Dark Side of a Half-Century

It’s scary how often I say, “Fifty years ago…”. I say it as often as “When I was a kid…” It’s scary when measured on the Geezer Scale. It’s not so scary when you say you are “long in the tooth”. If you still have teeth.

Anyway, “fifty years ago” is a sweet spot for writers of memoir. Vivid memories pour out every day. Yesterday it was Wounded Knee. Today it’s “The Dark Side of the Moon”.

I remember sitting in a strobe-lit dorm room where someone passed a joint and said, “You have to hear this.” I remember time-warped kinesthesia, but I can’t tell you how many times the ritual was reenacted.

So, for Dark Side’s 50^th anniversary, here’s the Pink Floyd track I remember best, even though it’s from another album. Another Brick in the Wall. Kids singing in a chorus nail it every time.

Delacroix said, “To be a poet at 20 is to be 20. To be a poet at 40 is to be a poet.” I’m afraid I missed the deadline. I’m just a prisoner of prose trying to figure out the right metaphorical/mathematical ratio between 17 and 67.