Call me pathological (or, Lest we forget)...

Sorry, but I just couldn't decide what to call this end-of-year ramble, but as years' ends draw close, my nostalgia synapses begin firing off at a passionately high voltage, so I think either title should work...

Many years ago, in a distant universe, I did a music program called "Ember at Large." 

For one of my shows, I interviewed the brilliant songwriter and jazz performer Dave Frishberg. We were discussing the inspiration for some of his wickedly witty and sometimes wistful lyrics.   

I think we might have been talking about his song “The Dear Departed Past.”  It could have been “Van Lingle Mungo” or “Do You Miss New York?” Doesn’t matter. What I most remember was his telling me he had “this pathological fondness for the past.”

Oh, yes, he had a twinkle in his eye when he said that, but if you listen to his songs (or even just read a lyric), you’ll realize he takes some serious rapier-like jabs at some of what’s gone wrong with present day culture.  And if there was a lot wrong with said culture in 1986 when I recorded that interview…

So I guess the end of another year is not an altogether inopportune time to lift a glass to “the dear departed past,” and recognize some of its worth, lest the dizzying progression of dehumanizing technology chuck more of it into the great cosmic dumpster.

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