I read a book in college about songs in the sixties, songs with catchy, bouncy beats and sad sad lyrics; and what that meant. Ninety-Six Tears, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Blue Moon, Elenor Rigby…on and on and on.

Anyway, that idea stuck with me. At the Hercules and Love Affair concert, I had a similar thought while I was averting my face from the sweaty flailing guy in front of me and his antic dancing. It was a crowded (sold out?) show at the Rock and Roll Hotel. The floor was packed with young or young-ish DC residents (no Virginia transplants here), just in the process of losing their idealism.

Is that too heavy? Have I been in DC too long? If you answered yes to either, come take me out for a drink. In the meantime, let’s read some Hercules and Love Affair lyrics from their most famous song, Blind.

As a child I knew
that the stars could only get brighter
then we could get closer
leaving the darkness
behind

Now that I’m older
the stars shed light upon my face
but when I find myself alone
I find myself alone

Now that I’m older
the stars shed light upon my face
but when I find myself alone
I feel like I, I am blind

Now that’s heavy, Doc. But as part of that sweaty, pulsing crowd, I was not alone. I could have dealt with a little more aloneness, frankly. I doubt anyone in that audience gave as much thought to the lyrics during the concert as you did reading them just now.

But on some level, this music resonates with someone who, somehow, is at loose ends, who doesn’t have a definite direction, someone who used to think one way and now is starting to change. Namely, a young professional (emphasis very much mine) in DC.