The Thrill of Living

"Oh yeah, life goes on,
Long after the thrill of livin' is gone."

-John Mellencamp

Ace Frehley was a hero in my neighborhood. Everyone wanted to be the Space Man. Even those who leaned towards Gene, Peter, or Paul had Ace number 2 on their list. So when they released solo albums, we all listened to the Ace Frehley album. I don't remember which song, but there was a part where the guitar solo played in only one speaker. The solo paused, then finished in the other speaker.

The crowd in Dean and Doug Himmelberg's living room went crazy. We laughed and played air guitar. We swore that was the coolest thing we had ever heard. We KNEW Ace Frehley was a guitar god. We were easily amused. The thrill of living.

I went on a quick 4-miler the other day. I was listening to my iRiver (iPod knockoff) that my kids gave me as an early Father's Day gift. The song Fat-Bottomed Girls started and the guitar lead-in was playing in only one ear. Then the Freddie Mercury starts to sing and the sound is in both ears. That earned a big whoop-tee-do.

There isn't much thrill in finally understanding what Mellencamp had to say.