country boy

i'll come right out and say it. i absolutely hate public transportation. oh, i like it in theory. i like that it's "green" and all that rot; what sort of moderate liberal would i be if i didn't appreciate modest efforts to improve the environment? i suppose it's good that major cities have "convenient" modes of mass transport for those who would otherwise be stuck in the suburban hinterland or the ghetto or what have you. it's nice that the bus gets me to and from school every day. but i think i'd be a bit more inclined to ride if the buses didn't smell like urine and ran on a schedule that doesn't leave me standing in the rain for a half-hour when all i want is dinner.

which is precisely what happened to me this evening. after nigh on twelve hours on campus, my bus pulled away just as i turned the corner to get to the stop. bollocks, as the folks across the pond might say.

luckily, i had my trusty ipod to entertain me.

now, i consider myself a girl of eclectic--if not eccentric--taste, but while i can groove to beyonce and appreciate josh radin, i usually find myself indulging in, well, decidedly unhip artists. i've seen jimmy buffet live twice; i can perform all twelve minutes of meat loaf's "i would do anything for love" sans musical accompaniment; just today, i spent a good deal of my work day twisting to herman's hermits and frankie valli. yeah. i'm twenty-one.

so, it should be no surprise that my ipod dial landed not on taylor swift or j. timberlake--who did, in fact, bring sexy all the way back--but on your american troubadour and mine, john denver.

now, you may argue-- "dylan is clearly the poet laureate of rock!" "leonard cohen speaks to my soul!" i tell you, these men are talented word smiths, but they've got nothing on my bud john. observe the stylish magazine cover to the left. you know you've never seen a pop star who reminds you so much of your fourth grade teacher--especially if your fourth grade teacher was a lady in 1978. it's true that john wasn't glamorous or macho or even all that cool, but his personal canon is pretty impressive. "sunshine on my shoulders?" "rocky mountain high?" "country roads," which, incidentally, is a great song to sing while slightly intoxicated and ringing in the new year? his greatest hits is a veritable line-up of classics. and you know what's great about those songs, besides the inescapable camp value of a select few-- "thank god i'm a country boy" and "grandma's feather bed," for instance-- is that they're evocative. really evocative.

i was first introduced to john denver via the world's oldest and heaviest vhs tape. it dates back to 1978, when my parents were taping every christmas special they possibly could to entertain my then two-year-old brother. the second selection was "john denver and the muppets: a christmas together." solid gold entertainment, friends. it begins with john and the gang--being kermit, miss piggy, et al--in dickensian gear, singing a rousing version of the 12 days of christmas. the entire special continues in a similar fashion, all gimmick and cheese, and it's absolutely delicious. john wears cable knit sweaters and sings about sentimental christmases gone by with kermit, plays a tap-dancing tin solider, and sings a holiday lullaby to his infant son. heavy stuff for a holiday special with puppets, you see. i used to watch this tape a couple times every holiday season, and when i got older, all i had to do was listen to the cd to conjure up some really poignant christmas nostalgia.

i have friends who make fun of my john denver love. one friend in particular--cough, michael, cough--does rather politically incorrect impressions of planes crashing into the ground every time he's mentioned. i, however, stand by my convictions.

have you ever listened to the song "calypso?" likely, if you're my age and even if you're a bit older, probably not. it's a tribute to jacques cousteau (johnny d may be unhip, but damned if he didn't come up with some original source material) that actually makes you feel like you're out on the ocean. there's well-placed bell cues and a sweeping orchestral underscore that literally gives you the impression of following the crest of a wave or is at least reminiscent of how it feels to stand in one of the panoramic theatres at disneyworld and watch the crest of a wave. "annie's song" is one of the most romantic tributes every committed to music. when john sings about his lady filling up his senses like night in a forest, it's very easy to feel what it might be like at night in a forest. the threat of hypothermia and feral raccoons is suddenly null and void. nothing sounds better than cuddling on a bed of pine needles-- or something like that. in any case, it would be really flattering if all of our lovers could give up the ghost and just say things like that.

i told you i was unhip already, didn't i?

okay, yeah, he was a dude with a bad bowl cut who sings songs about nature. but he did it well! and he did it in a way that almost always makes me feel like i'm wherever it is he's singing about. and on a rainy evening in seattle, who wouldn't want to feel like they're in a place like this?

if you'll excuse me, i think i'll go listen to "wild montana skies." it's my personal favorite.