Let’s do Some Living

I had the Wild Horses 45 single as a kid. Back then it was a song. But now that I am on the other side of 50, it is a poem. Now, it’s a poetic break-up song that evokes personal memories of past betrayals and painful good-byes.

For better or for worse, at midlife I find myself taking inventory of all the “wins” and all the “losses” of the first five decades. There have been plenty of both.

I really doubt that any of us can make it to mid life without some horrible, gut wrenching set backs. Actually, I would argue that if you’ve never been brought to your knees in heart break, you ain’t been really living.

“Let’s do some living, after we die.” Sounds like an appropriate rallying cry for all of us battle weary middle agers, doesn’t it?

So, a few weeks ago, doing some living was just what I decided to do. I called up my old college roommate, Amy, and suggested an adventure. As it turned out, Amy was in need of a good getaway too. So, we got in the car and Thelma and Louised it down to Muscle Shoals, Alabama… a place we’d only heard about in a Lynyrd Skynyrd song.

Rock & Roll Heaven

Why Muscle Shoals? Why go to rural, north west Alabama in the middle of miles and miles of cotton fields… in the middle of seemingly nowhere?

Well, in actuality, Muscle Shoals is anything but “nowhere”. In fact, according to The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, “Muscle Shoals is Rock & Roll heaven, man.”

In fact, the Stones recorded their iconic songs “Wild Horses” and “Brown Sugar” in Muscle Shoals Sound Recording Studio back in 1969. Why would Keith and Mick travel from London, England to rural Alabama to record? Why not London, New York, LA? Why Muscle Shoals?

Why? Well, because Muscle Shoals is magic… and who doesn’t need a little shot of magic in their lives from time to time?

If Keith and Mick, a couple of Rock & Roll superstars, could find magic in Muscle Shoals back in 1969, then, so too could Amy and I, a couple of 50 year old college roommates in the middle of the 2020 pandemic, find this magic too.

These two middle-agers were off to dip our hands in the waters of the “Singing River” of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Rock and Roll History

The Stones were actually following some mighty big talent that had already found success in Muscle Shoals.

Starting in the early 1960’s, enormous Rock & Roll and Country music artists were recording big hits there… Wilson Picket, Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Paul Simon, Cher… to name a few (but there’s many, many more).

The Singing River

Now, to be honest, this town of Rock & Roll recording fame is far from picturesque. Picture an industrial southern town with its fair share of blighted architectural hodgepodge, strip malls and fast food restaurants, and you’ve nailed it.

I have to admit, when we first rolled into town, I was a little worried about this adventure. What had I gotten Amy into?

But, everything changed as we drove over the mighty Tennessee River and under the bridge’s sign that read “the Singing River.”

The river actually got it’s moniker long before Rock & Roll came to town in the 1960’s. Generations before, the Cherokees of the region named the river “Unashay,” which translates to the “Singing River”.

The rushing waters of the Tennessee river made melodious sounds as it flowed over the shoals. The Cherokees believed a muse lived in the river and sang songs to them. When the waters were calm, the muse sang melodiously and sweetly, but when the rivers raged, the voice boomed with rancor and rage.

So, to consecrate our middle age odyssey, you better believe that Amy and I hiked down to the shore line and dipped our hands in this magical singing water. I even splashed some of the water on my face to see if the wrinkles would disappear. (I’ll let you know if that happens… still waiting).

No Flash, No Frills

The first thing I noticed on our tour of the Muscle Shoals Sound recording studio was that the studio was one big sh*t hole… no flash, no where. In the late 1960’s, the rock musicians were coming from a whole different world… a world of flash and hustle of the recording studios of New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit. Who knows, perhaps the absence of flash was what really brought the real soul of their music out in them.

Or perhaps, the magic was literally in the sh*t hole. The studio had one tiny, grungy bathroom, and what it lacked for in decor, it made up for in amazing acoustics. These musical guitar geniuses just loved the acoustics in that grungy bathroom.

Amy and I felt a little ridiculous taking a picture of a bathroom but that is where Rock & Roll history was made. Keith Richards wrote the lyrics to “Wild Horses” in there. And, that’s where Duane Allman preferred to play his slide guitar as he accompanied Aretha and Wilson Picket.

The Swampers

The “no Frills” theme of music making carried over to the studio’s local rhythm section, as well. They called themselves “The Swampers” and were pivotal in the magical music making. The unlikely crew of ordinary, local white guys were self-described as decent musicians individually, but when they came together to play, the music came together too… magically.

This unassuming group of ordinary guys, who couldn’t even read music, played as accompaniment on over 75 gold and platinum hits, such as Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” and Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome.”

“The Swampers,” who looked like the guys that could be unclogging your drain, or pumping your gas or bagging your groceries, were backing up Bob Seager on “Mainstreet,” The Staple Singers on “I’ll Take you There,” Wilson Picket on “Mustang Sally” and Lynard Skynard on “Freebird”… to name a few. But, even after all of their success, they still manage to live, then and now, very modest but happy lives.

With the royalties that they have made off of hits like “Old Time Rock and Roll,” they have bought houses for their mothers and have upgraded their big screen TV’s.

I guess it was the simple living of “community” in Muscle Shoals that rang through in their playing. Their songs ring with the soulful sound of organic “collaboration”. Muscle Shoals may not be much to look at, but it is place for living. A place where families support each other, people work for their supper… and just live.

The Miracle Worker

After we toured Rock and Roll history, Amy and I toured Helen Keller’s birthplace, Ivy Green. That’s right, Helen Keller is from these parts too.

It is in the land of “the Singing River” where she learned her first word, which was… wait for it… “Water”. Despite being both deaf and blind since infancy, Helen was able to decipher the word “water” after her teacher, Anne Sullivan, dipped her hand in the water from the wells of Muscle Shoals and tapped out the letters.

Now that sounds magical to me.

Helen Keller went on to graduate Cum Laude from Radcliffe College and write numerous books and spend her life advocating for the blind and deaf is nothing short of a miracle.

Our Body needs Water

Water is the source of life on earth. Without H2O, our cells would die. Our bodies need a good supply of water.

Our Mind and Spirit needs Water too

Water cleanses us, it cools us, it warms us, it invigorates us, it soothes us.

Tears must be cried. It releases us. Our watery tears release the emotions and blocks of a tormented mind.

Let’s do some living, after we die. It baptizes us. The baptismal waters unburden us to live a new life full of spirit.

Wild Horses

Keith Richard’s original version of Wild Horses had a total of four choruses that all ended with:

Couldn’t drag me away.

Late in the night, in that dingy Muscle Shoals Sound studio, Mick Jagger changed the last line of the last two choruses to:

We’ll ride them someday.

Let’s go. Let’s ride. My someday is today… how about you?

My exercise programs on The Balance Movement aim to help active people over 50 like myself remain active so that we can “ride” for the rest of our lives… doing the things we love with the people we love most.