Trippin

While on the subject of tripping, I have been on one great one lately. She's called Janis Joplin. I demand to know why did I never got a personal introduction to her earlier?? I protest! All these years, Joplin-less, my soul just aches for the togetherness we missed out on.
Have you heard the raw passion in her voice????? Her scruffy melodious strains don't just tug at every one of my heart strings. They yank each string out, wring it around my neck an fasten it to the rear of a speed boat. Listening to her in my dingy office on repeat for the past week, I am transported to her era, when these songs were conceived, with the air pregnant with unsure, rebellious and downright confused ideologies.
O, what would I give to be just a fly on the wall in that era?!! Yes, I look for inspiration in my everyday life - from the sparkling tiara in the snow in Central Park to the 4th of July fireworks where I swear I saw a glimpse of Monet's Waterlilies. Her songs, that are definitely inspirational, is one thing. But then, listening to others who wrote songs saturated with her presence, is whole other thing. I felt going weak at my knees when I heard Leonard Cohen sing, in his soulful tenor, about their one night of passion, in 'Chelsea Hotel'. To be a part of a culture where everyone takes from, gives, and simply exploits each other just for the sake of creative passion, is unnervingly seductive to me.

I hear Bono and Mary J. Blige collaborate and sing one of my favorite songs "One" at the Grammy Awards this year. I think U2 is a terrific band and I think their rendition of "One" was credibly comparable to the original. Mary belted out the song like she felt the pain in each and every word.

But then I hear Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix perform "Summertime" live on stage and realize I was born a few decades too late....