Mose Allison: Your Mind Is On Vacation
David Gilmour: Wish You Were Here
[purchase Mose Allison Your Mind is on Vacation]
[purchase Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here]
A vacation is “time away”. There is a Turkish saying that I
love that seems appropriate. They say: every day is a holiday for the crazy
man. Now, I realize that a holiday isn’t quite the same as a vacation, but it
is still “time off”. Seems to me that the phrase says that your frame of mind colors
the way you roll through life, your outlook on life - that if you can create a
mind-frame that takes things not too seriously, life will be like a vacation.
Along these lines, the song “Your Mind is on Vacation” might
be one perspective to look into. Granted, the lyrics are more about a mind that
is wasted as opposed to one on vacation, but the title is right down the
alley for this thought. There are
multiple version of this song out there: Asleep at the Wheel (2006’s
Reinventing the Wheel), Elvis Costello (King of America, 1995), Van Morrison
(1995’s How Long Has This Been Goin On) …This clip is of Mose Allison, the jazz
pianist credited with writing the song. He once said “when somebody asks me who I had in mind when I
wrote that song, I say: thee.” (http://jazztimes.com/articles/19434-mose-allison-cover-to-cover)
And, speaking of the “crazy man” and vacations, my thoughts
also ran to the one-time Pink Floyd
member, Syd Barrett, who went on permanent vacation in the early 70s and
inspired both “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” as well as the “vacation” song below,
“Wish You Were Here”.
Several times on my latest vacation, I picked up a post card
(how quaint/yet how valuable to the recipient!). While the text of my card
(think: severely limited writing space) was little more than “Yo dude..”, the undeniable underlying thought was “wish
you were here …”
