Mike Doughty is a musician that I just love. His writing is fun, lively, and inventive¹. A number of years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing him live at Antone’s in Austin. It was a great show. And he bubbled up in my mind recently, as I plumbed the depths of Spotify to expand my playlists.
This song, “I Hear the Bells” from Haughty Melodic, makes a great theme for today, this Monday. Go and get it. Listen for the Bells, joyful and triumphant. They are tolling for thee².
¹ Back when I lived not so far from Reseda, CA, his prophetic line, “We are all going to Reseda to die” in Screenwriter’s Blues caught my attention like a comic villain grabs a collar.
² I hope my 10th grade English teacher, Errol Jacobs, appreciates that I remember this line and our jocular rejoinders about who the bell actually tolls for. And yes, I know Donne meant it in the grimmest sense. However, in the sense that the funeral bells ring for us all, doesn’t that make us all one part of a larger community–Blanchot’s unavowable community, if you will–and if the bells toll joyfully, perhaps as on a wedding day, then aren’t we all one in the joy as well? Aren’t we, Mr. Jacobs?