Lookin’ Back (On What Was Said).

I'm not sure what to think about rock 'n' roll -- or those who play it. I don't know what inspires such music. And I really couldn't tell you who is infinitely moved by its melodic message, if there is one. It's a creation of strings, metal, wood, plastic, various wires and sometimes electricity. There are some occasions when none of those elements are needed. The music can be made from anything, or so we've been led to believe. It's a sound that can break hearts and give hope; fill arenas and cause riots. The songs bring life, as well as death.

My guess is that nobody really knows what rock 'n' roll is. Perhaps critics can write a creative recollection or give a clever theory, but nobody knows. These words are nothing but truth. Don't let those crazy rock critics fool you. Everyone is just trying to make a buck; gain respect. I commend the writers for trying to give an explanation, but we're light-years away from understanding. The feeling of rock 'n' roll isn't something that can be expressed through words, written or spoken. Rather, it's the chill that runs through your body when a chord is struck; when that first painful note is sung. A lyric that makes you remember the forgotten past. In short, it's the teardrop that falls from your eye to the ground.

I don't need to know what rock 'n' roll is, nor do I want to. It could be a movement that has already passed. Here today, gone tomorrow. Remember the '60s, man? Maybe it never existed in the first place. Could the Beatles have fooled us all? Was Mr. Presley (the King) a figment of our imagination? All these years the Rolling Stones have been living a lie. And Led Zeppelin, the Police and Van Halen are nothing but a laughing stock of decades past. Let us cash in before our moment in the sun has disappeared, friends. The old bluesmen are sitting on the back porch of the South, laughing at us all.

None of this is a concern. Just give me the raw emotion it brings and the words it can inspire. Let the music get you higher than you've ever been. I'd like to think there was a time in my life when I participated in the creation of rock 'n' roll. "Looking back on what was said, money lies and people dead." Words from a song written way back when, first on acoustic and later through distorted amplification. A rocked-up blues riff accompanied the lyrics, which spoke of a criminal act gone wrong. Along the beaches of Mexico.

I've since lost my train of thought, as the church choir that lives across the street has entered through my bathroom window (into my ears) and invaded my focus. If nothing else, dear reader, remember this. There are many rock 'n' roll imposters among us. And you may very well be one of them. On the other hand, you could be the savior we've all been waiting for.