The idea came into my head the other day how much we are influenced from our early years. But our ideas mature through to old age. So the exciting times of the 60s would be its music and parties. Funnily enough it is music that triggers the mood. Donovan's 'Yellow mellow' mentioned by Y/P the other day had me humming its gentle though slightly ridiculous tune all day. Our need for music, whether to sing or dance, is part of our lives. For instance I was never too keen on the Beatles but loved the Rolling Stones. Nick Drake replaced Donovan, and then Simon and Garfunkel - Hello lamppost, what you knowin come to watch your flowers growin, complete nonsense but seeing the world at a different level.
Films passed me by, but the two that remain with me were 'West Side Story' and 2001 Space Odyssey. Of course Hal the computer with his frightening voice taking over the space ship was totally scary and a reminder that things didn't always go the way we wanted it to.
Then my first husband introducing me to the Tolkien books and I was lost in this immense world of imagination, of good and bad, of courage and daring do. To think that I can remember still the 'Spaghetti Westerns' that Nick so loved. And today can read that they were so called because they were mainly produced by Italian directors. And who can forget the April 1st joke played by the BBC as they seriously featured 'spaghetti trees' in Italy growing the pasta.
Now I can flick to Wikipedia to look up a fact, someone, somewhere is bound to have covered it and those giant encyclopedias have become a thing of the past.
We hold our learning lightly, but can measure the steps we have taken by the writings and ideas that have come across our journey.
This Friday we shall journey on the train to Surrey for the weekend, I still have not learnt how to do train tickets on my phone, mine resides on my daughters. This failure niggles me but I am terrified that my phone will hold too much information about me. Like a worm, the intelligence that is unleashed through technology is waiting out there ;)
Yes, I remember the sales talk from Encyclopaedia Britannica sellers who told us we would deprive our children of the education they deserve if we didn't spend 6 month's wages on the complete set. I also remember having a bet with a friend when I was 14 about who would last the longest - The Beatles or the Rolling Stones. I lost.
ReplyDeleteRolling Stones are still going strong if you count endurance.
DeleteKeith Richard said he has only survived because he can afford the best drugs.
DeleteMy daughter always says we should legalize drugs. Perhaps there would be less people in prison.
DeleteWell yeah, Big Brother and Hal really find you such an interesting person to download your online details. Yes, you have to be careful about what you do on the net, but personally, no one is interested in anything about you. Except us.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I haven't heard of Spaghetti Westerns for years. I am amused by the memory.
Something about the tunes you mentioned made me think of Herman's Hermits and 'No Milk Today'. Such lovely looking lads to a twelve year old.
Well not me so much but my bank account Andrew, though only my credit card got used. My granddaughter got caught as well, but luckily it was taken care of by the FBI. It's not all sweetness and light out there. I remember Herman's Hermits ;)
DeleteI can remember the lyrics to so many of those old songs and blame them for not being able to remember the simplest things today - my brain is full already! ;)
ReplyDeleteI was a Beatles fan and just screamed for George when I went to see their movies. I thought I had a better chance with him since most girls screamed for Paul or John! :)
I didn't like the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was so weirdly scary to me.
Then there was 'The House of the Rising Sun' dark and wicked Ellen ;). I think the few brain cells we have left find it difficult to find each other but it is a good thing that the bookshelves of our brains are well packed!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was about 14 I wanted to grow my hair long like the Rolling Stones. "They're just a fad," my father informed me, "That MIck Jagger won't be jigging about like that when he's forty".
ReplyDeleteAnd Jagger is still going strong, not sure when he last appeared on the stage. But I danced to his band on Eel Pie Island before they became famous John.
DeleteJust last month on their "Hackney Diamonds" tour in the USA.
DeleteWell I just listened to 'Hey, you, get off my Cloud' can't waste more time on him but still active at his age wow.
DeleteWe think our world has expanded, but I sometimes think it's a mirage. When where we lived had everything, we had everything too, and knew it all, and nothing outside mattered.
ReplyDeleteVery philosophical Tasker. We definitely had a world that was exploding around us when we were young. I think the media has brought the world to the present generations but it is not such a lovely picture.
DeleteLike you, I was a Stones fan rather than Beatles, my brother was a Cliff Richard groupie, and from him I acquired a taste for the Shadows. I think that the '60s pop scene was in many respects a rebellion against the privations of the post-war era, for almost the first time teenagers had money and freedom, before things started to go wrong with anti-war sentiments resulting from Vietnam. For most of us living through it, the memories are still vivid, and as others have commented, we can still remember the lyrics of our youth.
ReplyDeleteI remember the lead guitar of The Shadows, tall, thin, black hair and black framed glasses, he was also a favourite of my then husband. Also country and Western and that man with a sob in his voice, can't remember his name. ;)
DeleteHank B Marvin - from my neck of the woods, Newcastle upon Tyne
DeleteSimon and Garfunkle. Sigh. My favorite, "For Emily Where ever I may find her." Crosby Stills Nash and Young. Oh, my parents were so horrified by the music I listened to...but 50+ years later, it all seems so innocent, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteYes innocent maybe, though I listened to Eric Burdon and The Animals yesterday, and 'The House of the Rising Sun' was a bit over the top. The band looked like twelve years olds though.
ReplyDeleteWhen my GPS got overheated on the dash board and I asked for directions, she sounded just like Hal, "I'm sorry I can't do that. Something is wrong." over and over.
ReplyDelete