Just so you know, last night I stayed up until past 11:00 pm (!!!) so that I could catch Andrew Bird performing live on David Letterman. Earlier in the day I was convinced that I would be crashing quite quickly and exceptionally early since our little Ben was up and babbling away to his Tech Deck Dudes at just past 5 am. But when I heard on the radio, while washing the dishes after dinner, that Mr. Bird was going to be appearing on Late Night with David Letterman, well, I quickly changed my tune (pun intended) and tapped into that store of extra energy that you need when good things come along. Even if those good things are as simple as watching a musician live on the weird box that that we call the TV. (Did you know that we are super old school when it comes to TV? We don't have cable, we don't have a flat screen and we don't have any plans to change that scenario anytime soon. We are going to to do the Old World Stubborn Converter Box Thing. Yes we are. Clunky as it is. Oh and when Obama was sworn in and I missed it? Ted recorded it on the VCR on a VHS tape.)
And of course, wouldn't you know it, Andrew Bird was the very last act, they practically had the credits rolling as David Letterman came over and shook his hand. But Mr. Letterman shook it heartily and for me, it was worth it. That guy can whistle and his lyrics are wild and he seems happy to be playing, kind of lost in the melodies. He makes me feel like I felt about 7 or 8 years ago when I first heard Rufus Wainwright. They both make me feel like their music (and me listening to it) can make everything make sense, or at least sort of make sense. Or just open up the dialogue to the quizzical nature of all things we face every day. In the case of Andrew Bird by whistling or invoking snacks or insects or palindromes.
Oh and last week Ted scored two tickets to his concert in April at the Civic Opera House. I am looking forward to it very, very much. Until then I can be the dorky fan who watches his videos on-line, like this one. Or this one. And I can whistle along. And so can you. What is the music that makes you feel all right (or more at place) in the world?