The New Horizon

I met Marian for the first time in the Spring of 1979. She was searching for a piece of sheet music one Saturday morning and walked into my friend's music store while I was visiting him.

She walked in the door while we were in mid conversation and the minute I saw her I was struck by her look. Her long blonde hair fell softly down on her shoulders and her complexion possessed an ethereal quality of delicateness and fragility that pierced my heart. Dressed in jeans, she wore a flattering sheer peasant-style top with string straps, one that stubbornly insisted on slipping off her shoulder, and as she spoke her voice was soft and sweet. As I recall she could not find what she was looking for but as I fumbled to find out more about her she confessed that she might be looking for a job of some sort for the summer after graduation. I suggested that she apply at the movie theater where I worked hoping I would again see or hear from her. At the time I really didn't think she would follow up but she did. At the risk of sounding like a jerk I must confess that I wanted to date her more than I wanted to hire her. And that's how it began. The relationship escalated quickly and I got my first clear indication of her impetuous nature when she made me wait outside in front of her house one night as she went inside and cancelled her date for prom to go with me instead. And the afternoon of her graduation she turned her beautiful blonde hair orange while trying to add highlights. That's what I loved about her.

That was the beginning, but the end came soon in late Fall of that year when I visited her at college to watch her in a theater production on campus. As much as I enjoyed the play, the relationship was already over. She knew it but I didn't. Her plans included Barbizon Modeling School and involvement in the Drama Department at college. She had found at least two other admirers at school that had no knowledge of me whatsoever. The big revelation for me though was that she fully intended to pursue some kind of career in live theater. I understood her desire to do that. I myself wanted to play music and be on stage and be admired...dare I say adored by fans and audiences. At that time I had stopped playing rock music and instead concentrated on songwriting and acoustic performances. I cut my hair and trimmed my beard. It was for me a more satisfying experience. My idols at the time were Jim Croce, John Denver and Dan Fogelberg. I wanted to do what they did. So I tried. My songs were personal and heartfelt and crafted from my own heartbreak and sorrow. The recordings that I made back then were done hastily and with little knowledge of the process. The studio in Slidell was small and the sound engineer was a guy named Joe who for eighty dollars and a bottle of scotch agreed to oversee the sessions. The song that accompanies this photo from 1979 (provided by Marian) is written for and about Marian. It's just me and my guitar. Girls have been the inspirations for countless songs through the years ( Walk Away Renee, My Sharona,etc.) and my songs are no different The relationship lasted for less than a year but in it's brief time contained more than it's share of low and high drama. There is another song written for her called "My Poetess, My Troubadour" and it was composed while we were still together but never recorded. I have posted the lyrics to that song on my blog as well. It was meant to be a duet but it too was filled with romantic fatalism...love lost and lamented. That's just my style.