Thursday, May 05, 2005
Days of old
Hanging out with fellow musicians who’ve been around the block longer than myself never fails to yield new insights into music and life in general.
This friend of mine played in one of Singapores’ pioneer blues-rock bands back in the 60’s. Over a few bottles of beer and a bottle of wine, I asked him whether he still kept in touch with the rest of the band.
With a somewhat disappointed look on his usually cheerful face, he replied, “No lah, I don’t like to keep in touch with them anymore.”
After a short silence, he let on about why he felt that way, “Those fellows, they’re all living in the past and resting on their old glories. Everytime we meet, they’ll always be talking about the good old days and how it used to be, how good they were and all that…they never look at what’s happening today, what’s going on in today’s scene…”
Another experienced musician chipped in, “Yeah, as a musician you must always seek to improve your craft and keep learning, otherwise you’ll just stagnate. You know, there’s a Chinese saying ‘Huo dao lao, xue dao lao’ (live to an old age, learn to an old age) ….” *
We clinked our glasses together in a toast to blues and music.
I’ve seen it happen. Some people just can’t seem to let go of the past and can’t see what’s happening today for what it is. They continue to bask in old memories and achievements, always quick to point out how flawed the current systems or practices are, and to extol the virtues of how it was done in the past.
And it’s not old fogeys or grizzled veterans I’m talking about here. Even people in my age group, with whom I’ve been through similar experiences, are just as guilty. These are people whom I would expect to be able to look at the recent past and the present in an objective light without being burdened by excessive sentimentality or nostalgia. It’s not that they’re bad things to begin with, but when they’re shackled to your ankles like ball and chain, something’s just not right.
We’ve all got our own past to deal with, but how we handle that past will determine how we handle our future. I was never much of a history student, but I do believe that it should be our teacher, not our master. Learn from it and live with it, not in it.
* Probably not the exact words, but the gist is there. Remember, booze was involved.
This friend of mine played in one of Singapores’ pioneer blues-rock bands back in the 60’s. Over a few bottles of beer and a bottle of wine, I asked him whether he still kept in touch with the rest of the band.
With a somewhat disappointed look on his usually cheerful face, he replied, “No lah, I don’t like to keep in touch with them anymore.”
After a short silence, he let on about why he felt that way, “Those fellows, they’re all living in the past and resting on their old glories. Everytime we meet, they’ll always be talking about the good old days and how it used to be, how good they were and all that…they never look at what’s happening today, what’s going on in today’s scene…”
Another experienced musician chipped in, “Yeah, as a musician you must always seek to improve your craft and keep learning, otherwise you’ll just stagnate. You know, there’s a Chinese saying ‘Huo dao lao, xue dao lao’ (live to an old age, learn to an old age) ….” *
We clinked our glasses together in a toast to blues and music.
I’ve seen it happen. Some people just can’t seem to let go of the past and can’t see what’s happening today for what it is. They continue to bask in old memories and achievements, always quick to point out how flawed the current systems or practices are, and to extol the virtues of how it was done in the past.
And it’s not old fogeys or grizzled veterans I’m talking about here. Even people in my age group, with whom I’ve been through similar experiences, are just as guilty. These are people whom I would expect to be able to look at the recent past and the present in an objective light without being burdened by excessive sentimentality or nostalgia. It’s not that they’re bad things to begin with, but when they’re shackled to your ankles like ball and chain, something’s just not right.
We’ve all got our own past to deal with, but how we handle that past will determine how we handle our future. I was never much of a history student, but I do believe that it should be our teacher, not our master. Learn from it and live with it, not in it.
* Probably not the exact words, but the gist is there. Remember, booze was involved.
# posted by BloozeGit @ 10:38 pm 
