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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Watching "Quadrophenia"


How I am transformed
into a Brighton Beach mod
trying to find his place?

It was before I was born
and somewhere I’d not been,

yet I know this alienation
like I know my secret dreams
to fly away.

I am not the only one;
we all feel
our collective soul spark
as the guitars collide
with drums,
soothing our ache
and confusion.

We sing it together,
a mass healing
for pernicious teenage wounds
that never completely heal:

Can you see the real me,
can you?
Can you?

I marvel as
I am taken somewhere
I’ve  never been
to know a person
I’ve never met
who is singing
pain which my soul
cannot articulate.

The scenes keep shifting
and I don’t even know
what all of it means
but that’s okay
as I don’t know what
all of me means,
and I keep
rocking back and forth,
mesmerized
closing my eyes,
feeling a Zen connection
to Pete onstage,

standing as a beacon
saying
“I climbed out with just
a guitar and pen,
how ‘bout you?”

and a wave of forgiveness
and hope
and love reigning over him
over me,
cleanses
and renews me

and all great art does this,

and I know better
than attempt to unravel it,

so
I’ll just be thankful
for my place
way in the back
in the upper balcony
watching “Quadrophenia”.

[For #OpenLinkNight at www.dversepoets.com, still high after seeing The Who in Anaheim, California last night.]

31 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:02 PM

    oh, those days when rock and roll was it for popular music!!

    i wrote on a similar reminiscent theme!!

    not alone

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    1. Thanks - and I still love rock and roll!

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  2. oh wow..the who was in anaheim...i was there at the wrong time it seems..heck...this is wonderful...love the inspiration you took from it...“I climbed out with just
    a guitar and pen,
    how ‘bout you?”....great

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    1. Thanks Claudia - not to worry, they're touring Europe later this year - go see them!

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  3. all great art does that is for sure....i lov ehte connection that happens...i dont have to even understand or articulate your pain but i can experince it through music and verse....seeing U2 live was a spiritual experience for me....

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    1. Thank you - I was trying to explain the magic of the idea that an Englishman 409 years ago wrote something that stirs my soul in California decades later... great art is magical.

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  4. Nice, Mosk... I especially like stanza 8.

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    1. Thanks - stanza 8 refers to the staging of the concert, throughout the concert B&W films from the 1960's England, recurring images of the sea and vintage shots of The Who were played to a great, mysterious collage effect. If you get a chance, see it - it was a great concert.

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  5. I get this...I SOOOOOOO get this...and I needed this....I SOOOOO needed this! lol While I will not be given the opportunity to see them live...I've got a pretty hefty music collection I'm about to lose myself in...and somewhere...in the melodies...I'm going to find that breath I need...much love for your words this evening! (but that's pretty much a given any evening!)

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    1. Thanks - yes I've loved Quadrophenia since I borrowed the LP (!) from my public library in the mid 70s. With every listen, my appreciation grows. Going to buy Pete Townshend's memoir for my Nook.

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  6. Anonymous2:29 PM

    Quadrophenia is a film I watched many many times when it came out in (I think) 1979 - I catch it every now and again. Like you, I was never there but the art and skillful directing and acting transforms me to that age, that romantic era. You've done one of my favourite films proud with your rendition, it was a joy to come across Buddah. "Out of my brain on the 5.15 ....." "BELLBOY, BELLBOY !!" :)))

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    1. Haven't seen the film yet, but it's in my Netflix queue. Love BellBoy. "The secret to me, it ain't flown on a flag, I carry it behind this bleedin' little badge what says..."

      Thanks and in the concert the band plays as a film of Moon singing Bell Boy is shown. It was magic!

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    2. Here's the scene with Keith!
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0lwGjr16Zw

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  7. There is nothing like the experience of seeing LIVE music....especially those old bands that still have the power to stir the soul! Nice one, Mosk.

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    1. Thanks, and yes, I love live music. I tell people, when they instinctively move there bodies to the music, that's the Divine working in them.

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  8. "a mass healing
    for pernicious teenage wounds
    that never completely heal:" LOVE this!

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    1. Thanks! Some things don't change so easy.

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  9. You nailed it! That is Quadrophenia! I'm so glad I got to read this - you made my night. :o)

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    1. Thanks, that compliment made my night.

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  10. Phew, 'The Who', or what's left of them, Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend were on our local Tv station tonight. Apparently they're still touring round the world, but they drink cups of tea these days after the show. As for Brighton beach, it's very stony. Come up north to Blackpool if you want a sandy beach.
    Cool poem!

    Mine’s HERE

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    1. Thanks, my friend. Yes, you can't be boozing hard and expect to reach 70 (ask Keith M). Will read your poem now...

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    2. I forgot- I read and *liked* your poem as well.

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  11. Anonymous10:58 PM

    I would be lying if I said I was into Quadrophenia...this kind of music is beyond me, frankly...but I will say that you've touched on something I can relate to...and that is music...poetry without words...and yes, we don't have to quite understand what the musician is saying..but there is something we respond to...something atavistic and universal...and you have captured that here, methinks. Fine write!

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    1. Thanks, I agree, which is why I have special reverence and respect for instrumental music - the truly universal language.

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  12. Ha, this is just great! So filled with truth.
    Music, and art, really can save us, change us, open us.

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  13. I love when guitar collides with drums; it happens to be my most powerful method of finding my way back from the dark. and you hit a chord in me with "and I don’t even know / what all of it means / but that’s okay / as I don’t know what / all of me means."

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  14. you really hit the nail on the head with the feeling & sense of identification a great piece of music, or any kind of art, can spark with its audience. rock on, Mosk!

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    1. Thanks - The Who was playing a second show in LA last night (only two hour drive) - probably would've been worth it. :)

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  15. "Got a feelin inside that I can't explain..."

    I was here the day you posted this, but got interrupted by a phone call and never made it back until now. I wonder what Mosk would look like in a zoot suit, white jacket with side vents five inches long? ;-)

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    1. I wonder what it'd be like to be "out of the street again, leapin' along." I'd look like what you'd expect an overweight Mexican Anglophile to look like. :)

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