I was piddling around on YouTube when I came across this video of Pete Townshend singing his hit, Let My Love Open the Door.
I noticed Pete’s greying (and missing) hair, I looked at the bags under his eyes and the wrinkles on his forehead, I recalled him being thinner once upon a time, and I wondered how many times he’d sung this particular song. I guessed a few thousand.
And yet, I’ve never heard him sing it quite this way. He took a song, one he’d sung thousands of time and one that I’d heard hundreds, and made it fresh.
That, I believe, is the key to a creative life. To take the familiar and make it fresh. To take the mundane and make it meaningful.
Thanks for the lesson, Pete.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Magnificent!!
I have always loved this song…thank you for posting.
Idara´s last blog ..Another Day, Another Chapter
Every time it’s new. I SO admire performers that play the same songs night after night. We just saw Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers for the 4th time I think. They play the same songs. The fans know the same hooks that we’re supposed to sing. And yet every time he seems more grateful more energetic more in love with what he does.
I sort of do that with my painting. Every time it’s new. Every time fresh because it’s the only “that time”. That is a key to living Life. Every moment is new, an opportunity, a grace.
Peace,
@vinylart
Daniel Edlen´s last blog ..‘Tis The Season
Hey Ken – great pick. So true that he completely plays with it and gives us a new experience of a rock classic. Art, life, work, relationship…it would all benefit from our energetic investment in seeing and meeting it anew. Thanks for this lovely post.
Thanks, Kathy. My Music Feeds the Muse posts are some of my favorites to write.