Discovery ("Long, Long, Long")

One of the most pivotal moments in my musical discovery came during Christmas of, let's call it 2007. That sounds about right. I would have been thirteen and in eighth grade at the time. Unbearably awkward and uncomfortable, as are I think most people at that age, I found immense comfort in music--again, as most people do. So for Christmas that year, my dear sweet parents asked me what I wanted, and I handed them a list of albums by bands that I liked. I discovered a lot of music at that time by listening to Nights with Alice Cooper on 99.7 KY (which is, sadly, no longer operating under that same classic rock format). But to get to the point, I heard Mister Alice playing songs by bands like The Yardbirds, Jethro Tull, and KISS, and to my impressionable adolescent mind there was nothing better. My parents, recognizing this appreciation, got me the albums I'd asked for. They were, if I recall correctly:

London Calling by The Clash
Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Led Zeppelin IV (or whatever you prefer to call it) by Led Zeppelin
Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
Self-Titled by The Beatles

...and I believe one other album--maybe Bryter Layter by Nick Drake? I can't remember, but it's written down somewhere.

So this post is heading, as most of mine do, to a YouTube video of a song that I like. And while I was reading the other night, listening quietly to the second half of The White Album, I began reflecting on my first strong experiences with music (such as the junior-high winter described above). That led me to thinking about the specific album I was listening to, and what a fine, fine song "Long, Long, Long" is. I'd argue that it's one of the best songs on the album, and I love a lot of songs on that album. There's something so emotional and heartrending in the way George Harrison sings it that can't really be described (which is, I suppose, a description in itself). It took me a long time to appreciate it, though. When I first listened to the entire White Album, I was most interested in songs like "Julia" and "Blackbird": predictably enjoyable and comfortable songs with acoustic guitar and quiet vocals. I think I probably found "Long, Long, Long" to be creepy and weird. It's remarkable how time can change thoughts and opinions like that.

Enough blathering. Here's the song: