If I stay here with you now...

Ah, that Old Lynyrd  Skynyrd Song "Free Bird".  The memories come rushing back to me. How many times have I sang that song?  To me, it is about a guy who feels compelled to leave his high school, his hometown, his sweet heart and travel the world, because "there are too many places I've go to see".

As I work with the song on my guitar now, I look at the lyrics with a more jaded eye.  As I approach 50, I see the ghosts of things passed and opportunities missed.  Yeah, I travelled, but at what cost?

I've been around the world two or three times in either direction and have lived outside my hometown for about 29 years.  I've lived in Asia for seven years, lived in Europe for four years.  I was in Tiananmen Square, China just months before the Tenamin Square Massacre.   I had my picture taken with Chinese Soldiers about half my height right where the students would later build a model of the Statue of Liberty in protest to their Communist Government's policies.

I've flown helicopters at low level, in formation, full of screaming Infantry soldiers under Night Vision Goggles along the DMZ  between North and South Korea.  I've been to almost the furthest southern tip of Africa to the furthest northern part to the furtherest western part of Africa.  I guess that checks the block.  There were "too many things I've got see".

But really, in each place I was, it was the human element that resonated with me.  It was the people that helped me see a deeper part of the humanity I live in and I live for.  I could have easily seen all that in the eyes of the high school girlfriend who believed in me so much, so long ago.

As I go back to learning the lyrics of the song, I find the words to be very narcissistic.  I've rewritten the words to my version of this song.  Insert "Lord help me, I must change..." instead of "Lord help me I can't change..."

Dude, when reality finally catches up to you, you are gonna change.  You better learn to embrace change, change in the right direction, keep your bearings and still remember who the person you are what what it is that you are all about.  If you are lucky and you pay attention, maybe that won't change.......

Great song, but the words are just too narcissistic for me now.

A friend and I in Morocco, or was it Tunisia?

Free Bird anyone?

I'll be working on that song for a while.