Shine Her Ever-Loving Light on Me

Today I stopped by a bookstore on the Plaza (in Arcata.) This bookstore is always empty, with the same old man sitting behind the counter. I can always count on emptiness and his face when I walk by his store through years of living in Arcata. I wanted to give him business, so I asked for a copy of "Hells Angels" by Hunter S. Thompson. Did not have it in stock. Since shopping local makes me feel like I've done my small part, I asked to order a copy and pay in advance, giving him much needed business. An interesting conversations started while he ran my ATM card.

When I asked if he had liked Thompson, he said that I should be reading "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." He began to speak of the authors of the time period, and the name Ken Kesey came up. I know his life from reading, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe (the only book I've read by Wolfe, which I highly recommend). I told the book store owner that I am always sceptical when an entire generation of drug addict/young college kids rave about certain writers. Yet I read, "One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest" by Kesey and it was awesome. In that book, Kesey taught me that prescription cough medicine with codeine and a little alcohol as a chaser is a wonderful high. Thank you Ken Kesey for that great advice.
From there we talked about Kesey's other book I have yet to read. My next read: "Sometimes a Great Notion." And the conversation turned to the blues singer who wrote the song the titchler line of that novel refers to. Leadbelly's song, "Goodnight Irene".
The store owner sung the lyrics to me:

Last Saturday night, I got married,
me and my wife settled down
Now me and my wife are parted,
I'm gonna take another stroll downtown

Sometimes I live in the country,
sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I take a great notion,
to jump into the river and drown

I love Irene, God knows I do,
I'll love her till the seas run dry
But if Irene should turn me down,
I'd take the morphine and die

Stop rambling, stop your gambling,
stop staying out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family,
stay there by your fireside bright -Leadbelly

The conversation turned to the life of a man (Leadbelly) who sang so well that the warden of the jail pardoned and released him from his murder conviction, according to the bookstore owner.

Here is what I know about Leadbelly. Kurt Cobain covered his song, "Where did you sleep last night" on his acoustic album. Bob Dylan covered Leadbelly's, "The House of the Rising Sun." And everyone knows the song "Midnight Special."
The origins of the song 'Midnight Special' are not so happy; though many a drunken night at a bar has this song been sung in unison, happy and carefree.

Leadbelly was a murderer. He killed a family member. The 'Midnight Special' he refers to is the name of a train he can hear while confined to his cage, in prison and in torment over the crime he committed. His time is owned by wardens and prison guards; he was not free in any sense. The line, "shine a light on me" represents his heart, soul, struggle and prayer for salvation. It's a gorgeous metaphor. Freedom from his prison cell. Freedom from his mind. Leadbelly's anguish is absent in the cover song that Credence Clear Water Revival raped, packaged and sterilized for you to walk down the grocery aisle singing along to while contemplating cheese-its or donuts with dinner. The Midnight Special train and it's origins go as deep as the imprisonment of the singer in all his pain and darkness. Leadbelly was the real deal. He is one of the greatest song writers/musicians I have ever heard. I salute the light in him, even if he knew darkness like a mistress, he sang from his cage like a bird.