One of these days
I’ve been a little overwhelmed recently. When I say recently, I really mean the last year and a half of my life. In the middle of my most recent meltdown, I read that one of my favorite bands of the eighties and early nineties, Camper Van Beethoven, was starting a music festival in the desert, the First Annual Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven Campout. I ran for my wallet and bought a two day pass online.
You probably don’t know Camper, but they were indie darlings, known for their wicked sense of humor, and musical blend of middle eastern music, country, and great pop hooks. They wrote the cult classsics, “Take the skinheads bowling,” and “Where the hell is Bill?” I pity the fool who missed out on those two gems.
Armed with my email receipt for my ticket, I drove out to Yucca Valley, CA, last Friday night. I dragged my friend, Jerry, to the show.
I remember the first time I mentioned my affection for Camper’s music, he perked up, and said, “Hey, I know someone in the band.” Nuh-uh! “Yeah, I know Victor. I knew him when he was a little kid, around nine or ten years old.” Turns out that Victor’s older sister dated one of Jerry’s best friends back in their college days.
Jerry heard about Victor’s success with Camper, but never got around to seeing them play live. The timing was bad, the venue was too far away, and once in the eighties, he missed a Camper show by a few hours. Fast forward thirty years, and the planets finally align so Jerry can go. Together, we headed out for the desert.
Two hours and several missed exits later, we arrive at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown, in Yucca Valley, CA. We were a half hour late for the show when we finally parked and walked into the venue.
It seems very un-rock ‘n’ roll for a band to actually go on stage at the officially scheduled time, but that’s probably just sour grapes on my part. I have such fond memories from my first Camper show back in 1989. I remember standing so close to the stage that I could have reached out and touched them if I wanted to. (And, yes, I did want to!) They seemed like a bunch of sweet, twenty-something boys playing their music and having a lot of fun doing it. Who wouldn’t want as much of that as possible?
Jerry and I parked ourselves towards the back of the outdoor venue, about fifty feet from the stage. As soon as I could take in the atmosphere, I immediately fell in love with it. We were surrounded by soft rolling hills, and a star-studded sky thanks to very little light pollution. The air was crisp, the audience was mellow (everyone there was smiling!), and thoroughly enjoying the music.
It was right then that Camper played one of my favorite songs, “One of these days.”
One of these days
When you figure, figure it all out
Well be sure to let me know
Well I’ll be waiting right here
Come and whisper in my ear what it is I want to know
I looked around to see couples move closer together, leaning on each other. In that moment, I missed being ‘together’ with someone. I sometimes flirt with the idea of dating, or one day (many, many years from now) even having a boyfriend. No way in hell was I ready to be close to anyone. I’m such a mess! I’m racked with guilt over leaving my husband, Endicott; and also, there are the constant self-doubts. But Friday night, all of that disappeared (into the desert sky?).
One of these days, gonna get into it way on over our heads
And you’ll find that there’s no place to hide
But if you fight and if you fail, don’t fall back into yourself
You can fall back on me
I looked over at Jerry, remembering how much I used to love him. I would have married him back in the nineties when we were together. At the time, he wasn’t interested in marrying me. Nowadays, I’m sooooooooooooooooo glad we didn’t go there, ‘cuz that marriage would not have worked either. I’m sure he’d agree that we both dodged a bullet in that relationship.
Watching him Friday night, I didn’t miss what we had for one second. I knew I made the right decision by leaving that relationship almost nine years ago (Sept. 28th, 1996). I hoped I could one day look over at my husband, Endicott, confident I made the right decision to leave our marriage…That might be asking too much.
One of these days
When you figure it, figure it all out
Put your lips against my ear
Tell me it all
Or tell me just a little bit, you know
You know it’s what I wanna hear
I had so much fun at the two day festival. The music was awesome, the people were friendly, fun, and warm. I look forward to attending the 2nd Annual Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven Campout next year — hopefully with a boyfriend in tow.
One of these days,
Flo
PS Jerry didn’t approach Victor after the show. He said there was no way Victor would remember him after thirty years, so why bother. He was just pleased to have seen the band perform, and sound really great.
3 comments September 12th, 2005