The Lens:
I’m in love with Elton John. I have had the last two nights at home to myself. I watched “Shrek” on Friday and “Super 8” on Saturday. A little on the pathetic side but I love those movies. On Saturday, after the movie, I watched “Classic Albums: ‘Elton John: ‘Good bye Yellow Brick Road,’” an old (and I do mean old) AXS TV recording on my DVR.
It starts with a young Elton, sitting at a piano, I assume in his home, playing “Funeral for a Friend.” The shot begins outside looking to his back through picture windows. Then we find ourselves inside with camera facing Elton who is looking down at the keys. The video slows down as he looks up into the camera and then segues to Elton’s obviously older hands playing the song on a different piano.
In my “It’s an Experience” post, I mention producer Fred Foster, who heard a preview of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” before its release. He says, “That’s not a record. That’s an experience.” Good music should be an experience.
Much of Elton John’s music is an experience for me. Something about “Funeral for a Friend,” especially the AXS TV show intro – just the piano, no accompaniment, transports me to a different place. For a moment in time, I am lost, my mind some place far away.
Elton John is a phenomenal song writer. (Of course, the equally phenomenal lyrics by Bernie Taupin put the icing on the cake.) Maybe it is just this crazy year, but, I hear one of his songs, I hear his voice, and I savor the diversion, the few minutes of being outside of my world. I watch that recording on my DVR just to hear “Funeral for a Friend” and lose myself.
With an affect like that, how can I not be in love with him?
The Refraction:
Ok. So I am not really in love with Elton John. I have seen a few interviews with him. He seems like a genuinely nice person. But, I don’t know him. I don’t know anything about who he is as a person.
By that, I mean, what are his hobbies? Does he even have hobbies besides his music? Or, is he a workaholic? What does he do for fun? What does he like to talk about? What is his temperament? Is he calm, high strung?
That connection through music gives a false sense of familiarity. There is no way someone could touch you so deeply and not be someone with whom you would have a wonderfully meaningful relationship with, whether romantic or platonic. Right?
It takes some mental work to realize no, I am not in love with Elton John. I am in love with his music. I am in love with the way I feel when I hear his songs. It is the product the man creates I love, not the man himself.
Think about it as loving my Sleep Number bed – and I really love my Sleep Number bed. I have no idea who the person (or persons) is behind the making of my bed. I don’t ever even wonder who that might be. I just enjoy the product.
It is funny how we become “fans” of people we don’t know. I’ll give another example. I have become quite a Russell Crowe fan. My two favorite movies of his are “3:10 to Yuma” and “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.”
I think to myself how much I would love to meet Russell Crowe. Wouldn’t it be great to have that wonderfully meaningful relationship (not necessarily romantic) with him? And, then, I realize it really isn’t him I want to know, to have that relationship with. It is Ben Wade and Captain Jack Aubrey who I want to know. Now those are interesting men, who happen not to exist.
That is not to say Russell Crowe isn’t interesting or that we couldn’t be great friends. It is just that, like Elton John, I don’t know him. I don’t know anything about him. I just know the great characters he brings to life – characters who seem so real.
And, in the case of Ben Wade, extremely complex. So, maybe instead of (or in addition to) admiring Russell Crowe, I should be enamored with Elmore Leonard who created the character in the first place.
Lest you think I only have these thoughts about male performers, I would die to meet Kyra Sedgwick. “The Closer” is one of my all-time, favorite TV shows. The way Kyra manages to be this force to be reckoned with while maintaining complete femininity is utterly empowering. But, it really isn’t Kyra is it? It is Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, the show’s star character (character the apropos word). Or maybe it is Kyra? I don’t know. I don’t know her, either.
It all becomes so mind-boggling.
All that said, the heart always rules the head. Often, we are not rational beings. I would be thrilled beyond belief to meet any of these three fabulous performers. Backward thinking maybe. But, my thinking none-the-less.