“See those rays shining
down upon the darkened page”
Michael Nesmith

Last night we went to a concert. It was Michael Nesmith. Yes, “Mike” from The Monkees. For those of you who don’t know, Mike has had a long and varied post-Monkees career. He is an inspired songwriter and is touring right now, at the age of 71, with an incredible band.

To me, a lot of the fun of a concert (or any event, really) is the anticipation. I prepare for a concert by listening to lots of the artist’s music, often repeating it over and over so I know it fairly well. This enhances my enjoyment of the actual performance, because I know a bit about the music ahead of time. In this particular case, preparing for Michael’s concert, I was reminded of the power of words. Michael uses words with amazing dexterity, pulling rich meaning from even the simplest scenarios. The example I have quoted above is from his song Rays, from the album of the same name. You can hear the joy in this song!

Another of my favorites is Joanne, Michael’s first hit single after leaving The Monkees. I do still have the 45 record! Again, the lyrics are the star. My favorite phrase from the song:

But staying with her and my little bit of wisdom
Broke down her desires
Like a light through a prism, into yellows and blues
And the tune that I could not have sung

Just wow. Gives me goosebumps.

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