How did I get hear? #3 - Dianne Swann on Neil Young's "Tonight's The Night"
I had just turned 14. Things had gone a little pear-shaped in my family. Things were happening; the house was overcrowded, and my Dad was away a lot, working and playing (up).
My Uncle had split with his wife, and he came to live with us for a while, bringing his 3-year-old son with him. One of my sisters returned to live at home with a little baby. It was a frenetic and troubled time, and the things that occupied the minds of most fourteen-year-old girls did not seem important to me at all.
For me, though, the real disaster was that my older sister had left home and taken her record collection. My brother had just started working at his building apprenticeship. With his first pay, he bought me a Sony cassette player. What a gift.
The ragged sadness of that recording reached me in ways that made me truly feel like I was not alone. Every crack of Neil’s voice, every guitar squeak - the imperfection and looseness resonated with me as I learned that the world is not perfect, and music is solace and love.
I could sit with that album and feel dark and just leave it there in that room. I guess it was my emo album. It was my friend.
Funny fact: it also helped me with my school cert geography exam, as I was able to confidently place Sante Fe slightly less than 90 miles away from Albuquerque.
(You can keep up with Dianne's musical activities at her Facebook page here!)