Souls Get Tried, Hearts Broken
I heard from a friend recently, for the first time in years.
His story got worse as it unfolded. A list of sorrows and loss.
Over the years he went from one bad job to another. Small-town economy is like that of the big city. Diminishing returns. Leaving the field you worked in just to have a job. To having no job.
Then cancer in the family. Med expenses. Recovery! But the illness took it's toll. Separation.
The death of the family pet was a final blow.
The life-blood of this friend has always been music. His Facebook photos are of band mates all the way back to junior high. He's in a band now. He contacted me to see if I could help with a band logo. And he told me his story.
A part of art's job should be to tell the story of the artist's times. Goya and the horror of invasion; Hopper and the isolation of the city; Picasso and the bombing of a Spanish town.
As I worked on the band's logo, I kept replaying his pathetic story, like the worst country song I'd ever heard. Couldn't help being touched by it. He summed it up: Living in his brother's empty house, a for-sale sign on the lawn. Time running out.
The times are rough.
I live in a middle-class neighborhood. As I walk the dog I note all the front porches with the rocking chairs and little tables and potted plants. They are set designs from a world that doesn't exist any more. People no longer sit on their porches. They sit inside, behind drawn window shades. Worrying.
The only people on the street are those walking their dogs.
I decided to do a little "report" from my era. I surfed the internet for various images and put them together, artified them, in the electronic collage above -- "When Times Get Rough".
Music is keeping my friend alive and hopeful.
He liked the logo.
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