Mr. Fantasy
One afternoon last year (2006) when Nat and Owen were sharing an apartment, I stopped by to visit, and Owen and I made a quick trip to the local 7-Eleven. An old Traffic song came on the radio - Dear Mr. Fantasy. I told him how I had listened to this song night after night in my late teens. He’d heard the song for years on one of my CDs. It wasn’t played on the radio often, so it felt like an occasion. We sat in the car and listened to the end. He liked Steve Winwood’s music, whether it was from the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, or as a solo artist. Dear Mr. Fantasy never climbed the charts, like other Winwood music, which is probably why Owen liked it.
I’m not a particular fan of most live versions of rock’n'roll, because when I become accustomed to the recorded versions, I’m often disappointed when I hear them live. Owen liked the live versions more, in many cases. Although he had often memorized the recorded versions, he liked the uncertainty of live performances. He was more of an artist, I am more of a technician. I like the certainty of knowing the next notes. He liked the surprise of live music.
This video was filmed in 1972, about the same time I saw Traffic at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium (I don’t actually remember the year, but I think I was still in high school). Of course, I like the original recorded version better, but this live version is for Owen, with words dedicated to Nat.
“Dear Mr. Fantasy, play us a tune, something to make us all happy. Do anything, take us out of this gloom, sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy. You are the one who can make us all glad, but doin’ that, you break down in tears, please don’t be sad if it was a straight mind you had, we wouldn’t have known you all these years.”
Song for the night: Dear Mr. Fantasy, Traffic (1972, Santa Monica, CA)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7_nwbTeIN4Y
emmitt-owen-riley
linda-siniard
[...] You can read the rest of this blog post by going to the original source, here [...]
[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]
My Seanna absolutely lived for music. We knew all the Winnie the Pooh songs and the Wiggles songs, but she had a special love of bluegrass, church music, and what you and I would call “the classics”: Steve Winwood, Steve Miller, CCR, The Who, The Doors, etc. The bluegrass and “the classics” were what she called “Daddy’s music”. *smile* That’s because the only time he got to listen to anything but children’s music was when he was driving his own truck.
I’m sitting here tonight listening to The Who’s ultimate collection. The music is for me. It doesn’t remind me of Seanna. It reminds me of who I was when I was her age. It reminds me that I was once upon a time a Steph wihtout any knowledge or presence of a Seanna. I’m trying to convince myself that I am capable of feeling whole and wholly alive without her because I managed it once before.
Odds of pulling that rabbit out of a freakin’ hat? Not likely. Motherhood is a mind and soul expanding experience. Maybe I was “whole” once before, but she came along and stretched the limits of my heart, soul, awareness, and imagination in order to make me woman enough, human enough, to take on such a demanding and audacious child. Now she’s gone and my soul is slack and there are stretchmarks on my heart.
Yes, Indeed, Linda…it would be wonderful if Mr. Fantasy could play us a tune. God how that song always broke my heart. Always. It has to be some sort of synchronicity at work that made you bring it to me tonight.
Love to you and me…
steph