Musical Experiences

Cafe Society
1

I’ve never shared this before.

I’m 48. I was a huge Pink Floyd fan as a kid. Significant, I think, because I was 10 years too young for them, in a sense.

I was about 20 years old (so ca. 1993), and stoned as could be. Normal for me.

I was heading down 93S, not sure exactly where, but between the NH border and Boston. It was dusk, and there was some kind of road work going on. There was an endless line of construction and police vehicles setting up to do the work. So it seemed like for several miles yellow and blue flashing lights.

Traffic wasn’t too heavy, but enough that with the work we were slowed to- I don’t know- maybe 20 mph, but not stop and go. A nice easy roll.

I was driving my 78 Buick Electra. A car I miss to this day.

At some point before I reached this construction zone, “One of These Days” by Pink Floyd came on the radio. Please understand- this is the only time I can ever recall hearing that song on the radio. Based on my habits at the time, this had to be either WZLX or WBCN.

Being stoned, hearing that song (which I absolutely adore to this day), and seeing those lines of flashing lights was absolutely sublime. It was amazing. I rolled through that work zone in a trance. My girlfriend at the time was with me and I vaguely remember her looking at me and talking to me- I just needed to be in that moment. I’ve remembered it to this day, and I will go to my grave reveling in that moment. It was probably 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

I’d give anything to go back to that moment. I’m late career and I’ve been successful. I haven’t smoked pot in decades. But I want that moment back.

Thanks for listening. Anyone else have a moment like that?

2

I laughed when I read the OP because my experience was also Pink Floyd (and Meddle!) related.
If I had the help of any substances, it was probably only alcohol (possibly weed), and I had what felt like an out-of-body experience while listening to Echoes. Obviously I try for it again any time I hear the song, but it’s never as intense as that first time.

3

In the seventies, probably 75 or 76. Riding in my friend’s beater car with a sunroof, late at night returning from (something?). We were rolling through the countryside, lots of trees and full moon. The sunroof was open, my seat was laid back and his good-for-that-era casette deck was blasting Golden Earring’s Radar Love. I was buzzed, relaxed, and watching the trees flash past the moon as he drove down a country road.

For some reason it was a perfect moment in a perfect place – and I still remember it today.

4

I was a rabid Beatles fan from the time I first saw them on Ed Sullivan at age 6. I recall my older sister debating with her friends about who was cuter, John, Paul, George…or rarely Ringo (poor Ringo). I just cared about the music. Getting Meet the Beatles for my birthday was a favorite present of mine.

My mother, and to a lesser degree, my father, were also Beatle fans as well as many of their friends. Mom was a WWII British war bride, so I believe the Beatles made her nostalgic for home. She was quite proud of her lads.

I got shanghaied to one of my parent’s friend’s cocktail parties (babysitters were too expensive) just after Sgt. Pepper was released. The consensus of the party-goers toward Mom then was, “well, your Beatles really went off the deep end!” Mom was mortified, but she remained a fan. Dad, not so much.

The only time I recall Mom being critical of a Beatle was when she heard John drop the F-bomb on Working Class Hero (she liked the rest of the album though). “What has gotten into John!” And, somehow it was my fault for playing that track.

As far as musical experiences, I’ll go with Sgt. Pepper’s, Within You Without You. I believe the Indian instruments with the beat of the tabla drums put me into some sort of preadolescent transcendental state.

5

I’m 61. Floyd is probably my favorite group. And I knew that my Wife liked them, I didn’t know that they where in probably her top 3.

Things have changed since we now have the ability to stream Music and TV through Starlink. Lots of changes in the last few years. I enjoy chess (played on my phone, or at chess.com), and my Wife asked me to teach her. Now we play about 8 games a week while listening to music.

We are re-discovering all sorts of music.

6

I was 11 and the first song I ever listened to through a pair of headphones was “Strawberry Fields Forever”. I’ve been trying to recreate that moment for nearly 50 years.

7

Shortly after Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” album came out, I was on the road driving to Terschelling, a Dutch island, from Germany with my girlfriend for a horse-riding vacation. It was a beautiful summer morning, cruising on the Autobahn through the lowlands of the Lower Rhine region, and “Time To Move On” was playing on our car stereo. It hit me like a brick that this song had a perfect galloping beat and at the same time is a fantastic road song, and combined with the beautiful weather, landscape and the anticipation for the holidays, that made it a great moment that I haven’t forgotten almost 30 years later.

ETA: just for the record, I was stone-cold sober.

8

The late '80s were a pretty dead time for music, at least in the UK. Who was around then? Well, The Pogues were great; and The Christians were not too far behind them; but nothing much else springs to mind.

At that time, to amuse ourselves, we occasionally got free audience tickets to see TV shows being recorded. We were at Saturday Live/Friday Night Live (loosely based on the US show with a suspiciously similar name) several times. Here’s a thing - you can track down anything on the net these days, so I can tell you we were at a recording on April 15 1988 and - stone me - the musical guests were The Pogues and The Christians. Disbelief - we found out when we saw them walk on stage. Not only can you track down dates, here’s The Pogues’ performance. Fiesta has never been a favorite of mine, but Streets Of Sorrow/Birmingham Six (at ~4.20, video truncated by the ad break) was spellbinding:

j

9

My dad came walked past my room and overheard “A working class hero is something to be…”, just missing the preceding line. He gave me a stern look and commented “A working class hero, eh?, Yeah, I guess that’s something to be.” and went downstairs. At the time I was on shaky ground with my parents–no telling what his reaction would’ve been if he’d wandered by when John was dropping the f-bombs.

10

[Moderating]
This looks like a good fit for Cafe Society. Moving.