Have you had a secret dream of what you would have liked to be when you grew up? I have! In particular, I wanted to be a drummer for a Rock Band! Not just any rock band, oh, no...I wanted to be with Bon Jovi! I would have liked to be a lead singer or even a back-up singer. Remember the Do-Wap songs of the past? The back-up singers did all the do-wapping and la-la-las.... LOL And the Black performers always had the most awesome dance moves while they did the back-up singing. AWESOME!!
I always liked Bon Jovi...He's a man with family values and a lot of that is reflected in his music. Take this song....Lay You Down In A Bed Of Roses
Trying hard to capture the moment this morning I don't know
'Cause a bottle of vodka is still lodged in my head
And some blond gave me nightmares, think that she's still in my bed
As I dream about movies they won't make of me when I'm dead
With an ironclad fist I wake up and french kiss the morning
While some marching band keeps it's own beat in my head
While we're talking about all of the things that I long to believe
About love, the truth, what you mean to me and the truth is
Baby you're all that I need
I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses
For tonight I'll sleep on a bed of nails
I wanna be just as close as your Holy Ghost is
And lay you down on a bed of roses
Well I'm so far away the step that I take's on my way home
A king's ransom in dimes I'd give each night to see through this pay phone
Still I run out of time or it's hard to get through
Till the bird on the wire flies me back to you
I'll just close my eyes, whisper baby blind love is true
Well this hotel bar's hangover whiskey's gone dry
The barkeeper's wig's crooked and she's giving me the eye
Well I might have said yeah but I laughed so hard I think I died
Now as you close your eyes, know I'll be thinking about you
While my mistress she calls me to stand in her spotlight again
Tonight I won't be alone, But you know that don't mean I'm not lonely
I've got nothing to prove for it's you that I'd die to defend
So this song is to his wife while he is out on the road giving concerts. His mistress is the spotlight on the stage and when he says he won't be alone he's talking about the audience. He says that being without her is like sleeping on a bed of nails. I love this song!!
He has done many, many songs and one of the newest ones is called "Work For the Working Man"...
I'm here trying to make a living, I ain't living just to die
Never getting back what I'm giving
Can someone somewhere help me justify why these strong hands are on the un-employment line
Now there's nothing left but what's on my mind
Who's gonna work for the working man
(Hurt) for the working man
(Work) Get your hands in the dirt
Who's gonna work off the curse
(Work) Brother I'll be damned
(Work) If I don't raise a hand
(Work) Whose gonna work, work, work For the working man, working man
Empty pockets full of worry Had to get two jobs
And it was hard enough just getting by With the grace of god I'll get us through
I only know what I know how to do I'm the only one who's got to look my family in the eye
Day after day - Night after night
I lost my pension, They took my I.D
These were my friends, These were my dreams
These were my hopes, These are my streets
Can you hear me?
His music reflects what's happening in today's world and with today's people and families. He has a reputation to be proud of...His music speaks to me, to my soul. Don't get me wrong, I also love Aerosmith and the Stones and other rock musicians, but for me .... being on stage, in front of thousands of people, banging on the drums for "my man" Bon Jovi to belt out this music would be a HUGE rush!!!!
Will I ever stop loving rock? NO, never!! and yah, I like it LOUD!!! I used to take my oldest daughter and her friends to rock concerts all the time....we saw Journey and the Doobie Brothers and more that my old memory can't remember....but it was so much fun!! A few years ago my children bought me and my Love tickets to go see Elton John when he actually came to Fairbanks! I cried through the whole concert...it was such an awesome experience. He came here with only a piano...no band and only for one performance. We were in the balcony and I could look right down on him. It was sooo awesome. A few years ago my oldest daughter also got tickets for my youngest daughter and I to go with her and her husband to a Prince concert in Seattle. WOW, we had "nose bleed" seats but the concert was just unbelieveable. The two most memorable points from that concert were when Prince sat center stage with an acoustic guitar and sang alone. The other was when his bass player played "Amazing Grace" on the electric bass....alone....just WOW!!
So, I "live my dream" when I play Bon Jovi music and pretend I'm the drummer or back-up singer...cause I know every song!! It doesn't hurt to day-dream and if you have a "secret" long-ago dream I would love to hear about it.
Have a ROCK-filled day!
janie
My first husband (high school sweetheart) was a drummer in a garage band when I met him at the age of 15. (He was 17) We got married as soon as I graduated high school, and bought a house with a garage that we turned into a band room. The members of the band would come over 3x/week and practice.
ReplyDeleteSoon they were playing in clubs all over Philadelphia and Trenton NJ. They mostly played heavy metal (Judas Priest, Rush, Black Sabbath), but also played what we now call "Classic Rock": Stones, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Van Halen...
They made a good living playing the weekends, and I loved going with them when they had a gig. I was so proud to be married to the drummer. :)
A couple of times, they were hired to play at block parties, and private parties. Once, for a block party, the bass player became sick the day before the gig. I used to play the guitar (still remember, but lost my callouses a long time ago), and I knew just about every riff the bass player did from all the practice sessions. So they asked me to play bass! I was a wreck, but I pulled it off! It was so exciting, and everyone loved that the band had a female bass player. I never played with them in public again, but I often sat in during practice. I also sang with the band at practice (but never in public). They were fun times!
But then, I had our sons, and his regular weekend gigs and time away from our family took its toll. Being married to a 'rock star' wasn't something I saw long term in my future. Unfortunately, our marriage suffered. The nail in the coffin came when he started doing cocaine. It was downhill from there. We divorced when I was 24.
I still carry the great memories of those days even though our marriage didn't work out. We had some great times. And now, when I hear songs that the band used to play, I'm transported back in time 30 years. And I can still remember some of the bass riffs too. :)
Susan
Susan! What an awesome story!! Would I know the band? What are some of their songs? If I don't hear another thing from anyone on this blog, you have made my day!! I would never have known this about you otherwise. Thank you so much for sharing this part of your life with me!
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My sweet Geri and I have been to many concerts together and separately, but the most recent concert that we attended together after our reunion was Elton John who played in Milwaukee. We sang along almost every song, and cried our eyes out at the memories we both lived during the years his earlier songs were first popular. It was fabulous!
ReplyDeleteYou probably don't know their band, as it was a club circuit band, and they changed names everytime they changed band members. (They were known as Triaxx, Deuce, and Witz End, and played from 1978-1987) My ex continued to play in bands after moving to Florida and then to Los Angeles after our divorce. His band name then was Aarson
ReplyDeleteHis brother was the lead guitarist and was offered a job with the band Cinderella back in the early 80s. But his loyalty to his brother (my ex) and band mates was stronger so he turned it down. Cinderella made it big a year or so later, when Jon Bon Jovi saw them perform and told his agent to check them out! I often wonder if my ex BIL regrets his decision now.
It was quite a whirlwind lifestyle we led back then. My house was always filled with (loud) music. When I was pregnant with my eldest son, I'd sit in the band room while they played, and he would kick inside me. After he was born, he continued to kick when they practiced. Today, he is an accomplished electric guitarist, who has always played by ear. He picked up my acoustic guitar and began strumming it when he was only 3. We bought him his first electric guitar when he was 5. His brother also plays. I think they started learning in the womb. :)
Wow! Great stuff here, Jane! And the comments are awesome, too! When I first moved to Fairbanks from Haines out of high school, I saw Billy Preston play at the Lathrop High School auditorium (I think?). We didn't have a big place for concerts back then. I also saw Three Dog Night in Fairbanks. Seeing Elton John in Fairbanks must have felt like he was sitting in your living room. What a treat! Yes, your post made me smile too. I'm a classic rocker myself.
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