of (some of) the young. It’s so sweet, so bright, so fleeting. Much to muse upon; I’m not sure if I’m ready to put it all in words.

But then there was a song. The song from the Slab City performance by Tracy and Alex. I’d not heard that in so long. It haunted me (as I guess it has others). Google filled in the gaps: a beautiful John Prine song from around 1971, Angel From Montgomery. Here’s a recent (2004) performance — complete with mandolin intro (d’y’ hear that, Niall?). Ah.

For the record, it’s the version on John Denver’s Farewell Andromeda that I first knew. True, ’tis not so pure as the Prine version, but what was it that drew me to it all those years ago. The longing, is it.

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