Looking for Space

Speaking with a good friend last evening, the topic of John Denver came up, an oft-maligned figure, quirky at best, but also a deeply troubled soul.

I love John Denver.

There it is, out to the cosmos.

I have my dad's old records in my apartment back in Antwerp, and a couple of years ago, for a gift, I received a turntable that can play LP's through the computer.

First thing I played was ol' JD. I have about a dozen of his old records, and it was amazing to hear his voice again on the cracklin' bacon sound of an LP.

I have a feeling that something akin to his own song, "Looking for Space" was going through his mind in the last moments that he lived on this Earth. Deeply melancholic at times and brilliantly playful with his Muppet appearances, and one of my favorite usages of song on a TV show, on Magnum P.I., John Denver was a bit of a "Twinkie" as my dad would say, but he was also a visionary.

"Poems, Prayers and Promises," a song that true lovers of Mr. Deutschendorf would agree, sums up the man and his music.

However, for now, Looking for Space, serves that purpose quite well for me.

May your spirit soar in peace, John.

And, for good measure:

Poems, Prayers and Promises, and the Muppets