"Cruising with the Beach Boys" - Poem by Dana Gioia
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- čas přidán 23. 09. 2019
- Dana Gioia performing his poem "Cruising with the Beach Boys" in his home in Santa Rosa. The full text of the poem is below. Learn more about Dana Gioia at his website www.danagioia.com.
"Cruising with the Beach Boys"
by Dana Gioia
So strange to hear that song again tonight
Travelling on business in a rented car
Miles from anywhere I've been before.
And now a tune I haven't heard for years
Probably not since it last left the charts
Back in L.A. in 1969.
I can't believe I know the words by heart
And can't think of a girl to blame them on.
Every lovesick summer has its song,
And this one I pretended to despise,
But if I was alone when it came on,
I turned it up full-blast to sing along -
A primal scream in croaky baritone,
The notes all flat, the lyrics mostly slurred.
No wonder I spent so much time alone
Making the rounds in Dad's old Thunderbird.
Some nights I drove down to the beach to park
And walk along the railings of the pier.
The water down below was cold and dark,
The waves monotonous against the shore.
The darkness and the mist, the midnight sea,
The flickering lights reflected from the city -
A perfect setting for a boy like me,
The Cecil B. DeMille of my self-pity.
I thought by now I'd left those nights behind,
Lost like the girls that I could never get,
Gone with the years, junked with the old T-Bird.
But one old song, a stretch of empty road,
Can open up a door and let them fall
Tumbling like boxes from a dusty shelf,
Tightening my throat for no reason at all
Bringing on tears shed only for myself.
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Thank you for watching. I will be posting more videos of my poetry and essays on this CZcams channel to create a record of how I hear them in my head. You can keep up to date with the videos by subscribing to my channel. Click here to subscribe: czcams.com/channels/6dDuuRPo6HXxn69LMLrwyw.html
A wonderful opportunity to see and hear one of America's finest poets read one of his works!
Sometimes you remind me how normal you are, and I am comforted by our shared experiences even though we haven’t shared them. Paul McCartney is my Beach Boys. Thanks, Dana.
Thank you for watching, Danny.
I first heard you recite this at a special event earlier this year, honoring you. The entire room was captivated and we all were enchanted - and if this had been a song, we'd have been able to sing it with you. I hope you'll recite it again this week at your next special event. Keep these coming. Sigh....
Hey Brother! I appreciate your work. I love how you memorize your words and then perform them. I just heard your poem, Summer Storm, read by someone else in an audiobook. I would love if you could post a clip of this poem on your CZcams channel. I like your money and vampire poems as well.
I'm fairly new on my poetic journey. I'm finding I love rhyming the last word in the second line with the last word in the fourth line. My ears really loved when I stumbled across your summer storm poem. Thank you.
Appreciate Everything, Love Fully, Need Nothing 😃
Great!
These video-poems are so great! Ah, the bands and songs that make up the soundtrack of our lives.
A fine poem, Dana. I can so relate. I also like the conversational quality of the poem that is nevertheless quietly eloquent. I have noted it is in your collection, "99 Poems," which I am making my way through with great interest. I watch these videos numerous times. I read that way. I like poring over a poem. My brother, Mike, enjoys your poetry and these videos. Yes, as another watcher commented, "You remind me of how normal you are." I love your discussion of Catholicism in another video of yours. My brother's middle name is Sheen, after Bishop Sheen, whose broadcasts on television was a staple in our family during the 1950s. Even our Protestant father watched his Sunday broadcasts. I like your poem, "Nothing is Lost," also. While listening to you read this poem I thought of Walt Whitman's quietly eloquent, "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer." I love that poem, and his "A Child Went Forth." Nick
You gave me a path to study in memory and Catholic theology. Thanks.
Dana Gioia It was the talk you gave to a Dominican university (on Catholic Imagination) and I listened to it many times. I was teaching theology to high school seniors (I just quit this spring) and realized it was what I was looking for in teaching students who didn’t go to Mass etc. It took two years of reflecting before I could make up the final project-Memory, Imagination and Vocation. They had to take a movie, song, or book that gave them a basis for their life, build on the theme for projecting into the future what they wanted to study etc. When I listened to your poem a week or so back, it reminded me of all that work. It would have been a great example of what I wanted from the students. Anyways, I loved the work that happened in the class and I am grateful for your work. I really wanted to go to the conference in Chicago you were at this past fall, but it didn’t work out. (Catholic Imagination at Loyola). I owe you a huge gratitude because i have learned a lot from you-thanks to CZcams. I am a Benedictine sister and am constantly looking for ways to connect our culture and faith. Thank you!