Experienced a bit of a coincidence this evening of the spooky variety. Was reading the good Don on WS's Sonnet 113 (which I can't say I really rate, though our critic does) and was amused when he compared it to something that song-writer Jimmy Webb might have come up with on a 'B' side - cheesy but classy, then going on to postulate its suitability for a Glen Campbell performance. But along with the amusement came the oddness of the fact that when we were in Melaka the other week I found myself unable to get the entirely classy Wichita Lineman out of my head, having stumbled across a video of Mr Campbell performing it live in 2006. I've always loved the song despite the schmaltz, it being genuinely haunting - and hearing and watching a much older Glen Campbell perform it if anything added to its beauty and strange sense of mystery. (It's something in the curious winding melody and the brevity of the lyric. Possibly the best Jimmy Webb song of all.)
One of the things that led me to seek out the former Beach Boy on youtube was the fact that I caught a little of the original True Grit in late November and had been startled to be reminded that he featured in it in quite a prominent role. And seeking him out led to my saddened realisation that he's now quite far gone with Alzheimer's - probably already afflicted by the time of the 2006 performance.
All of this is of little or no significance, except it makes me kind of happy and sad at the same time. And now I'm going to play the song again.
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