So last night, as I sat in my seat looking at the stage waiting for Jackson Browne and Shawn Colvin, I glanced to my left and caught the most amazing profile. It was the profile of the glorious and incredibly beautiful Judy Collins. My heart skipped a beat as I just tried to absorb the fact that I was five feet away from this living musical legend. The music began, it was a young woman who was doing an opening set. Forgive me for not recalling her name as I write this but she really was quite good. I looked over at Ms. Collins, she had her eyes closed and she was taking the music in, note for note, feeling it inside and listening very deeply. I thought, that is exactly how I would expect Judy Collins to listen to music. She gave this young musician her full, undivided and profound attention. I tend to listen the same way. There ought to be a communion between the ears and the heart when listening to music. I looked over at her from time to time during the set, almost as if to assure myself that I was not dreaming. This was the angel that Leonard Cohen wrote about. It was 1967 or so and the setting was the Chelsea Hotel. That song, like Cohen himself, was a revelation to me. This was the artist, the voice, who took a song by Jacques Brel and transformed it into an anthem for eternity, This was the body that contained that voice, which can only be described as uniquely beautiful, just like the woman herself. There was an intermission. I am not a typically starstruck person but I was in this instant. I mustered up my courage and approached her from just beyond her right shoulder. Ms. Collins, I said. She turned to me and looked at me with those piercing blue eyes that have so often been photographed and memorialized. Legendarily beautiful eyes. Her soft white hair surrounded her stunning aqualine face. Hello, she said. My heart raced. Clumsily I spoke, my name is Montgomery Delaney and I simply could not pass on this opportunity, because I know it may never present itself again. May I just simply say to you Ms. Collins, that I am so extremely grateful that you have been part of the musical soundtrack of my life for over 40 years. She placed both of her hands over her heart and paused for a second, holding me steadfast within that magnificent gaze and said, why, thank you so very much for that. I retreated to my seat like a boy who just asked a girl to the prom. Goosebumps all over. Jackson and Shawn took the stage. At some point I looked over at her. She looked back at me. I patted my heart as if to say it was fluttering. It was. She patted hers and we exchanged a warm smile. It was a moment that I will never forget. It was a blessing from my muse. It was a song I have yet to sing. Take the lillies and the lakes, from the days of childhood. All the willow winding paths leading up and outward. This is waht I give. This is what I ask you for. Nothing more.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 21:06:54 +0000
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