In all of my life I (we) have never spent so
much towards one event, EVER:
Tickets $320
Sitter $50
Dinner $36
Max Train $10
Merchandise $80
Drinks $10
Outfit $40
$546
As every item was racking up I found myself
asking, “Is this experience worth the cost?” Honestly, the night could finance
a whole lotta other things. As I stood in front of (what were prime) seats I
looked to my right. Adam stood looking straight ahead mesmerized.
Through the night I was answering questions to a
question I had not yet asked: What did the Garth Brooks World Tour teach
me?
I have an emotional attachment to nearly every
song in the set.
He started singing “Rodeo” I was back in high
school listening to Dad and Binks singing this song together. It was so fast
Binks mouth did not move as fast as the words came. The laughter and the entire
moments was effortless joy. There has never been a time I do not think of those
days when I hear “Rodeo”. It was his second song. I looked at Adam and yelled
how I wish Daddy were here to see this. I know he’d of loved it more than I.
“Unanswered Prayers” lyrics can strike a cord
with anyone. If I was to have an emotional measure “The Dance” produces the
same tie, but at the other end of the scale. The lyrics of both songs tug at
reminding us to appreciate Gods plan and keeping gratitude in how we come to
receive these gifts. The songs are beautiful. Actually, two of my favorites as
both take the audience full circle. I have familiarity in both. I can set apart
people of my life to be whom Garth is singing. This is powerful.
He sang and sang. I brought to mind past loves,
friendships and experiences. The remembrance ended vastly different than at the
time I hoped. The struggles and healing I would repeat. I would not want to
miss those chapters. These songs reminded me of my hearts wishes and travels.
Songs linked people to memories that until then
had no connection. For instance “The Thunder Rolls” is about a cheating husband
and the upset of his wife. As soon as Garth begins:
…Every
light is burnin'
In a house across town
She's pacin' by the telephone
In her faded flannel gown…
In a house across town
She's pacin' by the telephone
In her faded flannel gown…
This song has absolutely zero
to do with Grammy Bear. Yet, it strikes a memory of her. Why? I’ve forgotten as
I was a child she wore flannel nightgowns. In a millisecond I remembered how it
felt. It was comfort and security of being safe in her arms. I long forgot
this. The song acted as a boom to a discarded memory.
Trisha came on. She heaved at
my memory collection and took me back to the eighth-grade. “She is in love with
a Boy” was released and I was young and in love with whom later became my
high-school to early adulthood sweetheart. We were madly in love. True blue
honest as it gets love. Once it started the fire was undeniable by everyone.
Come the 9th grade we
thought we had it all figured out. Trisha took me back to those innocent days
of desire, wishes and certainty only felt by a teenage girl in love. My heart
runs over with gratefulness for our dance.
Billy Joel sang it first.
Garth sang it as a cover: “Shameless”. Adam grabbed me. He was enthralled
watching Garth give his all vocally to the lyrics. All of the while Adam held
me close. Through the concert he would touch me, rub my hand and put his arm
over my shoulder. “Shameless” brought feelings to the surface for Adam. As
silly as it may seem this it is an amazing thing!
You see in all my life I've never found
What I couldn't resist, what I couldn't turn down
I could walk away from anyone I ever knew
But I can't walk away from you
I have never let anything have this much control over me
I worked too hard to call my life my own
Well I made myself a world and it worked so perfectly
But it's your world now, I can't refuse
I've never had so much to lose
Well I'm shameless
You know it should be easy for a man who's strong
To say he's sorry or admit when he's wrong
I never lost anything I ever missed
But I've never been in love like this
It's out of my hands
I know this man loves me with
all of who he is. I am certain he has never loved another as he loves me. I
have seen and heard our relationship has transformed him from a reckless boy to
a man who try-try as he might gives his all. I can say we are shameless for one
another.
Seeing him was healing. Music
speaks to hope, happiness and wounds. As I watched and listened to Brooks sing
“Standing Outside The Fire” it was almost awkward to hear. I imagined everyone
taking a looky-loo into my thoughts. Forty thousand eyeballs entering into my
secret. I felt embarrassed and shame as I imagined it shared out to the world.
Paranoid, much? Yes, I have moments of needing to be bigger than big. I
have an accurate hunger for dramatics. I want to give back in large ways. I
want to feel life and I want life to feel me. These words provide me something
I need to take notice of.
There’s
this love that is burning
Deep
in my soul
Constantly
yearning to get out of control
Wanting
to fly higher and higher
I
can’t abide
Standing
outside the fire
Music is an art; it is
Rembrandt to the ear. The Louvre audience is captivated by Venus de Milo. Sure
to some a comparison between Garth and the exquisite Broadway legend Lizza
Mineeli is nonexistent. He is this centuries Chopin. Argue my comparisons? Let us
scrutinize.
He is the top-selling solo
artist in history as well as the only solo artist to surpass three hundred and
sixty million (million, people!) albums over six releases. His sold out
concerts and TV ratings are high markers too. Garth Brooks ranks among the biggest
star of all time. This ranking is kind of a big deal.
Looking at these figures lends
a new perspective. He is the best-of-the best in his craft of musical art. He
is the Mikhail Baryshnikov of music. Brooks is officially the measure in the
world of music. He is a finely tuned Glenn Miller.
We are living in his reign. In
time, society will change perception having distance in time. Living in the
same point in time with Brooks alters how we view his importance to artists
before him. An identifying period of the future will unveil all he has
accomplished. It will be then his art will be considered as an immense
magnitude in the arts.
I was driving our babysitter
home. She asked who we saw. I told her. She asked if it was similar to the
Justin Beiber concert she had been. I could not help myself. I laughed allowed.
I had to confess I do not know what a teen throb concert entails, but am
certain there lays any similarities. She explained her concert. I was right
other than a singer the likeness ended.
Again, she asked who “Gerth”
is. I looked at her and gave pause. This lovely thirteen-year-old girl has
never heard of this icon. ICON! There has been a musical injustice to the youth
of our nation. Driving south on the I-205 I felt as though the world engulfed
me. I was officially the oldest person alive. I looked at her and all I could
say, “I am much too young to feel this darn old.”
I need to recap:
An evening of uninterrupted
conversation while eating a complete dinner in an adult restaurant.
Riding on MAX for the first
time, alone.
Adam stood looking straight ahead mesmerized.
An energy I thought was ancient history (for us
both) was released.
The magic of reconnection was felt.
Memories of forgotten days
came alive.
The opportunity to introduce
a child to Garth Brooks.
Sharing the same space as an
ICON.
Given the ability to open
hard truths and own each.
Life goes on while sober
living.
An ambiguous time to be home.
I calculate the $540 spent to
calculate the return.
Adam’s captivation is worth
it all by itself. Everything else is a windfall.
