How do you explain why some songs keep coming back to mind, years and years after I’m stumped that they haven’t yet been replaced by everything else that passes through our senses and packs our brains with memories? I also can’t seem to replace the mistaken lyrics that even long after I now know better.
Billy Preston’s “Will Go Round in Circles” (1973) for example. I could have sworn it was “Wheels go round in circles.”
[[[[SIDEBAR: And one of my favorites related to photography, Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome.” I was convinced that when it started off “With all the crap I learned in high school.” that the name of the song was, “Chromosomes.” I swear I heard the words, “I got a night on campus.” suggesting it must have been a song about a young man discovering his manhood and loosing his virginity when he went off to college. “Kodachrome?” “I got a Nikon camera?” Whatever.]]]]
A second song that I even hate to admit sticking in my head was the Eagles, “Take it Easy.” I only hate admitting it because you were definitely not cool if you listened to the Eagles. But really, who could help it? Seems that’s all they played for years while I lived in Columbus, Ohio. But the line. “Take it easy. Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy,” were just so telling that they always stuck with me.
These two songs came to mind after working on this photo for my Lighting I class. The assignment was to do a product shot. I asked my instructor for guidance on this assignment. I told him I felt this was a weak spot for me. He responded, “What are you passionate about?” “Drugs, sex and rock and roll was my immediate response.” (The source of that line is actually quite interesting.) But the question got me thinking and I ended up shooting some bike parts with some cool lighting.
After shooting many angles, I ended up focusing on one of the components, the front derailleur, a part that shifts the chain on the front rings. I like the idea of something that stands its ground while all else spins around it. Unaffected, the derailleur waits to be called on to do its job while all else is quite literally flying by, the wheels, tires and spokes, the chain links, the sprocket, the bikers pumping legs, the feet that get cleated in and out, and surface below, regardless of if it’s dry, sandy, rocky, wet or muddy.
All else shakes, rattles and rolls and the derailleur waits for its command and then jumps to action, immediately and with precision. Thanks to the many unsung heroes out there who keep all of our wheels going ’round in circles. It helps many of us fly high like a bird up in the sky without going crazy.