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.
Ah, there's Mr. Zevon again. Yep, let's enjoy every sandwich. When I read those lyrics above, all I can do is nod my head, but the twentysomethings aren't going to listen... just as we didn't and so on and so on. That's the way it will always be.
ReplyDeleteFortune favours the bold and if Johnny hadn't passed Mark his book, there would have been no song or no tribute from the audience - A fine thing to tell the grandkids about.
ReplyDeleteLyrics spot on probably for men, maybe the ages tweak a little for women but yes, we must remember the whole sandwich thing a bit more often as in the future we will perhaps see right now as being the time of our lives. I am still in my sick bed (?!) but realise I worry too much about the future whereas I really need to start focusing on the here and now - If I could just find some energy! Pass the Lucozade please?
Great post Rol, I think we can all relate to it! Really interesting background to that too.
ReplyDeleteYes, you do just have to live in the moment, don't you? Live in it and enjoy it. Did you see 'That Peter Kay Thing' with the Leonard De Tompkinson episode? I remember a little piece of wisdom from dear old Leonard, the oldest paperboy in Britain: "Don't die with any fun in the bank". Makes sense!
I've only recently started thinking about the future and getting old - and it's making me a bit more impulsive. Tends to manifest itself quite harmlessly though with things like buying new clothes ("I won't want to wear that jacket or those boots when I'm 70 so I'd better get them now and make the most of it") and also in striving to stay reasonably fit and healthy. So maybe that's not such a bad thing...
Alyson, so sorry to read you're not well - hope you feel tons better very soon and are back to your normal self asap.
Lemsip and whisky perhaps? (But not together...)
Thanks C - It's actually a tummy thing so not sure the whisky might be a good idea. Interesting what you wrote - At 52 I wasn't really thinking about age, and time left at all (that's when I started the job I've just given up) but this year it just hit me - with all the Brexit changes coming along I'm taking whatever pension I have stored up now before it either disappears or so that I'm not too old to enjoy it. Maybe it's being ill but all of a sudden my mojo for new businesses has evaporated - it may return! Sorry I've high jacked Rol's comment boxes (nothing changes there then).
DeleteNo, you guys just chat away, don't mind me. I am but the conduit. (That said,I've been so busy lately I haven't even had time to reply to some of your excellent comments, so I must apologise for that.)
ReplyDelete"I remember being twenty-something....... you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
ReplyDeleteUnneringly accurate and stunning paragraph. Trust me though, the 50s, in my case certainly, have been the toughest of the lot. More folk who have been close to me prove not to be immortal and my abilities for burning a candle, even at one end, diminish by the day.
Not terribly familiar with Mark Kozelek, although others who I admire talk lovingly of his talents. This is a spendid song.
JC