Every Note Is Dying, Silence Is Refining Every Thought In His Heart

"Hello darkness, my old friend... I've come to talk with you again..."

The intro is not to be nearly as dark as it seems. Tonight I was able to see a live performance of the first non-Christmas TSO album, 'Beethoven's Last Night' at PPAC. It was, perhaps, the best live show I've seen, since the first time I saw the Christmas show back in 1999. It certainly raised quite a few questions which has prompted me to begin writing in here again.

I say 'begin writing' rather loosely. This very well could be the last time I write for a while. But on to the meat and bones of this post.

The story centers around the fictional last night of one, Ludwig Von Beethoven. Apart from the primary story, which is Beethoven vs. Mephistopheles, there is also the internal struggle that our hero must face. One's faults vs. good deeds... And once again, love prevailing, somehow, overall. This is obviously a fascinating subject for one that's never known love. Well, at least not that kind. That kind of romantic love, and to be loved back.

And in this story, according to O'Neil and the boys and girls, this kind of emotion is frightening to our pal Beethoven as well. He finds himself a gal, great gal, one of the many theorized 'Immortal Beloved' potentials... But once he begins to lose his hearing, he breaks things off with her, entirely, and without explanation. In his mind, he feels she could never love a musician who is losing his hearing. In reality, she cares about him regardless. In fact, she would never stop loving him. And though this is a fictional story, loosely based on fact, it was still a fascinating concept. Can such a love exist? Especially today? Does anything last forever?

We are becoming a people with a short term memory, and a need for immediate satisfaction. A people with short attention span. These factors lead me to believe that sharing such a connection with another human being, for any length of time, is nearing the point of impossible. Or at least, highly improbable. Mostly, throughout the evening, I couldn't help but wonder if such a person will exist in my life time, and what would it be like if and when I find this person.

Although, the alternative seemed interesting as well. It seems very possible that I would be capable of drifting into a form of seclusion in the mountains, with drumming, guitar, and hopefully by that time piano, where I slowly drift into a form of insanity.... Something I might not mind a number of years from now. It seems like it might be fun.

So on that note, I bid you all a good night.