The Call of Wonder– At West End Gallery
Every morning when I wake up
I burn my fingers on the pot
Toast is cold and the juice is hot
I should start over but you know I’d rather not
Same thing again
Cause that’s the bag I’m in
–Fred Neil, That’s the Bag I’m In (1966)
This was not the post I thought I was going to write. I had formed the thought process that I thought would lead to today’s post. But while looking for something, I came across a post featuring a song from Fred Neil called Dolphins. Though I was unaware of him at the time, Neil was a highly regarded folk singer/songwriter in the 1960’s, one of the bigger stars of NYC’s Village folk scene. He is best known for his song, Everybody’s Talkin’, made popular in the film Midnight Cowboy as sung by Harry Nilsson. Most people, myself included, assumed Nilsson wrote the song but it was Fred Neil.
His most popular song after Everybody’s Talkin’ was Dolphins, a moody musing on our existence that, in part, reflected Neil’s own fascination with dolphins. He became interested with dolphins in the 60’s and in 1970 was one of the founders of the Dolphin Research Project. From that point on, his life was more or less devoted to watching dolphins. He performed his music only occasionally through the last thirty years of his life, until his death in 2001 at age 65.
I went to YouTube to hear Dolphins again and when it finished another Fred Neil song came up. It was That the Bag I’m In from 1966. The use of bag kind of indicated that time frame. I remember hearing What’s your bag? as a kid which was basically asking what you were into, what thing defined you at the moment. I don’t know if bag is even used in that way anymore.
The song itself was a bluesy folkish piece, reminding me of something Bobbie Gentry of Ode to Billy Joe fame might have done at the time.
I liked the song a lot, especially this morning. To use another phrase from its time, I dug it.
It made me wonder what bag I was in.
What’s my bag?
Is it the same bag I’ve always been in, or does it change from day to day?
There are definitely days when I feel like in an altogether different bag. Like I stumbled into someone else’s bag and don’t know what to make of it or how to get out.
But if someone came up to me on the street, unlikely as that might be, and asked what my bag was how would I answer?
I haven’t given it much thought– why would I? –but I guess an off the cuff answer might be doing this. Writing inane crap in the morning while drinking coffee. Listening to old songs. Looking up obscure facts. Reading old poems. Looking out the window. Petting the cats. Smearing paint on canvasses. Wishing the world could find a common rhythm. Looking out the window again.
I suppose that’s the bag I’m in most days.
It’s a good bag. For me. You might not like it as much which is the way it should be.
Your bag should be your bag alone.
For the last time, git— go climb in your own bag.
Usually, being told to ‘git’ wipes my mind clean of any thoughts that might have risen up while reading, but this time I’m so amused by the power of marketing I just have to add this.
As I read “When I wake up in the morning,” that Wrangler ad that was everywhere for a while came to mind, and I had to look up the lyrics. Imagine my surprise to find an entire song, and a singer I’d never heard of. It’s a perfect song for going out to bag some photos — perhaps in some baggy jeans!
I am trying to rid myself of git but it seemed like a fine way to end today’s post. I don’t remember the Wrangler ad or the song though it does sound somewhat familiar. But I do know and appreciate baggy jeans. Hope you bag some good photos today, Linda!