SONGS IN THE KEY OF ALAN

There's probably some poor soul somewhere who isn't affected by music at all; thank God it's not me.

I don't play any instruments, my singing is beloved only by my wife and a few church ladies, but music has always been important to me.

These songs, for one reason or another, shaped my interests, my beliefs, and me, over the years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0N4nyYS5aA

I first heard this song at the age of nine, and it gave me the creeps. I didn't hear it again until I was eighteen, but by then, its subject had led me into an interest in similar things that continues to this day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssySWc2RjUc

I saw this film, heard this song, in '68; I was twelve, and watching the world around me turn strange.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKQGV6v_JG0

Four years later, I was in love for the first time, and this song seemed to confirm that all was right with the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdG-ITxL8ok

I heard this song for the first time the same week that first romance ended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N3b4f_I6oM

This song has uplifted me, even saved my life a couple times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGC29fn8JFU

This song is for all the special ladies over the years....thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfsCAJnx2JI

This song is for me, and the one special one who sits beside me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_jeZfFd3d8

For the One Who has brought it all to pass, and holds our future....

QUIET PLACES

Even as a child, I was generally most comfortable when alone; social conventions often seemed silly, and needless, and I am sometimes anxious around groups of people, especially strangers.

Over the years, I found a number of places to block out the noise of everyday, and better hear the voice of my Creator. I visited them often, and sometimes long to see them again.

THE WOODS- There were the ones behind Elyria Avenue and Broadway, between the tracks and the river , peaceful, with the scent of water permeating all. There was King's Woods, on the northern side of the east / west rail line, and the small patch of woods and marsh behind the south side of 21st Street, up past Reeves Avenue. Each one had its own atmosphere, and allure, its own attractions, whether it be the garter snakes along the Black, or the wild strawberries to be found near the projects.

LAKEVIEW PARK- I frequented the park between midnight and five, when it was closed, and vacant. I'd roam all through Lakeview, like its official spectre, listening to the faint echoes of the other ghosts there.

BROADWAY, AT NIGHT- The bars closed at 2:30, yet I might still be downtown at four,
Adding to twenty-some years of footsteps I'd left there over the years. I'd climb to the vantage point of the 530 Shop roof, or the parking garage at 300 Broadway, and of course, I'd ankle over to Veteran's Memorial Park and....point the cannon.

CHARLESTON CEMETERY- As a youngster, I would be leery of cemeteries at night, save for this one.

I don't walk at night here-I haven't for years- but I sometimes catch a reverberance of those nights, walking through the quiet spaces, sometimes running into others, far from sleep, seeking solace-

Perhaps you.