And there was a time when my life could have very well ended up being a story in one of his old songs. I had a beard, sailed a lot, drank a lot more, was always tan and even with a college education and good prospects in life lined up decided that I would rather wander around the world as an expat somehow finding my way. The plan was to take my knowledge of the ocean, fishing and most thing nautical, find work on a sportfishing boat and live the life of a captain. I'd listen to his first three albums, dress mostly like he did on the cover of A1A with the same bottle of beer constantly in my hand and while high on red wine dream about the lands, people and events that would unfold before me, in the end it all somehow working out.
That innocence bled away quite quickly when my captain friends who worked 70' Vikings and other fine steeds would sit at the bar, they were in their forties or fifties, usually divorced and for the most part seemed unhappy. Around that time I started thinking about how much better it could be to be the owner of said Vikings and have the economic freedom to jaunt away at will while still retaining a normal life, possibly a wife and a home and not drinking at a bar with a wide eyed 17 year old every other night, picking up barmaids and using the boat as a hourly motel. By chance the men who owned those boats and I became friendly and I was given offers in their line of work forty miles north and up the Hudson River, close to the battery in rooms with elevated floors, swirling fans and intensity that would drive most people mad. It did for one of the owners who had a 61' Buddy Davis (if you don't know boats, well, know that a BD is a Saville Row bespoke suit of a boat) and who also had a massive heart attack at 37.
It was still a good option though and one I was close to pursuing. Instead, a part of me still wanted to be a bit more free and I played a simple Hedge and joined the Navy, more stable but not as stable as a desk job.
In the very twilight of my career now I look back at that decision and realize that just like Gobstoppers, realize how good it was at one point and how over them or it I am right now. Because I am. Totally. But I know that if I spent the same eleven years at the desk, if I made it that long, I would have been terribly wealthy but never have the experiences I had, the ones people write songs about.
That isn't to say that the song is over, merely a coda at this point and just like the song mentioned here I will be heading to Paris in a short few months, a man who still has a lot of questions, still rather impressive, aggressive and yes, still pretty young. For me the wars took place in the east, both the middle with trips to the far, I never saved the world and a decade slipped away. I come back to this song, a song that Bob Dylan actually claims as a favorite and am reminded how great it was, how good it still is and how even when you think the time has passed that piece of candy can still satisfy even with now a more sophisticated palate.
-The history of the song as described by JB (so he says) corresponds with the title photo and is a story worth reading.
