We have all been here before, we have all been here before
As the music faded from the influence of the phonograph stylus, these closing lyrics of the song "Deja Vu" resounded within my mind time and time again in the spring of 1970. The incomparable harmonies of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young drew me in like a moth to a flame. Their sound came together the summer before at Woodstock (absent Neil Young) setting the tone for my senior year at Newport High School. Now I have an enthusiasm for all genres of music (albeit my taste for opera and rap reflects a very limited appetite), but the CSNY sound permeates my soul. At times when I turn inward I seek out a CSNY disc to slide into my CD player or I may even gently place an aging vinyl album onto the turntable when I really want to turn back life's clock. I like the "feel" of the impure sound from the turntable. For someone who can't "carry a tune in a bucket," I have a genuine passion for music.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's album entitled "Deja Vu" was their first in combining the talents of all four musicians/songwriters. Neil Young came to join the others after their debut in the summer of 1969 with a self titled album. These guys brought together the essence of Buffalo Springfield (Stephen Stills-Neil Young), the Byrds (David Crosby) and the Hollies (Graham Nash) into a colossal sound. It is a sound when heard today that immediately takes you back to another time and place, that being the transition from the sixties to the seventies.
If I had ever been here before
I would probably know just what to do
Don't you?
If I had ever been here before on another time around the wheel
I would probably know just how to deal
With all of you
The curtain fell on the Newport High School Class of 1970 thirty-five years ago today (May 29), on the last Friday in May. On the same last Friday in May, 2005, I attended the graduation ceremonies for Little Rock's Pulaski Academy Class of 2005 to which my youngest daughter, Elizabeth, belongs. As this group of young people proceeded to their seats amongst the flashes from memory preserving cameras at the outset of the event, the hands on my wristwatch seemed to spin backward at rapid pace. I heard "Pomp and Circumstance" streaming from the public address system. I was instantly aware of walking alongside littermate Gene Bennett into the gymnasium at Newport High in 1970. We were in cap and gown. I looked up into the risers of the old gym to see my parents aglow with smiles. Then I glanced into the aisle of Fellowship Bible Church where Pulaski Academy's graduation ceremonies 2005 were taking place to catch glimpse of Elizabeth's radiant smile as she marched toward her seat. I returned the smile. I raised up my camera to capture the moment. We have all been here before.
I am confident that many cameras snapped up candid moments from 35 years ago at our graduation. I don't recall seeing any pictures of me or any of my classmates from that day. As a matter of fact I don't remember anything in particular about that day except for marching in next to my life long pal Gene Bennett and the aforementioned smiles on my parents' faces. Oh yeah, and "Pomp and Circumstance". I think that is enough. Possibly I was consumed with future thoughts at that time, not past thoughts. Thoughts of what comes next in life.
The background music that accompanies life's moments sets them apart from one another. Maybe that is the reason that I don't have salient memory of our commencement ceremonies. I mean "Pomp and Circumstance" is played at every graduation. Deja Vu! Had I heard one of my favorite tunes of the time such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Carry On" or Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower", my recollection of the moment may be more vivid. But then it would not have been a graduation, would it?
What I do remember are the students and the teachers in whose presence I've been time and time again both physically and mentally. Good times, bad times. Old times, new times. Thirty-five years seems like a mighty long time, but when I think of the people who surrounded me then, it seems like now. We are who we were. So the hair is a bit more gray or has fallen out, the laugh lines at the corners of our eyes and mouth are a little deeper, the body tone is somewhat out of shape ... the thoughts of you and feelings for you are the same now as they were then. And I miss you now. But I remember. I remember just as you do. Some of you have remarked that I have a particularly good memory surpassing that of your own. I don't think my memory of people and events is any more pronounced than that of any other. What I know is that the people in my life are unforgettable. When I think of you, the memories are sharp. And it makes me wonder ... well, the bell is about to ring. I'm putting the finishing touches on my senior English paper for Mrs. Carr. I will catch you later in the hallway near your locker.
After graduation we all experience the divergence of the path on which we walked together. On the back of the program from Elizabeth's commencement there is a listing of the graduates and the respective colleges which they plan to attend. Many have plans to attend colleges in Arkansas, but I also noticed schools in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, California, Florida, New York, Arizona, Virginia and even Vermont. Students in every graduating class bear witness to a similar separation. But they will have opportunity to come back together from time to time and I hope they choose to take advantage of each selected juncture. These are times of reunion.
My personal reunion experiences have been awesome. Of course I come away from each reunion happening a bit empty realizing I wasn't able to spend as much time with each person there that I would have liked. But the happiness in the moment brings the stories of yore back to life. It is interesting to me that I have much better recall of the reunions enjoyed by the Newport High School Class of 1970 than I do of that point in time when we celebrated the culmination of our school years on graduation day. Of course the consumption of spirits on graduation evening at such a tender age may have impaired the memory a bit. But the reason is much more than short term over long term recollection. I believe it lies in the heart. The old adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder" invokes thought and, in turn, enlightens memory. As the years pass, the class of 1970 seems to grow closer together. Our reunions reflect a genuine caring for one another. I have been able to attend each reunion held at ten years, twenty years, thirty years. We had so much fun at our thirty year reunion, we conjured up an "encore" reunion at 31 years. The very next year we threw ourselves a collective fiftieth birthday party (a 32 year reunion). Later this summer we will gather together once again on August 6 for our thirty-fifth reunion. Mark your calendars. Share the love. Becky Cathey Landreth is the ringleader for this year's get together. You can contact her at rlandreth@asun.edu. The Class of 1970 has a number of individuals who are dedicated to our class as a whole. They represent the nucleus of our class who continue to live and work in Newport. I am grateful to each member of this exceptional litter of Pups who has remained near the kennel we all call home. They make it easy for those of us who have strayed to find our way back to the pack.
And I feel
like I've been here before
Feel
like I've been here before
And you know it makes me wonder
What's going on under the ground, hmm
Do you know? Don't you wonder?
I'm sure Elizabeth and her classmates have no thoughts of reunions at this stage of the game of life. I didn't when I was her age. After all, on graduation day many have not yet experienced separation from friends for any length of time. I do know I was particularly blessed in living in the same small Arkansas town throughout my school years. Family movements often create interesting circles like those that reunited Elizabeth and Jessica Fortune, daughter of Jeff (NHS Class of 1974) and Jo Fortune, in the Pulaski Academy Class of 2005. Elizabeth and Jessica were preschool playmates in Newport prior to our family's move from there in 1991. Both eventually moved to Little Rock. The mobility of our world today often interrupts the school experience and the relationships established, but I don't think it lessens the intimacy of friendships born during these times. It is these friendships that bring joy to reunion. Getting together with friends and family begets love and laughter. At each reunion of friends I find myself in another time. As Yogi Berra, the former baseball player and part time prophet, once said, "This is like deja vu all over again." Light hearted moments are relived, stories are embellished, fiction becomes fact.
As I watched Elizabeth and her classmates walk across the stage to pick up their diplomas on this graduation day in 2005, I shared in their excitement and accomplishment. It is in the sense that each new day is a new adventure regardless of age. The body doesn't respond in the manner of days gone by, but the mind can still play tricks on me. We have all been here before.
The Class of 1970 accessed its music much differently than does the Class of 2005. We listened to AM radio - KNBY (the hometown station), KAAY in Little Rock and WLS in Chicago were the principal outlets catching our attention. We visited Ace Home Center on Malcolm Avenue to buy our 45 rpm singles or albums of our favorite artists. I always enjoyed visiting with Boyce Fortune at Ace who kept the music selection up to speed. Boyce also made sure the jukebox in the pool room at his nephew Mike's (NHS Class of 1969) house was filled with the current hit singles. He had a pretty good selection of 8-track tapes as well. We often turned to "live" music in the form of local "garage" bands or concerts by major label artists of the day. The "live" music experiences are some of my most favored memories since I was always in the company of friends when I went to such events whether they were at the Legion Hut in Newport or out of town. In August 1974 I attended a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young outdoor concert at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis with several college friends. It happened to be the night before my first class as a first year law student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. My good friend Don Barnett and I drove from Memphis to Fayetteville following the concert and arrived just in time for my 8:00 am class. There was no question of priorities that day. It's no wonder I didn't finish law school. Thirty-one years later "Barn" and I are separated by the distance between Mountain Home, Arkansas and Sacramento, California, but we are close in spirit. We relived the 1974 CSNY concert just a few short weeks ago when I drove down to Heber Springs to attend the funeral services for his mother. We were joined there by other close friends Keith Croft, Kenny Brewer and Philip Jackson. Deja Vu!
Today the Class of 2005 has satellite radio where they can select their preferred genre or era of music at their whim. Or they can download thousands of songs into their Ipod to accompany them wherever they may go. Such devices have nothing on our portable record players except that we did need to be within extension cord distance of an electrical outlet and carrying around a selection of records was somewhat cumbersome. I cherished my transistor radio, but the reception was not always crystal clear. The alternative and urban sounds of today don't quite measure up to the rock 'n roll, pop, and soul tunes of 35 years ago (I think many in the Class of 2005 may wish to debate me on that issue), but the delivery today is far superior. The times are certainly different.
It's in the music. You can take notice of it on television commercials. Advertising agencies know who we are. When you see a Cadillac commercial and hear Led Zeppelin, the gig is up. I was in attendance at a banking conference not along ago when a young man made an observation in a presentation about advertising targeted at specific generations. We are who we were. Deja vu! Yes, we are who we were. The background music defines each generation, each graduating class. The song does not remain the same, unless of course it's "Pomp and Circumstance". My best to the Class of 2005. You have much to look forward to in life. Reunion often with friends. Such times will bring you laughter. Laughter fuels the good times.
We have all been here before, we have all been here before
We have all been here before, we have all been here before
Keep this Yogi Berra saying in mind, "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." I'm going to the 35th reunion of the NHS Class of 1970 on August 6 in Newport. Hope to see you there.
I'm Miles from Nowhere . . .
joe
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