Rock-tober 30, 2016

I attended a grand uncle's funeral recently. He led a long, storied life and died peacefully, and my one regret was I didn't spend more time with him. Unfortunately these days it takes major events like weddings and funerals to incite a gathering of the clan from our far flung corners of the country. As all the relatives converged in one place, I noticed something. We were all markedly older than I realized.

To me, it really seems like yesterday all the cousins were sitting at the kids' table at holiday meals and laughing if one of us got gifts of clothes rather than toys under the Christmas tree. This funeral shattered that lens of perception. The reality was most of my aunts and uncles are in their 60's and are retired or very soon will be. Meanwhile, the bulk of my cousins are professionals in their mid 30's, some with kids of their own. That realization was bracing.

Although my high school graduation was nearly 30 years ago, the inescapable presence of social media allows my classmates easy access into each others' lives. We can readily rehash the old days, and the fetters of time and distance fall away. It really does feel like yesterday when we were all 15 years old, prepping for Friday night games and trying to earn our drivers' licenses.

Prince's death on April 21st this year likewise shattered this lens of perception. More than most artists, he was of our generation and his passing struck closer to home than most. Starting in the 80's his star started its meteoric rise and coincided with our high school years. Always a prolific artist, he released an album every year I was in high school, and the singles spawned by his body of work during these years became part of the soundtrack of our school years for my classmates and me.

"Little Red Corvette" and "Delirious" were constantly on the air my freshman year and heralded the Prince juggernaut. The whole world may have partied to "1999" at the turn of the last century, but Prince first played it for our generation back in the fall of '83. His musicianship was superb and I remember spending countless hours trying to emulate the keyboard in "When Doves Cry". Meanwhile, "Raspberry Beret" was just a fun song and actually became my favorite. In 1987 he gave me a great graduation present when he released "U Got the Look" because, well, Sheena Easton.

A consummate songwriter and performer with immense vocal and stylistic range, he always pushed the boundaries of his craft.  His loss leaves rock-dom less innovative, less funky, and a damn sight less colorful.