beware of darkness

One of my favorite songs from the 1960s is the Byrds, My Back Pages, although I didn’t come across it until I was 14 or so. There is no song, for me, that is so well-suited to Roger McGuinn’s Rickenbacker. I was too young at the time to realize that someone else had written the song (Bob Dylan).

I remember the disdain I felt towards teachers and others in the educational establishment as I listened to the song. Funny that I became an educator.

On October 16, 1992, there was a concert held to celebrate Bob Dylan’s 30 years in music. It was George Harrison’s only American concert appearance after 1974. The last song of the concert was My Back Pages. Roger McGuinn does the first verse, then Tom Petty, then Neil Young (before his head exploded from decades of drug and alcohol abuse). Eric plays a solo and sings a verse, followed by Bob Dylan’s verse, and finally Hari does his verse.

I find it interesting that Hari is given the last verse in a concert for Bob. A sign of respect. The video is below, followed by lyrics.


Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin' high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
"Rip down all hate," I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull. I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Girls' faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, though, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

A self-ordained professor's tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
"Equality," I spoke the word
As if a wedding vow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My pathway led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

Another of my favorite songs is Hari’s, If Not For You. A simple song in its devotional lyrics. Always struck something within me. Always, as is written above, “deceived me into thinking I had something to protect.” Thankfully, that self-deceit has ceased. (But I still like the song!)

These two videos are an interesting contrast. The first is from the same concert as above, except Hari is alone at the mic. The second video is from 21 years earlier (1971). Hari and Bob Dylan were rehearsing for the Concert for Bangladesh. Interestingly, like Hari came on an American stage for the first time in such a long time, Bob Dylan has basically retired and played the Concert for Bangladesh only because of Hari. Bob was actually billed at the headliner.



If not for you
Babe, I couldn't even find the door
I couldn't even see the floor
I'd be sad and blue, if not for you

If not for you
Babe, the night would see me wide awake
The day would surely have to break
It would not be new, if not for you

If not for you, my sky would fall
Rain would gather, too
Without your love I'd be nowhere at all
I'd be lost, if not for you

If not for you
The winter would hold no spring
Couldn't hear a robin sing
I just wouldn't have a clue, if not for you

If not for you, my sky would fall
Rain would gather, too
Without your love I'd be nowhere at all
I'd be lost, if not for you

If not for you
The winter would hold no spring
Couldn't hear a robin sing
I just wouldn't have a clue, if not for you

If not for you

The final song in this post is Hari’s Beware of Darkness. I have countless versions of this song. My favorite is when he talks before he plays and says, “I just wrote this song the other day. Not sure what to call it yet. Still have a bunch of words to figure out.”

This version of the song is from the Concert of Bangladesh. Leon Russell takes a verse. Video followed by lyrics.


Watch out now, take care
Beware of falling swingers
Dropping all around you
The pain that often mingles
In your fingertips
Beware of darkness

Watch out now, take care
Beware of the thoughts that linger
Winding up inside your head
The hopelessness around you
In the dead of night

Beware of sadness
It can hit you
It can hurt you
Make you sore and what is more
That is not what you are here for

Watch out now, take care
Beware of soft shoe shufflers
Dancing down the sidewalks
As each unconscious sufferer
Wanders aimlessly
Beware of Maya

Watch out now, take care
Beware of greedy leaders
They take you where you should not go
While Weeping Atlas Cedars
They just want to grow, grow and grow
Beware of darkness (beware of darkness)