| Biographical Non-Fiction posted February 12, 2023 |
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The music of our life
Soundtrack for Zoe
by Terry Broxson
"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." Bob Marley
"Music softens the Heart." Burt Bacharach
"Long, long time ago. I can still remember how that music made me smile." The opening words of the classic song "American Pie" by Don Mclean are about the day the music died. It is a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.
I had never heard that song until I met Zoe. It was a long, long time ago. But I can still remember the day the music started for us.
We had talked a few times, and I had met Holly— her Siamese cat. On our first official date, I drove her in my Ford Pinto with its busted bumper to the Swiss Chalet. An upscale restaurant in Houston. Frankly, I could not afford it, but the credit card bill wouldn't come due for about forty-five days. So, I figured I would worry about it then.
After dinner, we went to her apartment, where she had some Drambuie, and I had brandy. Zoe selected a few of her favorite albums and stacked them on her console record player. The 33 lp's included: Jackie Gleason's Music for Lovers Only, Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours, and Cat Stevens's Tea for the Tillerman.
"That is an interesting selection of music."
"Well, it is the wee hours of the night. Cat Stevens is wonderful. And I do think we will be lovers."
I never knew I liked Cat Stevens.
Like thousands of others have done. When we walked down the aisle to get married, it was to a song written by Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul, and Mary), The Wedding Song, and there is Love. And there was.
Zoe grew up in East Texas on the Louisiana line. The local music claim to fame was Janis Joplin. Her rendition of "Mercedes Benz" is the definitive version. Truth be told, Zoe preferred BMW convertibles.
I grew up in West Texas, and our music hero was Roy Orbison. Zoe had an exercise routine to keep fit. She used "Pretty Woman" as her musical inspiration. Roy never met Zoe, but she could have also been his inspiration.
Zoe loved going to concerts. We saw Kris and Rita at the SMU campus with fifteen hundred people. Kenny Rogers and Dottie West performed at Reunion Arena for her and fifteen thousand others.
Willie Nelson opened his act with "Whiskey River" at the Sportatorium in downtown Dallas. We left at the four-hour mark. We never knew when the other five thousand departed.
We saw Sammy Davis Jr in a showroom in Las Vegas. His twenty minutes of "Bojangles" was a singing and dancing masterpiece.
When Sir Paul McCartney sang before eighty thousand at Cowboys Stadium, Zoe cheered for "When I'm Sixty-Four."
In 2004 Simon and Garfunkel brought the Old Friends tour to Dallas. Eighteen thousand showed up to hear songs like "The Sounds of Silence." The show ended with "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)." Zoe was delighted and, most assuredly—Groovy!
We collected albums; Country, Rock, and Folk, and we wore them out on our stereo. Zoe introduced The Pointer Sisters' Fairytale and Harry Nilsson's A Touch of Schmilisson in the Night. I offered John Prine's Jesus, The Missing Years, and Sweet Honey in the Rock, In the Upper Room.
Musical technology advanced, so we bought identical music albums on eight tracks, cassette tapes, and CDs.
We traveled across the country on vacation with our tapes. Every morning as we headed for a new destination, we played Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again." We listened to Robert Earl Keen's "The Road goes on Forever." The following line is...and the party never ends.
But the party did end. One morning Zoe did not wake up.
The only soundtrack these days is from Gary, Gretchen, and Barbara, The Fleetwoods:
Wind and Storm
Gone's the Sun
From the Stars
My dark has come
You are gone from me.
Whoa, Whoa, Tragedy.
"One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain." Bob Marley
"Music softens the Heart." Burt Bacharach
"Long, long time ago. I can still remember how that music made me smile." The opening words of the classic song "American Pie" by Don Mclean are about the day the music died. It is a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper.
I had never heard that song until I met Zoe. It was a long, long time ago. But I can still remember the day the music started for us.
We had talked a few times, and I had met Holly— her Siamese cat. On our first official date, I drove her in my Ford Pinto with its busted bumper to the Swiss Chalet. An upscale restaurant in Houston. Frankly, I could not afford it, but the credit card bill wouldn't come due for about forty-five days. So, I figured I would worry about it then.
After dinner, we went to her apartment, where she had some Drambuie, and I had brandy. Zoe selected a few of her favorite albums and stacked them on her console record player. The 33 lp's included: Jackie Gleason's Music for Lovers Only, Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours, and Cat Stevens's Tea for the Tillerman.
"That is an interesting selection of music."
"Well, it is the wee hours of the night. Cat Stevens is wonderful. And I do think we will be lovers."
I never knew I liked Cat Stevens.
Like thousands of others have done. When we walked down the aisle to get married, it was to a song written by Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul, and Mary), The Wedding Song, and there is Love. And there was.
Zoe grew up in East Texas on the Louisiana line. The local music claim to fame was Janis Joplin. Her rendition of "Mercedes Benz" is the definitive version. Truth be told, Zoe preferred BMW convertibles.
I grew up in West Texas, and our music hero was Roy Orbison. Zoe had an exercise routine to keep fit. She used "Pretty Woman" as her musical inspiration. Roy never met Zoe, but she could have also been his inspiration.
Zoe loved going to concerts. We saw Kris and Rita at the SMU campus with fifteen hundred people. Kenny Rogers and Dottie West performed at Reunion Arena for her and fifteen thousand others.
Willie Nelson opened his act with "Whiskey River" at the Sportatorium in downtown Dallas. We left at the four-hour mark. We never knew when the other five thousand departed.
We saw Sammy Davis Jr in a showroom in Las Vegas. His twenty minutes of "Bojangles" was a singing and dancing masterpiece.
When Sir Paul McCartney sang before eighty thousand at Cowboys Stadium, Zoe cheered for "When I'm Sixty-Four."
In 2004 Simon and Garfunkel brought the Old Friends tour to Dallas. Eighteen thousand showed up to hear songs like "The Sounds of Silence." The show ended with "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)." Zoe was delighted and, most assuredly—Groovy!
We collected albums; Country, Rock, and Folk, and we wore them out on our stereo. Zoe introduced The Pointer Sisters' Fairytale and Harry Nilsson's A Touch of Schmilisson in the Night. I offered John Prine's Jesus, The Missing Years, and Sweet Honey in the Rock, In the Upper Room.
Musical technology advanced, so we bought identical music albums on eight tracks, cassette tapes, and CDs.
We traveled across the country on vacation with our tapes. Every morning as we headed for a new destination, we played Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again." We listened to Robert Earl Keen's "The Road goes on Forever." The following line is...and the party never ends.
But the party did end. One morning Zoe did not wake up.
The only soundtrack these days is from Gary, Gretchen, and Barbara, The Fleetwoods:
Wind and Storm
Gone's the Sun
From the Stars
My dark has come
You are gone from me.
Whoa, Whoa, Tragedy.
 Recognized |
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The photo is of Zoe on vacation in Cuba in 2016. She checked it off her bucket list in her retirement.
I have retired from active writing. This story wrote itself and asked me to promote it. I obliged.
Pays
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and 2 member cents. I have retired from active writing. This story wrote itself and asked me to promote it. I obliged.
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