"This song's for my Aunt Peggy . . . "

I just returned from a great set by ANDREW AND THE PRETTY PUNCHERS at Blind Bob's in the Oregon district.

Actually it was 3/4 of the PRETTY PUNCHERS as lead guitarist Kevin "Clapton? . . . sorry - never heard of the fella" Rogers was unable to make the gig.

Tonight was personally special for both myself and my brother Tim as we heard the premier performance of the song "Hide And Seek" that was written on November 17th, the day after we lost our sister Peggy.

The song is surprisingly upbeat and poppy (just the way Peggy would want it I suspect). Actually the music, and the deceptively casual, almost conversational lyrics, lend themselves very well to the shock and disbelief - the "this hasn't really happened" feeling - that I know lots of folks were experiencing those first few days (and still, perhaps).

Here are some of the lines that I think I heard:
"you took the short road"

"i closed my eyes and you were gone"

"it'll be strange living here without you
.don't know what everybody's gonna do"

And the child-like question "where'd you go?" is repeated throughout the song.

A wonderful song in its own right, and pretty damn special when placed in context.

As simple as it may sound, I am amazed how many times in the past three months I have asked that same basic question: "Where'd you go?"

I also think it's interesting that at the same time my son was fine-tuning/arranging a song for his aunt titled "Hide And Seek," I was going through hundreds of pictures for a photo essay/blog entry in her memory that ends with this line:
you ran, but you cannot hide. 
In conclusion, I would like to offer my heartfelt "thank you" to ANDREW AND THE PRETTY PUNCHERS for remembering my sister Peggy in such a special way. You guys are the best, in more ways than one.














"hey - we're in this thing together, right?"
.(a. smith to k. smith, 2/12/09)
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