Sunday, October 27, 2024

The Meaning Of Music


A month or so ago my son asked me to make him a pocket square to wear when he walks down the aisle with Rachel. He wanted something from his mama and that pleased me so. But you know me- I have fretted and fretted and fretted over this pocket square situation. I needed something that would not clash with their colors which are lavender, sage, and gray? I think gray. Anyway, no teal or turquoise, probably. I went through my fabric over and over again without finding anything that came close to what I had in mind. I thought about using a piece of material cut out of an old garment that I've held on to because it was  meaningful to me but none of what I have seemed anywhere near right. 
And besides that, what actually IS a pocket square? How big is it? Is it really a square? Somehow I missed the memo on pocket squares. I googled it and discovered that a pocket square can be between a 10 by 10 inch square up to a 17 by 17 inch square. 
That's a pretty big range there. And how do you finish a pocket square? I had in mind the term, "rolled handkerchief hem" for some reason and I looked that up and yes, that is how you finish a pocket square. With a rolled hem. So what's a rolled hem? How do you do that? 
YouTube to the rescue! I think there are instructions for everything that can be done on YouTube. I would not doubt that there's a video on how to remove your own appendix on YouTube. I found quite a few instructional videos on how to do a rolled hem and what I discovered is that although there are various techniques, every one of the demonstrator sewing ladies was as calming and serene-sounding as gentle rain falling on flower petals. They soothed me, those rolled hem ladies. 
But just as I was really starting to panic over what I was going to use to do a rolled hem on, I looked at the curtain in my guest room. It was a piece of vintage bark cloth that Linda Sue sent me. I passionately love bark cloth. It screams "old Florida" to me. It reminds me of my grandparents and all of their friends' homes. Every piece of it I have is being used somewhere as a curtain or a covering except for one piece that is waiting for me to discover what it was put here on earth to do in my house. 
So the bark cloth that had been my guest room curtain filled most of the qualifications as to color and I figured that Hank, being a Florida boy, born and bred, would like the bark cloth. 
And so I made the pocket square out of a piece of my curtain and up until this very second I had not considered the fact that Scarlett O'Hara made an emerald green velvet dress out of her mother's curtains to wear to charm/seduce Rhett Butler into giving her a bunch of money. 



And yes, I have seen the Carol Burnett skit about that and no, I do not need to see it again. 

And honestly, the pocket square and Scarlett's dress have nothing in common except that they both started out as curtains. 

I finished up the pocket square this afternoon while I also finished watching something that Mr. Moon and I started a few nights ago. It was "Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band". 
As some of you may know, I have had a long and torrid affair with Bruce and the E Street Band. Every one of them. But let's face it- mostly Bruce, although when Clarence Clemons was still on this earth, it was a tight race for whom my most heartfelt affections fell to. When he died, I mourned him as if he'd been my own. I wrote a post fifteen years ago about Bruce and Clarence that I still love. The first time I ever went to see Bruce and the E Street Band was probably in about 1979 or so. It was in Jacksonville, Florida and the concert shattered my perception of what a concert, a band, and a performance could be and then it took all the shattered pieces of my mind and put them back together better in such a way that I was so much the better for the experience. 

I saw Bruce and the band again in Tallahassee in 1984, I think, and he was hot off the "Born in the USA" release. Again, I was taken to places that no one on the planet could have taken me to except for Bruce.
Look. You know that phrase that everyone's using now? The one that goes, "If you know, you know"? I've come to truly dislike the phrase as it seems to signal a smug assumption of rare and very hip knowledge but in the case of Bruce Springsteen- if you know you know. And a lot of people do.

So I watched the rest of the movie today as I was stitching and although Bruce has changed somewhat in the forty-five years when I first saw him, that spirit he has, that joy he shares, that absolute connection he has with his audience and the amazing group of musicians who are his band- it's all still there. 
So is his voice, his guitar skills, his showmanship, his passion, his obvious pure purpose to communicate and give and receive. 
He is, quite simply, the Boss.

It's funny. I looked at the faces of the people in the crowd and some of them looked at him with such adoration and passion that it was like watching the crowd at some mega-church revival. The spirit of SOMETHING was upon them all and it was being channeled through Bruce Springsteen who was in control of every flutter of his eyes, every note from his throat, every look he gave his band. 
"This could be a cult," I thought. And it could. You have no idea of the devotion and faithfulness of some of his fans. Followers? And yet, it's not a cult because he demands nothing from his audiences, and in fact, seems to want more than ever to simply bring people together for the three hours he performs (no breaks) in music and in joy. 

Ooh boy. I did not mean to go there. And yet I did. I cried a lot watching the film. If there is a more powerful performer in this world, I do not know who they would be. 

So what I am saying, I think, is that Hank's pocket square is imbued with some serious Bruce energy and perhaps a few Bruce induced tears. He was raised listening to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's music. I think I've heard him say that when he hears Springsteen, he thinks of me housecleaning. I used to blast his music high when I cleaned because I've always hated cleaning but somehow, Bruce made it a danceable, singable event. 


Here's another view of the pocket square.


Love...Ms. Moon

P.S. It just occured to me that I had not mentioned the fact that Bruce wrote all of the songs. It may be that he is a better songwriter than he is a performer. I'm not going to even try to parse that but he wouldn't be performing the way he does if he hadn't written the songs he wrote. He is a poet and a philosopher. He is quite simply the Boss. 

44 comments:

  1. It’s perfect! Margaret

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  2. Oh my!! That pocket square is perfection! And Bruce is indeed the Boss- such an amazing song writer! Yay for you! Hank will surely love your creation! ❤️ xo, Rigmor

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    1. I just hope that the pocket square goes well with the colors that Hank will be wearing. Or at least doesn't clash!
      Springsteen's ability to write and perform are honestly unearthly.

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  3. that is one gorgeous, love filled pocket square! Perfect! Truly filled with much love....and Florida, and the colors are lovely
    Susan M

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    1. I just love the colors bark cloth comes in. They're so...forties? I don't know but they please me.

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  4. Nice rolled hem. My mother and my grandmother would give you A+'s. I can only do mine on a sewing machine. Hank will love it.

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    1. It was sort of fun watching the magic happen when I pulled the thread of the stitches.

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  5. Legendary BS. Absolutely mind blowing!
    You've designed a perfect pocket square. The print is lovely, and the colors are soft and pure magic. Very nicely done, Mary Moon.

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  6. The pocket square is stunning! Perfect! I love Bruce Springsteen too. His autobiography was so great.

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    1. I was really surprised to read about his profound struggles with anxiety and depression. When you see him on stage, you would never guess but if you listen to his songs, it is pretty obvious. He is a human of deep feelings, isn't he?

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    2. Yes, he certainly is. I enjoyed his two self-narrated documentaries too!

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  7. Lovely pocket square, well done, you.
    This Jersey girl is just pointing out that Bruce is a Jersey boy. Just sayin.

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    1. I think that Bruce being a Jersey boy is definitely one of the top three most important facts about him. Did you ever see him play in his younger days?

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    2. Not my thing. But I like him to be from NJ.

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  8. A beautiful pocket square, the colors and the Florida vibe are immaculate. Hank will love it, it is so *you* too. Which I suspect is what he wished. And imbued with Bruce energy to boot!

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    1. I think it feels right, this silly little piece of hemmed cloth.

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  9. I will be truly honored to wear it.

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    1. And I can't wait to see you doing that. What a day that is going to be!

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    2. Congratulations! I am SO totally happy for you!!!

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    3. That comment was for Hank obviously. Sorry.

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  10. The pocket square looks lovely. I've seen some that are simply pocket sized strips of white cardboard with a triangle of fabric stitched to the top. I call that cheating. I remember doing housework with music blaring and now I realise why I don't clean as much. I can't blare the music and upset the neighbours in the block of flats here.

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    1. I've seen those cheat pocket squares too! They're like ties that come pre-tied with a little clip-on thing.
      I wish I could use that as my excuse not to do housework but I could play my music as loud as I wanted and my neighbors would not care.

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  11. The guy in the photo with Bruce (I forget his name now) was in the Supranos and was actually pretty good (if mean Italian means he was acting)! Oh and I love the pocket square!

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    1. Little Stevie! There is no Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band without Little Stevie.

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  12. That is the one and only Stevie Van Zandt, Treaders. I have been a fan of Bruce's for forever. Everyone who grew up in or near NJ almost has to be, I think. He is the soundtrack of my college years, and my kids grew up listening to him. I saw him in Cleveland years ago w/my kids. Some nights are just perfection, and that was one of them. Our tickets are still on the refrigerator door. I will have to look for this program.

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    1. Elle, you will love it. It's on Hulu and Disney + if you can get either of those.
      Do you suppose anyone ever has walked out of a Springsteen concert and said, "Well, I've seen better."?

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  13. The only time I ever blare music is when I'm mad as hell and it's often opera music, or a woman who has been done wrong (think Frazey Ford or Adele), and then I rage clean.
    That's a lovely pocket square and very Florida. The wedding is very soon, isn't it? And yes, you can learn how to do virtually anything on youtube. I learned how to quilt on youtube. Then there is beautiful young woman, although I may be biased.
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFcipqIAujHZVNugCdcLROA

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    1. I have done quite a bit of rage-cleaning in my life but I just don't have the same rage I used to.
      Yes! The wedding is Nov. 9.
      Your daughter! She's great! Thanks for the link.

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  14. I love the pocket square! I feel the same way about bark cloth. I can't tell you how many "Florida rooms" I spent time in as a child that were decorated with rattan furniture with bark cloth cushions, in leafy or floral tropical prints.

    I was late to the Bruce Springsteen phenomenon but I agree his music is magical. I owned "Born in the USA" and I always associate it with Spring Break in 1985, when my roommate and I played it in the car all the way down to Key West.

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    1. And I bet a lot of those Florida rooms were paneled in knotty pine.
      That's a great association to have with Springsteen.

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  15. That's a lovely pocket square and, of course, Hank loves it!
    I was happy to see Bruce Springsteen rally for Harris/Walz! Yay!

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    1. Springsteen is a huge supporter of some presidential candidates. He played at a thing for Obama, I know, and also after Biden got elected. He is on the correct side of things.

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  16. I think that pocket square is perfect. Hank will love it. as for Bruce, I like his early stuff better. I saw him in a small venue in Houston right before he hit the bigtime. he was awesome.

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    1. I have not listened to some of his newer releases but after watching that documentary, I might. The last album he did that I really took in fully was The Rising and I still think it's an incredible record.
      I wish I'd seen him when he was still that young.

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  17. What a lovely idea-the pocket square,that is.Lovely that the fabric has sentimental value and the design is pretty too.

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    1. I love the colors and the design. I really do.

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  18. I agree with everyone else that it’s perfect! Bruce is the absolute boss!
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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    1. He really is the Boss. He's the boss of that band, and that's for sure. And there's no doubt about that but he must be a pretty good boss because the band members seem to stick around forever.

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  19. Speaking of Bruce, here's a really good one from the past, you've probably heard or seen it, but if not, enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=129kuDCQtHs

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    1. I remember when that video was on MTV repeatedly for months. And I loved it every time. AND I got to see him perform it in 84.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.