The Untold Story
Mr. Faded Glory
Now I think I'm going down to the well tonight and I'm going to
drink till I get my fill And I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking
about it but I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, well time
slips away and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days
Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days
Copyright © Bruce Springsteen
Born in the U.S.A. 1984
When Andy and I first met -
we talked about music. I hired him at the store I was working. He was passing
through and needed a job and a place to stay. I gave him both. We were friends
the moment we met. We both freaked out on the instantaneous friendship. Andy is
the one who came up with the idea we must be reincarnated souls. He said,
"We are not going to waste any time getting to know one another. We must know
each other in a deep way, from a previous life together."
It was mysterious and neither of us had answers for it. It is the only thing that made sense to us about him moving in with me, -- 15
minutes after we met. We quickly discovered we shared a deep passion for music.
I had never met anyone who shared a similar interest in music as myself. We
agreed on about 95% of anything musical. There was not a band or musician I
could name that Andy couldn’t throw back at me with something related to it. The first day Andy said,
"I have never met anyone who knows as much about music as I do." I kept up with Andy the best I could when it came to the history of Marc Bolan.
In 1986, who would have been into music enough to know about Mott the Hoople’s
connection to David Bowie, Queen, and Bad Company. Who else would have known
about Bad Company being signed to Led Zeppelin’s label Swan Song. We stayed up that first night sitting in the living room - trying to break one
another down. Each trying to come up with something about music that would stump
the other. If one of us got stumped - then the other would have to come up with
another stumper. We fell asleep that first night talking music until we were
both exhausted and couldn’t go on. I think we were talking to each other in our
sleep. We woke up the next morning and didn’t miss a beat.
"Okay -- Okay -- I got one for you." Andy kept talking about his band "Malfunkshun" According to him - he was on a
sabbatical while in hiatus. He told me about the compilation album he had done
with some friends and fellow musicians. Andy kept saying,
"Why aren’t you in the business dude? You know enough about it. You play any
instruments?"
I would always change the subject. I would bring it back around to trivia
questions about the genesis of blues and its influence on modern rock music.
Andy said,
"I could use someone like you in my band. You know enough about it."
I replied,
"Not interested right now. Maybe another time. Thanks anyway. Out all of Bowie’s
work == which song do you think has the most blues influence?" Andy asked,
"You don’t believe me do you? You don’t believe I am in a band do you? That is
why you keep changing the subject and walking away. You think I am lying about
it. Is that it?"
"Why would I think you’re lying. If you say your in a band --- your in a band. I
have no reason to doubt you."
"Then why do you make me feel like I am hurting you every time I bring up the
subject. Every time I mention it, it is like I am accidentally knocking you in
your nut sack. What the hell is it? What am I saying wrong? Let me know so I
will not keep doing it."
"It is not you. It is me. Bad memories is all. I know you don’t mean to touch on
them. I am trying not to rain on your parade. I am happy for you. Honestly.
Don’t let me bring you down."
"You got to tell me this story."
"No. I don’t feel like crying tonight. Do you like seeing grown men cry? It was
all in the wink of a young girls eye. Came and went. . I can’t wait to sit
around as an old man and talk about my faded glory days gone by. Hopefully by
then - it will be just a boring story. For now, not enough time has passed to
make it a boring story of days gone by. Just drop it and lets go on. I will try
and be more mindful of myself and not clinch so much when you mention your band.
Go ahead, talk all you want about it. What is the name of it again? Where did
you get the name from? You say your brothers are in it with you?" He went on and started talking about "Malfunkshun." I got up and walked into the
kitchen. I couldn’t help myself. It was raw nerves being exposed to air and I
didn’t know why. Something about him ran deep and I couldn’t put my finger on
it.
Mister Faded Glory | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
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