Watch John Fogerty talking about their young band's experience of playing at Woodstock (at 2:30 in the morning following the Grateful Dead). It's a good story on its own merits, but the best part is when he talks about how everyone in the massive audience was asleep when Fogerty went on, except one guy in the back who shouts: "Don't worry about it John. We're with you!". When he tells that part of the story, a bird (that apparently was listening to his story) starts singing really loud. He stops telling his story to listen to the bird for a few seconds and then finishes his story. It's priceless. (The bird sings about 3.20 minutes into the video, but I recommend listening from the beginning so you get the full effect.)
This reminds me of when I was participating in a poetry reading out back of a funky bookstore (in Woodstock NY) a few years ago. We were in a circle taking turns reading a poem. So this young guy was reading a long poem when a bird in the tree right over his head started singing very loud and passionately without pause. The poet was really annoyed and stopped reading his long poem. The bird (probably offended) ost interest in collaborating and flew off. Very different from Fogerty's response to the bird in the video. In the Fogerty video, it is as if the bird was inspired to take the part of the attentive man in the back, who was the only person out of 500,000 who was awake.
Reminds me of Rumi's lines: "The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep.
AI reminded me, after posting this, that I posted a poem and reflection (on my blog) about the bird at the poetry reading a while ago. It offers a different perspective.
(Article changed on Sep 08, 2024 at 10:41 AM EDT)
