Mulatu Astatke - Tezeta (Nostalgia) [mp3]
I remember driving more often then I should late into the next day, each day and drive exactly the same as all the ones before. I remember each drive individually as one single drive into the dark with nothing on my mind but a faint glimmer of hope, an occasional road sign and the ever ending flash of the dividing lines separating myself from mysterious forces on the other side. All around me shapes and shadows would shift and shimmer under the pale of the moon, up above high in the sky stars would dance numbers numbing the thoughts resting restively as I angle my concentration with greater strength toward the singular path flowing forward. At times like this, I wouldn’t wonder too much about the conversations I had throughout the day or the problems facing our country. I wouldn’t even wonder much about the act of driving, a disagreeable act and one certainly inferior to riding my bicycle. Instead, I would wonder about the very slight alterations in the center pattern, the communicative flashing of lights on a truck, when the next rest stop will arrive. A blank paragon, the perfect plight of consciousness and a simmering desire to smoke a cigarette to alleviate my pains, an assumed boredom becomes necessary in the face of a factually boring adventure and yet I wish I could drive like this for all time, in silence and without confrontation. The end of the drive brings exhaustion, a facade of discomfort and discord as I curse the notion of spending wasting leaving my time alone in a car to pass human distance. But the feeling remains whole and I look forward again to a foray in the night.
Next time, I see more deer at the side of the road then last but then, I can’t remember for sure what happened last time besides and really, this is all one experience, isn’t it? This driving in the black hot light of the night, these slowly sulking semis and the occasional stingy father driving the family four hours across state to visit an amusement park, leaving early to avoid having to spend the night in a hotel. Driving then, you don’t bother to glance to the side as a car passes by and music feels far away from the speakers in the back seat. You can feel the cold outside through the cracks in your car, a thought occurs to possibly turn on the heat but the cold keeps you spry and you forget about the heat anyway. Somehow through it all, your journey and destination lose initial meanings, you touch with your hands a powerful wheel capable of destroying today and you smile smartly to yourself for choosing such a remarkable vocation.
Mulatu Astatke is a rhythm and blues band from Ethiopia. The featured song is from the album Ethiopiques, Volume 4. Purchase the music at Amazon | Insound | eMusic.
