#rockandroll #life #gettingolder #perspective #amwriting

Glen Frye is dead. So is Tom Petty. Fleetwood Mac kicked out my man Lindsey Buckingham and so they are dead to me. Van Halen looks like they are getting something going again, but without Diamond Dave or Michael Anthony, so really it’s just a couple of malcontent brothers. Elton John is retiring, so it’s goodbye Sir Elton, thank you for all you gave us. I just watched the movie Bohemian Rhapsody and was reminded what a force of nature we had in Freddy Mercury and it made me miss him all the more, all over again. Steve Perry maybe is going to do something with Neil Schon, but probably won’t tour. I’m going to see Billy Joel later this year, but he hasn’t put out a new album in like decades, so it will be an awesome blast from the past, but…

I guess that’s the thing when I think about it. All those who contributed to the soundtrack of my life are slipping away, to be replaced by other artists making the sound track for other people’s lives. I ask myself, is it over? Not my life, really. I mean I would like to think I have some years ahead of me, but the years of my youth are behind me and the voices that framed those years with music and song are increasingly only to be found on recordings.

It’s almost like my time on the stage is growing to an end. All the world’s indeed a stage and we are merely players. They have their exits and entrances. William Shakespeare said that, but so did RUSH in Limelight.

So, the question remains. Is it over? Do I make myself content that whatever run I had was a good one, wait around until I am shuffled off stage? Or maybe, maybe just maybe keep the faith, draw strength from those ever diminishing voices from my past, put a song on and perform? In my own way?

“Ain’t it funny how the night moves, with autumn closing in…”

I guess I have my answer.

It ain’t over yet.

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Philip A. McClimon is an author who likes to write about the end of the world (post apocalyptic, Sci/Fi), mostly because he thinks the shopping would be awesome (No crowds, everything free). He likes heroes that are the strong, silent type and not necessarily male. By silent he means up until the time there is something snarky to say, usually before, during, and after doing something cool. He writes Urban Fantasy under the name Billy Baltimore for no other reason than that he likes the name. Many of the same rules for his other stories apply to Billy’s, strong silent types, smart mouth, does cool stuff, but these stories take place in a made up town called Hemisphere and involve stuff you only ever hear about on late night conspiracy talk show podcasts, which are, if you think about it, pretty awesome too. So, that’s Phil. He’s not strong, rarely silent, and isn’t known for doing a lot of cool things. But his characters are.