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| Watching Paul McCartney at Coachella (my daughter) |
I've led a quiet life, by choice. Don't expect big events, don't go
looking for them. But three years ago, Paul McCartney made me cry. I'm going to tell you about it.
The commute to my teaching assignment led me past billboards advertising
fun. Usually I had no time for such, casinos, concerts, etc. But one
summer, there was Ringo. (I know, this is about Paul.) I said to
myself, "Self, you can be all whiney about how hard you work, and you
never have fun...or you can have fun." So, down in North County San
Diego, at Pala Casino, my daughter and I drove through fragrant orange
groves to see Ringo and his All Starr Band. I really had fun. It
instigated more mischief.
I started using the Internet. I mean, for fun. Not just lesson plans. And a split second after it was announced, I knew. Paul was coming to Coachella. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival. That's close to where I live. Unlimited seating because there are no seats. Like a cool, hip, Monterey Jazz festival kind of thing. I could manage that. I ordered tickets.
After all the years of being as close to the SNL Church Lady as possible and still like Rock and Roll and Andy Warhol, I knew this was a turning point. I would be cool. Paul McCartney, after all these decades.Wow, talking 'bout my generation. He was our Beethoven, our Bach, our Mozart. He was family. And I would be within yards of him. My daughter and I would go.
I warned her as we entered the polo grounds. My inner 14-year-old would be very happy. I would dance with abandon. Too bad if she was embarrassed. It was about me and Paul. The chance of my lifetime.
He played beneath the desert sky for three hours. He was this big:
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| From our view in the crowd. |
He sounded just like Paul, even if the other three necessary Beatles weren't there, and would never be there. The stage set up was creative, and spectacular, huge and unnecessary. I just needed Paul and his guitar. I danced my Elaine-from-Seinfeld type dancing. But then...
He began playing 'Blackbird.' I was in the presence of Paul McCartney playing 'Blackbird' live. All of life's struggles theretofore welled up in my throat, and I was amazed that I had made it this far. Tears. And I don't cry in public. But it was the song of taking broken wings and learning to fly. I had taken my broken wings and learned to fly. I was in an historic moment listening to a great man sing his song and play his guitar.
That evening was the anniversary of his wife's death. Linda. He spoke to us about her, as if he felt about us the way we felt about him. Family. He had tears, too, as he played his song for her.
When Paul sang 'The Long and Winding Road,' my daughter said I had a look on my face like when I'm in church. It had been such a very long and winding road since I'd first heard that song. And the Lord had brought me along it. I guess it was a spiritual moment.
So, why do I reminisce today? Because Paul sang me the birthday song that night in April, close enough to my birthday. So I return the favor.
Birthday - Paul McCartney @ Coachella (Live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeNUpTp3o6k
Post Script: Thank you people in the audience for video of Coachella. I really believe Youtube should get the Nobel Peace Prize for giving us all a medium to express ourselves.
Paul McCartney, "Blackbird" (Coachella 2009)
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