So I thought about trying to explain 'Duende' but I won't say much, because it's Googleable, and Lorca explained it properly. You can read his thoughts about it here.
Lorca in a cave with a gypsy flamenco family. |
Instead I'm going to share a video that represents what I'm trying to say. My son is a young musician and he works so hard at his music and he gets so annoyed when it makes a mistake. I tell him about Patti Smith performing at Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize ceremony. She messes the song and stops, apologises, and starts again. When it happened some fans of Bob were really annoyed with her for causing an awkward moment on Bob's big day. Leonard Cohen famously sang 'There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.' I don't know if Patti's mistake was some part of the wonderfulness of this performance. I can only say that to me she embodied the spirit of Hard Rain completely. Something a bit magical happens in the struggle- and in the reaching out and in our receiving.
3 comments:
Great post. Give me the pleasure and excitement, the FUN, every time.
Thanks Nick.
Long time since I've been to a gig, but someone momentarily forgetting their lines has never really registered with me as a big deal. What did, as I recall, really annoy me is when you've watched a band member downing pints in a student union bar for several hours, and at 9.00 pm hear the lead singer announce that X is 'unwell' , won't be appearing, and thinking .... , $%*?..., what use is a rock and roll band without a sax player ? ( Shakin Stevens and the Sunsets ).
Or..... a band, with one or more big hits, showing up and playing something utterly and completely different. I was once really looking forward to an appearance by Thunderclap Newman. Their big hit was 'Something in the Air ( "..... call out the instigators, because there's something in the air.... " ). They did show up, and launched into a long list of stuff I'd never heard of before. I was totally confused. I wasn't the only one. Like almost everyone else there, I stood in silence, pint in hand. My evening was ruined. I had anticipated a bit of a ruckus. Eventually, they did an absolutely dismal version of Something in the Air. At which point I returned to the union bar. I was so disappointed, I couldn't even be bothered to drink any more. I trudged back to the residence halls, pausing only to throw up in a shop doorway. The high point of the night.
Appearance of a butterfly always a special moment.
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