It Starts To Worry Me

What a busy couple of weeks, and it has nothing to do with the upcoming Christmas holiday.

It’s just life . . . and maybe a little eschatological urgency.

Elissa, Steve and Me, September 2014, Chrlotte, NC.

Early starts and late endings and it seems that as I get older I can’t get by on four hours of sleep like I used to.

If I can’t sleep, there is always music to keep me going during the day.

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I have been a Steve Forbert fan for forty years.  That’s a long time. I remember the first time I heard Alive On Arrival.  I was hooked.

My wife and I first danced to a Forbert song at our wedding.

I’ve seen him dozens of times, the last time with Elissa and that was a few years ago.  Too long ago, but I successfully passed the baton to the next generation.

Aside from the hit “Romeo’s Tune”, his work, while brilliant, is known only to those who have had the good luck to seek out his music.

I guarantee that it’s worth the search.

One of my dreams is to play this song with Steve on stage.  Ask anyone in my family, they’ve heard me play it often, nailing every nuance.

It’s a little tongue in cheek, but I thought of this song as I drove home in the rain this evening, getting in at 10:00pm.

From the 1992 album, The American in Me. . .

Poor ole surrender Mimosa, fin’ly burnt out by the sun I feel pretty burnt out myself when the long, hot summer is done summertime’s long been my fav’rite, now I can’t grab it no more can’t find no time for a fish on the line or that swing in the old Sycamore I’m in such a hurry now it starts to worry me stop an’ smell the roses? baby I can’t hardly see no, I aint forgotten just how good it all can be, but I’ve got so much responsibility baby, you know how I’m working, sorry I’m busy so much sorry those days when the world went our way are so hard to return to an’touch maybe our future looks brighter, maybe our ship will come in maybe these years an’these muletrain careers will be things we wont think about then but I’m in such a hurry now it starts to worry me stop an’ smell the roses? baby I can’t hardly see no, I aint forgotten just how good it all can be, but I’ve got so much responsibility competition’s heavy on a hard line wreckin’crew the good ones never leave an’still there’s always some one new pressure comes down hard up on a top notch rivet team we don’t get time to pace ourselves, we don’t stand around and dream Poor ole surrender Mimosa, fin’ly burnt out by the heat I feel pretty burnt out myself when I make that ole turn down our street summertime’s long been my fav’rite, now it’s ole autumn I love summertime fun on some beach in the sun is not somethin’ I’m seein’ much of I’m in such a hurry now it starts to worry me stop an’ smell the roses? baby I can’t hardly see no, I aint forgotten just how good it all can be, but I’ve got so much responsibility