Better Days

Welcome to the blog of Doug "Duke" Lang, songwriter and host of Better Days, a radio show spinning journeys from music and language, heard Thursdays ten-to-midnight Pacific time at www.coopradio.org Listen to songs at www.myspace.com/dukelang

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Location: Vancouver, Canada

Sunday, May 08, 2005


Bobby and Joanie Posted by Hello

Defining Moment

It was 1964 or '65. I was about to be a teenager. An
older boy named Tom Howe was entertaining me while
our parents visited together. On the television there
was a documentary in black and white. On screen was
a beautiful girl with a Spanish name. She had dark eyes
and long black hair. The narrator cut in to tell us that
Joan Baez held a generation of young bohemian folkies
in the palm of her hand. She finished her song and then
welcomed a friend to the stage. The face of a young man
came on screen. He had tousled hair and shy or wary eyes,
a guitar, and a harmonica rack set just under his chin. He
began to hunch over slightly and strum his guitar, then
he sang, "Come gather 'round people wherever you roam...
and admit that the waters around you have grown..." The
song was called The Times They Are A-Changin'. I wasn't
even sure of this young singer's name, but I felt his song.
The times changin'? At that moment, I believed they were.