There are a growing number of musicians, legends if you will, who are either hurtling towards, or are currently on their respective journeys through their ninth decade on this planet and depending on the artist in question, we watch in awe, bemusement or horror as they potentially add to, besmirch or trash their respective legacies with each release or public pronouncement. Regardless of our opinions though, there's no doubt that they are trailblazers of a sort and you can be sure that there are a few artists in their 40s, 50s and 60s looking on and taking notes for future reference.
Last weekend provided two examples of fabled singer/songwriters confronting the aging thing head on, when Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon each played unannounced sets at the Newport Folk Festival, in Joni's case her first live performance of any kind in 20 years. She may be physically diminished after long periods of illness, but as the 78 year-old Mitchell hesitantly felt her way through 'Both Sides, Now', the emotional response was palpable. Similarly, when the 80 year-old Simon, his voice little more than a hoarse whisper, stepped to the microphone and sang '...hello darkness my old friend...' the couplet was clearly open to quite a different interpretation in 2022 than when he wrote 'The Sound of Silence' way back in 1964.
I've watched both of these remarkable performances a number of times over the past couple of days and still struggle to make it all the way through either of them without welling up.
5 comments:
Amazing. Emotional watching. Thanks for posting though, I was unaware either of these had happened.
You're welcome Martin. Emotional indeed.
Wow.
Argh... I'm a mess. All you say is spot on and I have tears running down my face. Both of these songs have featured over at my place as I revisit the 'tracks of my years' and that covers the 60 years these guys have been plying their trade, giving us such joy with their music. Tough to watch in some ways but wonderful to see how their legacy lives on for new audiences.
I watched the Rolling Stones doc series this week on the BBC iPlayer - sadly poor Charlie has now left us but I am still in awe of the remaining band members' energy and appetite to keep going as they head towards their 80s. After watching Paul McCartney at Glastonbury we are indeed going to be the first generation who will still have some of our rock and pop heroes headlining shows as octogenarians. And to think, they all thought it would only last a few years.
Rol & Alyson. Pretty special performances right?
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