Transparency,
awareness and self-reflection;
As if to
say - I can achieve perfection;
In the
midst of loss, pain, and dread;
No
regrets. I know much was left unsaid.
Squall
lines inevitable and straight ahead.
Navigating
with a will to steer;
Mitigation
of fear from those near and dear;
Every life
has its share of woes;
Pray for
guidance and steady as it goes;
Until it’s
you - no-one knows.
Living in
the here and now;
We got
here some way, somehow.
Change is
a constant state of things;
Life and
the circumstance it brings;
You are
gone but I know you’re on angel wings.
Memories
abound;
Of when
you were around.
You were
always kind;
Among us,
you still remind;
To make
this life the best we can find.
2/3/1959 - 66 years ago today, the music died.
A plane crash in an Iowa cornfield.
Three legends gone in an instant.
BUDDY HOLLY – 22 years old
RITCHIE VALENS – 17 years old
THE BIG BOPPER – 28 years old
They were on the Winter Dance Party tour.
Small-town venues across the frozen Midwest.
The tour bus kept breaking down — no heat, musicians getting sick.
In Clear Lake, Iowa, Buddy Holly chartered a small plane to skip the long, freezing bus ride to the next show.
Three seats.
Four people wanted them.
BUDDY HOLLY
“Peggy Sue”
“That’ll Be the Day”
Rock and roll pioneer
Wore those iconic black glasses
Influenced The Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones
Passed away at 22
RITCHIE VALENS
“La Bamba”
“Donna”
First Latino rock star
Eight months of fame, then gone
Passed away at 17
THE BIG BOPPER
“Chantilly Lace”
Big personality, infectious energy
DJ turned rock star
Had the flu and asked for the seat so he could rest
Passed away at 28
February 3, 1959.
The headlines called it: “The Day the Music Died.”
But the music didn’t really die that day.
It changed.
The innocence of early rock and roll faded.
The Beatles would rise in a few years.
Bob Dylan would change everything.
Rock would grow darker and more complex.
But we lost what could have been.
In 1971, Don McLean wrote a song about this night.
He never explained all the lyrics, but the refrain became immortal:
A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile…
