{"id":4085,"date":"2021-01-25T09:00:42","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T09:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=4085"},"modified":"2021-01-25T09:02:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T09:02:04","slug":"how-do-we-get-there-from-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2021\/01\/25\/how-do-we-get-there-from-here\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW DO WE GET THERE FROM HERE?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>HOW DO WE GET THERE FROM HERE?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-1-10.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4086\" width=\"547\" height=\"410\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-1-10.jpg 619w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-1-10-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-1-10-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 547px) 100vw, 547px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>asks Norman Warwick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We were dining at The Camel, a sea front bar, with a couple of friends of ours, also residents on Lanzarote, at a time of day when paella, for the parents, and ice cream, for the kids, and cocktails with rude names, for young lovers, should have been being served by the tableful to a sixty or seventy cover. However, there were only we four and one other couple to place orders. The serving staff were friendly and smiling and the food as good as always, but there was a desultory air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was Thursday 14<sup>th<\/sup> January 2021 and the island had already suffered more than 250 days of (fortunately relatively few) covid cases but had also placed itself in economic jeopardy by complying with national and global calls to close borders and cease none essential jobs.&nbsp; Whilst most of the world, though, had plunged into almost total lockdown the virus had continued to whistle its deadly tune, and on this day we had heard that two million people around the world had died from this new disease and its mutant strains. Lanzarote, too, had lapsed over Christmas, strong family traditions here leading to gatherings that risked ignoring social distancing and other protocols and we are now paying a heavy price for that misjudgement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadly our carelessness has been exacerbated by the return of swallows and a sudden mass influx of tourists facilitated by air corridors closed too late and which anyway would have been better left unopened in the first place. Our numbers of cases are, at the time of writing, currently rising as exponentially as elsewhere in the world, and on this particular afternoon, only three days after having been placed in a light tier-two regime we were awaiting news to break on line about our President\u00b4s reluctant suggestion that we take a hurdle into an immediate and much more comprehensive complete lockdown, similar to, but not quite as severe as, the one being reported from the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We were sitting in a somewhat sombre mood to be honest, simply listening to the sounds of silence, lost in or own thoughts but a couple of cold beers usually loosen the tongues for me and my mate and a few bottles of chilled white Lanzarotean wine seem to have the same effect on our wives. We were all soon remarking on how privileged we feel to live here, where there is at least sun and scenery and grandeur reminding us of the gladness of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-2-12.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4087\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-2-12.jpg 110w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-2-12-80x80.jpg 80w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-2-12-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-2-12-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Music was playing on the restaurant speakers and I was thinking about how much I miss the live music concerts we seemed to enjoy on an almost nightly basis during our first five years on the island, prior to the 2020 pandemic. My thoughts were lifted though because there was a female recording-artiste giving us her recording of Louis Armstrong\u00b4s What A Wonderful World, and I said something to my mate about this version\u00b4s jazzy flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He replied that it reminded him of when he and his good lady had holidayed in New Orleans, more than a quarter of a century ago; and so began a lovely dangling conversation of the kind that so efficiently while away the time here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-3-11.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4088\" width=\"401\" height=\"268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-3-11.jpg 509w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-3-11-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I was jealous already, after only his opening gambit. When he then told us that they had been there at the time of Mardi Gras I was begging to hear more, asking him, like Paul Simon to come on, take me to the Mardi Gras<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>where the people sing and play<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>there is dancing in the streets<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>and the music is elite<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>both night and day.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My friend\u00b4s description of following the carnival trail showed me all the sights of street-vendors\u00b4 food stalls,&nbsp; played me the sounds of jazz and blues that permeate the region, let me enjoy a taste of whiskey and rum, and beer and Dixie chicken, let me the smell the illegal substances being smoked by others and allowed me to feel the voodoo in the air. I felt like I had been walking alongside that parade and was enjoying the stroll, but my friend suddenly started speaking of something I knew well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-4-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4089\" width=\"204\" height=\"144\" \/><figcaption><strong><em>a \u00b4Proud Mary\u00b4\u00b4<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>photo 4 paddle steamer<\/strong> Within seconds we were down by a gang-walk on the banks of the might Mississippi, boarding an old paddle steamer. Audible even in the cacophony of noise in my head was the frailing of a Banjo player called John Hartford, and somehow I knew what riverboat we were on, despite the fact that my pal had not told me the name of the vessel, for sitting on deck shuffling cards and rousing up a poker game was Chip Taylor and the first hand was already in play by the time the engines whirred and the cry was heard for<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>if you come down to the river you gonna find people help you to live<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>but you don\u00b4t have to worry, \u00b4cos you got no money,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>those people on the river are happy to give<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>big wheels keep on turning, Proud Mary keep on burning,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>rolling, rolling, rolling down the river<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-5-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4090\" width=\"211\" height=\"119\" \/><figcaption><strong><em>Creedence Clearwater Reviva<\/em><\/strong>l<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>and this was not a strutting Tina Turner making the call but was, of course, Credence Clearwater Revival performing the song written by their frontman, John Fogerty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"171\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-6-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4091\" \/><figcaption><strong><em>John Stewart<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I was enjoying my reverie, inspired by my mate\u00b4s reminiscence accompanied by my own soundtrack, but the spell was broken when my companion asked me if I had ever been to New Orleans. I was forced to answer in John Stewart\u00b4s regretful tone that I Never Got To See New Orleans. This was a song written after Hurricane Katrina had devastated the city and created a watery grave from which it was feared the city might never rise again. The lyric has John lamenting the loss of life-style and industry and culture of the fabled city and fearing that he might never now see it in its original glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sad though that remembrance was, it served to remind me that I have at least enjoyed Lanzarote at the height of its existence even if it is temporarily laid low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I asked my companion if he and his lady had been in the New Orleans for long, but he told me it was something of a whistle stop on an American tour, and that the next destination was Memphis ! My ex-navy sea-faring friend kept his gaze firmly on the horizon of sea and sky as if he could clearly see the city somewhere beyond that line. We both knew he was looking towards Africa but I figured a man of his ranking must have known how to steer his ship to Memphis from here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His spiel was once again descriptive and attractive and had he been a salesman in a tour operator trying to sell me on Memphis, he would have succeeded, not only because of the clarity of the images he talked about but also because of the sound-track in my mind of my own favourite songs about Memphis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"265\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-7-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4092\" \/><figcaption><strong><em>Memphis skyline<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>So he spoke to me about a city along the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mississippi_River\">Mississippi River<\/a>&nbsp;in south western&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Shelby_County,_Tennessee\">Shelby County<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tennessee\">Tennessee<\/a>, United States. Its 2019 estimated population was of more than 650,000&nbsp;making it Tennessee&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_largest_cities_and_towns_in_Tennessee_by_population\">second-most populous city<\/a>.&nbsp; Memphis is the anchor of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/West_Tennessee\">West Tennessee<\/a>&nbsp;and the greater&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mid-South_(region)\">Mid-South region<\/a>, which includes portions of neighbouring&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arkansas\">Arkansas<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mississippi\">Mississippi<\/a>, and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Missouri_Bootheel\">Missouri Boot-heel<\/a>. Memphis is the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/County_seat\">seat<\/a>&nbsp;of Shelby County, Tennessee&#8217;s most populous county. One of the more historic and culturally significant cities of the southern United States, Memphis has a wide variety of landscapes and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_neighborhoods_in_Memphis,_Tennessee\">distinct neighbourhoods<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-8-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4093\" width=\"319\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-8-7.jpg 204w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-8-7-80x80.jpg 80w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-8-7-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-8-7-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-8-7-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 319px) 100vw, 319px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As he spoke I could visualise those areas in my head and I didn\u00b4t need Chuck Berry or Long Distance Information (to) Get Me Memphis, Tennessee. Sure as hell I could clearly see Jimmie Rodgers, across the street chuckling up a blue yodel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>He was standing on the corner, didn\u00b4t mean no harm<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>when the police come over and took him by the arm.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>(It)&nbsp; was down in Memphis, corner of Beale and Main,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>police said \u00b4hey, big boy, you\u00b4d b better tell me your name.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I let my mate keep right on talking as I settled on a happy memory of how<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I met a gin-soaked bar room Queen in Memphis<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>who tried to take me upstairs for a ride.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>She had to heave right across her shoulder<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>and now I just can\u00b4t seem to drink her off my mind.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you avoid some of those seedier sidetracks &amp; detours, though, you find a beautiful city, as described to me when I was privileged to interview two wonderful singer-writers, Janis Ian and Willie Nelson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-9-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4095\" width=\"370\" height=\"414\" \/><figcaption><strong>Janis Ian<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em> We were standing by the river, staring into town.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>All the world was on his shoulders and tears were raining down.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>All along the Southern skyline, city lights began to bloom.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>He said if you only knew her, the way that I do sir,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>you would be crying too.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If you could see Memphis the way that I do<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>she would look different to you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Queen of the Delta, tip your tiara<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>to Memphis, the belle of the blues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-10-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4096\" width=\"415\" height=\"325\" \/><figcaption><strong><em>Willie Nelson<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em> The streets were filled with cotton and music filled the air<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>as all the paddle boats came rolling from east to everywhere<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Now the streets are filled with silence and songs no one can hear<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>but her memory lingers, it slips through my fingers<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>and into this river of tears<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>so roll on, roll on, my sweet magnolia roll on<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Queen of the Delta, tip your tiara<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>to Memphis<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>the belle of the blues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That song, written twenty years ago now, was intending to show a Memphis in what the writers already considered a fading antebellum beauty, I believe, but their love and affection for the city still shone through. These days, with its line of&nbsp; \u00b4silence\u00b4 and \u00b4songs&nbsp; no can hear\u00b4 the song might even capture the Memphis of the pandemic,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Somehow, because of wonderful songs like that, I felt perfectly secure as my travelling companion continued his trip down memory lane. Memphis was a city recognisable to me because these songs by the likes of John Fogerty, Chuck Berry, Jimmie Rodgers and the Rolling Stones and Janis Ian and Willie Nelson I really do feel I know the city on the river, and &nbsp;thanks to a brilliant song by Big House I even know what a Sunday In Memphis feels like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Sunday in Memphis, It\u2019s a hallelujah dawn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I can hear the angels singing such a beautiful song<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nevertheless, my buddy kept talking about Memphis and I swear that for a few brief moments we were right there, Walkin\u00b4 In Memphis, with Marc Cohn in step beside us telling us about his first visit to the city<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-11-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4097\" width=\"449\" height=\"276\" \/><figcaption><strong><em>Marc Cohn<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Walking in Memphis<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Was walking with my feet, ten feet off of Beale<br>Walking in Memphis\u00b4 But do I really feel the way I feel<br>Saw the ghost of Elvis On Union Avenue<br>Followed him up to the gates of Graceland<br>Then I watched him walk right through<br>Now security they did not see him<br>They just hovered &#8217;round his tomb<br>But there&#8217;s a pretty little thing, waiting for the king<br>Down in the Jungle Room<br><br>They&#8217;ve got catfish on the table They&#8217;ve got gospel in the air<br>And Reverend Green, be glad to see you<br>When you haven&#8217;t got a prayer<br>Boy, you got a prayer in Memphis !<br>Now Muriel, plays piano<br>Every Friday at the Hollywood<br>And they brought me down to see her<br>And they asked me if I would<br>do a little number<br>And I sang with all my might<br>She said, \u00b4Tell me are you a Christian child?\u00b4<br>And I said, \u00b4Ma&#8217;am, I am tonight\u00b4<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With one ear on my mate\u00b4s monologue I was listening to I was also &nbsp;smiling at the images evoked by this song in my head but there was another quick change of direction from my friend and guide as we headed off to see Graceland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course you will have guessed by now, figuratively taking us there we were much more literally sitting in the back of&nbsp; a car being driven by Paul Simon, and as we looked across from our restaurant chairs in Lanzarote to Playa Blanca we, instead, noticed that<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-12-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4098\" width=\"355\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-12-1.jpg 189w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-12-1-36x36.jpg 36w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Mississippi Delta was shining Like a National guitar<br>(we were) &nbsp;following the river Down the highway<br>Through the cradle of the civil war<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>going to Graceland, Graceland In Memphis Tennessee<br><br>Poor boys and Pilgrims with families<br>And we are going to Graceland<br>with reason to believe we all will be received<br>In Graceland<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>losing love Is like a window in your heart<br>Everybody sees you&#8217;re blown apart<br>Everybody sees the wind blow<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>We\u00b4re going to Graceland Memphis Tennessee<br>We\u00b4re going to Graceland<br><br>And my traveling companions<br>Are ghosts and empty sockets<br>I&#8217;m looking at ghosts and empties<br>But I&#8217;ve reason to believe<br>We all will be received<br>In Graceland<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For reasons I cannot explain<br>There&#8217;s some part of me wants to see Graceland<br>And I may be obliged to defend every love, every ending<br>Or maybe there&#8217;s no obligations now<br>Maybe I&#8217;ve a reason to believe We all will be received<br>In Graceland<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Graceland&nbsp;is, of course, less the vision of Heaven described in Simon\u00b4s lyric than it is a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mansion\">mansion<\/a>&nbsp;on a fourteen acre estate in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Memphis,_Tennessee\">Memphis, Tennessee<\/a>, once owned by singer and actor&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Elvis_Presley\">Elvis Presley<\/a>. His daughter,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lisa_Marie_Presley\">Lisa Marie Presley<\/a>, has been the owner of Graceland since his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/U.S._Route_51\">Elvis Presley Boulevard<\/a>&nbsp;in the vast&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Whitehaven,_Memphis\">Whitehaven<\/a>&nbsp;community, about 9 miles from Downtown and less than 4 miles north of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mississippi\">Mississippi<\/a>&nbsp;border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was opened to the public as a museum on June 7, 1982. The site was listed in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Register_of_Historic_Places\">National Register of Historic Places<\/a>&nbsp;on November 7, 1991, becoming the first site related to rock and roll to be entered therein. Graceland was declared a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Historic_Landmark\">National Historic Landmark<\/a>&nbsp;on March 27, 2006, also a first for such a site. The building is the second most-visited house in the U.S. after the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/White_House\">White House<\/a>, with over 650,000 visitors a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Paul Simon\u00b4s song alludes to, and those figures confirm, the site has become a Mecca and to my wandering mind we were certainly not the only pilgrims on the way. British songwriter Richard Thompson has already told the tale of a lady who travelled from Galway to Graceland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>She dressed in the dark and she whispered, &#8220;Amen&#8221;<br>She was pretty in pink like a young girl again.<br>Twenty years married, and she never thought twice,<br>she slipped out of the back door and into the night<br>and silver wings carried her over the sea<br>from the west coast of Ireland to west Tennessee.<br>To be with her sweetheart she left everything,<br>she went from Galway to Graceland to be with the king.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>She was humming &#8220;Suspicion&#8221;, the song she loved best.<br>She had &#8220;Elvis, I love you&#8221; tattooed on her breast.<br>When they landed in Memphis her heart beat so fast.<br>She had dreamed for so long, now she&#8217;d see him at last<br>and she knelt by his graveside day after day<br>And come closing time they would pull her away.<br>To be with her sweetheart, she left everything<br>She went from Galway to Graceland to be with the king<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In their thousands they came from the whole human race<br>just to pay their respects at his last resting place<br>but blindly she knelt there and she told him her dreams<br>and she thought that he answered her, or that&#8217;s how it seemed<br>and when they dragged her away, it was handcuffs this time.<br>She said, &#8220;My dear man, are you out of your mind?<br>Don&#8217;t you know that we&#8217;re married? See, I&#8217;m wearing his ring?<br>I&#8217;ve come from Galway to Graceland to be with the king.<\/em><br><br>this dangling conversation was now becoming somewhat entangled as my good conversationalist took another swig of his beer and moved us out of Graceland before the guards could catch us and drove us into Nashville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You know me well enough, dear reader, to be certain that although I had never been to Nashville I would nevertheless hold forth on the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b4I\u00b4ll tell you something about Nashville,\u00b4 I interrupted my loquacious fellow drinker, and I told him that<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>there&#8217;s thirteen hundred and fifty two<br>Guitar pickers in Nashville<br>And they can pick more notes than the number of ants<br>On a Tennessee ant-hill<br>Yeah, there&#8217;s thirteen hundred and fifty two<br>Guitar cases in Nashville<br>And any one that unpacks his guitar could play<br>Twice as better than I will<\/em><em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>and when he asked what the heck I was talking about I told him what John Sebastian had told me about how Nashville Cats was the name bestowed on the brilliant live and recording-session musicians the country music city is known for<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Nashville Cats, play clean as country water<br>Nashville Cats, play wild as mountain dew<br>Nashville Cats, been playin&#8217; since they&#8217;s babies<br>Nashville Cats, get work before they&#8217;re two<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-13-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4099\" width=\"319\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-13-1.jpg 194w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-13-1-80x80.jpg 80w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-13-1-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-13-1-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-13-1-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 319px) 100vw, 319px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u00b4s why the city is called Guitar Town, I explained as my pal\u00b4s eyes glazed over. Nevertheless I recounted something songwriter Steve Earle had once said to me that \u00b4if you can\u00b4t play guitar you can\u00b4t live in Nashville. No, really !\u00b4&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Steve named one of his most successful songs after Guitar Town and the lyric says that<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Everybody told me that I won\u00b4t get far<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>on thirty seven dollars and a Jap guitar<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>but I\u00b4m smokin\u00b4 into Texas with the hammer down<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>and a rockin\u00b4 little combo from my guitar down.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mentioning Nashville as the country music capital and a \u00b4guitar town\u00b4 reminded my bud of one of the best parts of his stay in Nashville: a trip to the grand ole&nbsp; opry ! He told me about the decor, the pictures of stars on the wall and he told me that they had seen,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b4oh, what was he called, love?\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00b4who, love?\u00b4 asked his lady, wine glass half way to her lips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a8That fella singing about trains. Billie someone or someone Billy..\u00a8<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-14-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4100\" width=\"244\" height=\"266\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I hazarded a guess at Boxcar Willie, cursing my luck that I had never actually been to any of the places this mate more travelled than Alan Wicker had mentioned and now he was telling me he had seen one of the very, very few country artists left on a wish list of those I never saw and now almost certainly never will. Certainly that is true of Boxcar as there are a couple of memorial sites named after the man who named himself after a character in one of his earliest songs, although his real name was Lecil Travis Martin. &nbsp;He was adored by his fans as America\u00b4s Favourite Hobo as he recorded songs of trains and travelling with studio produced and on stage sound effects. He enjoyed a couple of spotlight years in the UK, too, but unfortunately I never got to see him or hear him perform tracks off great albums like Daddy Was A Railroad Man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"131\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/photo-15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4101\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As if to prevent me quoting more lyrics at him my personification-of-Wainwright\u00b4s-walks was leading us North, through the Rockies to Calgary in Canada, home of the rodeo. Unfortunately for my poor pal, I know a singer from that area, too, and I love his rodeo and cowboy songs. My pal had seen rodeo events during the day and the show scenes and music at night but I wanted to be sure he knew about what Ian Tyson (formerly of Ian and Sylvia) had told us about that Old Navajo Rug (written with Tom Russell) just like those sat on by the picnicking crowds at the rodeo or his tale of cowboys frittering away their Summer Wages. Tyson also wrote movingly of the rodeo life,\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>it gets inside your blood It gets inside your mind<\/em><em><br>The only way of life There ain&#8217;t no other kind<br>All my thoughts roll back to you hope you&#8217;ll understand<br>Betty leave your lights on darlin&#8217; Going to make it if I can<\/em><em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At that point our dangling conversation, having stretched to a couple of hours, frayed and snapped. For all my gentle jokes here, let me say that, for me, it had been a delight,\u2026..hours spent with a cold beer, in good company on a Lanzarote shoreline recalling music and musicians I have known and loved,\u2026. I mean, really,\u2026all this and heaven too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The dreaded lockdown news, when announced later on, was not quite as bad as we had all feared, although restaurants have to close early every night, and there are no live arts or sports. We can\u00b4t fraternise with friends and neighbours indoors but can meet them outdoors, which I seem to remember was a rule when I first started dating, many years ago ! &nbsp;I survived then, so I suppose I\u00b4ll survive now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lockdown here on Lanzarote has since changed to a level four but is of nothing compared to the one we hear about from the UK, and I never forget how lucky we are compared to so many millions of people locked down in fear and monotony. I hope, therefore, that those who have listened in on this conversation between four friends joined us on our imaginary road trip, saw the sights and heard the music, because THAT is how we get there from here&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we really do feel the need to go travelling round the world in lockdown in covid times we can at least still do so, from the comfort of our own home. If we want to travel abroad or even back in time, we can simply create a little playlist (like the one we have drawn up below), pour ourselves a drink, pull up a chair in any place where imagination begins, and off we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy your trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>THE SIGHTS WE SAW, THE MUSIC WE HEARD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What A Wonderful World&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Louis Armstrong<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take Me To The Mardi Gras&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Paul Simon<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Proud Mary &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Credence Clearwater Revival<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I Never Got To See New Orleans&nbsp; by John Stewart<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Memphis Tennessee&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Chuck Berry<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blue Yodel Number 9&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Jimmie Rodgers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Memphis The Belle Of The Blue by Janis Ian with Willie Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sunday in Memphis&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Big House<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u00b4ve Been Walking In Memphis&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Marc Cohn<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u00b4m Going To Graceland&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Paul Simon<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Galway To Graceland&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Richard Thompson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nashville Cats&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by The Lovin\u00b4 Spoonful<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guitar Town&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Steve Earle<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daddy Was A Railroad Man&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Boxcar Willie<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Navajo Rug&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Tom Russell<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Summer Wages&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Ian Tyson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rodeo Road&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Ian Tyson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Dangling Conversation&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; by Paul Simon<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>all the above tracks can be found on line at You Tube or specialist sites<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>this is an exclusive virtual selection collated by Sidetracks &amp; Detours<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>what a wonderful world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4085"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4104,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4085\/revisions\/4104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}