This is Johnny Saint-Lethal.
Johnny is the lead singer of a little-known American guitar band called The Show. He's also written a novel, called Twenty-Something.
Perhaps his biggest claim to fame thus far, however, is the fact that he's now the subject of a song by Mark Kozelek on the latest Sun Kil Moon / Jesu collaboration, 30 Seconds To The Decline of Planet Earth. The song tells how Saint-Lethal approached Kozelek during a show and gave him a copy of his novel. Ah, the foolhardiness of youth, thinking a grumpy old middle-aged git like Kozelek is going to dig your 20-something musings with anything but jealousy and spite.
But your life is just beginning and you're just finding your feet in this world.
And your schtick's limited to impressing 19-year old girls from Williamsburg.
The sweet spot for men lasts from about 27-to-33,
And trust me, the magic dust starts fading when you're approaching 40.
Right now, the girls tell you they got a boyfriend at the end of the night, right?
Well, in your late-40s they tell you that information right up front, whether it's true or not...
To be fair though, Kozelek also has a little fatherly advice to impart to the young whipper-snapper...
When I was about your age, Johnny,
I believed in many things, but mostly I believed in me.
Then the bullets started coming, that's when you find out how tough you really be.
I've seen artists grow stronger and I've seen artists wilt in the heat.
I've seen artists strive like big Magnolia trees in sun, die off like weeds.
There are curveballs in life, Johnny. Some are hell, some are mindblowingly beautiful.
And then he gets his audience to sing Johnny a tribute , wishing him well with his future.
I remember being twenty-something. I thought I was so grown up. But I wasn't. Sometimes I feel less grown up in my mid-40s, despite all the trappings of adulthood. I remember I used to make fun of the 40-somethings I worked with: all their woes, responsibilities and early nights. But in the ame breath, I didn't appreciate what I had at all. It's like Joni sang: you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
I'm trying to live in the moment now, enjoy every sandwich, because I know in another 20 years I'll look back and wish I was 45 again. But it's hard. It really is.
