Friday, September 04, 2009

I'd rather be sailing

This is from the musical, “The New Brain,” written by William Finn, and the musical is autobiographical. It is sung here by Kevin Smith Kirkwood, but there are other versions on the internet. A few years ago my apple pie won a prize--sailing lessons, which I didn't use, but my husband did. Now our Lakeside time revolves around sailing, the wind, the sun, is the flag up, and biking down to the lake every 15 minutes to check. He absolutely loves it.



Synopsis from Wikipedia: "Gordon Schwinn, a talented young songwriter, works at his piano to meet a deadline. Gordon is irritated because he must write a song about Spring for a children's television entertainer who dresses as a frog. He takes a break from his writing and meets his agent Rhoda at a restaurant for pasta. During lunch, Gordon clutches his head and falls face first into his meal. Rhoda calls an ambulance, and Gordon is taken to the hospital. He learns that he has an arteriovenous malformation. Gordon needs an operation, and if he doesn't have it, he could die or never regain the use of his faculties.

While in the hospital, Gordon contemplates his situation. His greatest fear is dying with his greatest songs still inside of him; and so from his hospital bed, and while in a coma, and all throughout his ordeal, he begins writing the songs. He also has several hallucinations that involve various people whom he has encountered. In particular, a homeless lady that he met on his way to get pasta with Rhoda continually pops up.

Gordon eventually has the surgery and recovers completely. The creative block he was experiencing before his ordeal lifts, and he gains new insights. His near death experience encourages him to re-evaluate and better appreciate the people and relationships in his life."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The last paragraph-I could use more of these. Nice piece.

Norma said...

I played this for my husband. He loves it. Even the part about sailing is better than sex? I asked. But he said he didn't get all the words. I'm sure that's what he sang.

Norma said...

Sept 4 had to be the most beautiful day of the summer, and as I was playing this, our neighbor Jim invited my husband to go sailing. It wasn't a little sunfish either! The report was "fabulous."