Eyes of the World

Listen while you read: 4/26/77

Right outside this lazy summer home
You don't have time to call your soul a critic, no
Right outside the lazy gate of winter's summer home
Wondering where the nuthatch winters
Wings a mile long just carried the bird away

Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world
But the heart has its beaches, its homeland, and thoughts of its own
Wake now, discover that you are the song that the morning brings
But the heart has its seasons, its evenings and songs of its own

There comes a redeemer and he slowly too fades away
There follows a wagon behind him that's loaded with clay
And the seeds that were silent all burst into bloom and decay
The night comes so quiet and it's close on the heels of the day

Wake up . . . 

Sometimes we live no particular way but our own
Sometimes we visit your country and live in your home
Sometimes we ride on your horses, sometimes we walk alone
Sometimes the songs that we sing are just songs of our own

Wake up . . . 

~  Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia (The Grateful Dead)

Do you know where you were 44 years ago today? I know where I was! Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway in upstate New York for Summer Jam, a concert featuring The Grateful Dead, The Band, and The Allman Brothers. With an estimated 599,999 people there besides me, it was said to be larger than Woodstock's measly half a million. The Dead did "Eyes of the World," which was released two and a half months later on Wake of the Flood in October 1973. The video linked above was filmed nearly four years later at the Capital Theatre in Passaic NJ. Pretty sure I was at that show, too, as I rarely missed a Dead concert that was within driving distance back in those days.

I love this song. It's on my playlist for my morning walk/run, and it always puts an extra spring in my step when Shuffle decides to play it. It also reinforces my belief that I have an awesome responsibility to see as much of the world as I can before I depart the planet. And it politely asks me to be observant, to take in all of nature's beauty, and to sing my own song. These days, I welcome that reminder, as I can easily become too bogged down in the terrible things that are happening in the world. Note to self: turn off the news and put on The Dead.

Summer Jam was a long time ago. My memory of it is not sharp. I remember having very chapped lips and sunburn from sitting too long in the sun. I remember neglecting to lock the door of the Port-o-Jon and someone opening it as I sat there. I remember the Friday night soundcheck which was a concert in and of itself. I remember being young. I do not remember the traffic, the rain, or the ride home. I don't remember how I got this old.