Sokath, his eyes uncovered

Woodstock – incredibly, I’m too young to have attended. On the weekend of August 15-18 in 1969, I was just turning 11 years old.

Also, we were living half a continent away in Bloomington, Indiana. Daddy was working on his Ph.D (Math – prob and stats) at Indiana University.  Christ, I hated that town, the flat, flat landscape, the tornados, the absence of ocean and we were so damn far away from all our relatives in New England and New York. Yup, I’ve always been an East Coast babe.

My older sister got the double album soundtrack when it came out the next year and I fell madly in love. I swear, I imprinted on it like a duckling on a pup. These musicians were speaking/singing/playing what I was coming to know as MY language.

Back then my two favoritest performances were Richie Havens doing Freedom and Country Joe and the Fish – the Fish Cheer plus I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag. Possibly odd affections for an 11 year old but, c’mon, their respective abso-brilliance is indisputable.

In my bean, I can still hear Joan Baez’s Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s haunting Wooden Ships along with Hendrix’s screaming Star Spangled Banner and Purple Haze but Havens and Country Joe continue to be my faves.

And yes, yezzz, I DO frequently find myself singing Arlo’s Coming into Los Angeles (Bringin' in a couple of keys) BUT it’s the Fish Cheer that shows up in my brainpan most often.

I realized, just last night, how often I fall into shout-singing this tune. I was feeling deep blue and texting Jen, when I broke out in WHAT’S THAT SPELL, WHAT’S THAT SPELL, WHAT’S THAT SPELL? You know, in the Donnaverse that’s shorthand for FUCK which is, ya know, all self explanatory and shit.

This was not the first time I’ve said or texted this to our very young hero (she’s only just turned 50, ffs!). BUT, last night, for the first time in our long-ass friendship, she asked “wut?” To which I oh-so-wittily replied “wut, wut?”

“Did I make a typo on that text?”

“Huh?!”

She then specifically asked me what I meant by WHAT’S THAT SPELL?!

Oh dear rock-n-roll jeebus, I’d forgotten that we’re 12 years apart in age and she was NOT even born when Country Joe scream/sang the anthem for my life. I pulled up a YouTube clip on my telefonino et voilà – we achieved understanding.

I really do seem to have my very own language. I think I need a Star Trekian universal translator BUT it’s GOT to include Tamarian AND the lingua franca of Donnaville.

BONUS CUTS!
Goin Up The Country by Canned Heat. This tune, by the by, also appears in the brill director, Wim Wenders', flick Alice in the Cities.

With a Little Help from My Friends – Joe Cocker