It Was The First Real Nice Spring Day

   I was returning from a quick trip to Bangor where I had just completed a brief shopping trip, getting ready for the upcoming seasonal changes. The temperature was a very pleasant 71 degrees and both front windows of the car were open, allowing some fresh air to replace some of the musty winter smells. Scout, resting on the back seat, was enjoying the wind across her face, her nose working hard to find those fresh new odors.

   I had set the speed limit control on the car for 70 mph but it was obvious by the number of cars that were passing me, that for many, they were in much more of a hurry to get to wherever they were going. But the speed limit is only supposed to be 70 mph. Oh well.

   As I often do, I had the radio turned on to one of my favorite stations, one that plays the older hits, the songs from my generation of growing up, where I might understand the words, the meaning, and the message. The song playing was by Paul Simon, entitled “Kodachrome,” a hit from a 1973 album. To my surprise, I remembered many of the words and began to sing along, but as I reflected upon the song’s meaning, it became obvious that over time I had forgotten the meaning or message he was attempting to share. I thought he was talking about a camera.  I was going to need to take a look back.

   After a few more hits by Peter Paul and Mary and of course some Bob Dylan, I pulled into the driveway, unloaded the car and went to the computer. My first task was to look at the lyrics

   “When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all. And thought my lack of education hasn’t hurt me none, I can read the writing on the wall.”

   “Kodachrome give us those nice bright colors, gives us the greens of summers makes you think of all the sunny day, oh yeah, I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph, so mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away.”

   So what was the message that Paul Simon was trying to share through the song?  I think he was trying to explore the ideas of memory, nostalgia and how we all often look at life through rose-colored glasses. If we remember, for many years, pictures taken by cameras were only in black and white. During the mid-1900s a company developed  ways to develop pictures with color, adding a whole new dimension to memory and the history we thought we remembered . With the addition of color, we had a new way of viewing and remembering the world.

   When the song was written in 1973, the world was entering a time of change and challenge and as he transitioned into adulthood, he wanted to make sure that his mom did not throw away his camera and the pictures he remembered from his early life as a child.

   Recently I have done a great amount of thinking about the past, especially as I sort through pictures, letters, and cards I have collected over time. As we get older, without those pictures to refresh memories, what we remember may only be a distortion of the actual past, regardless of whether we lived life during a time of black and white or with the addition of color. Throwing pictures away, taking books out of schools and libraries does not mean that something, an event, may never had occurred, and as a result, we will  never learn from our mistakes.

   A Nikon camera is something that many living in today’s world will never know or experience. Technology today has made sure of that. But Paul Simon’s concern he expressed many years ago about the accuracy of our remembering the past and its influence on our future is still critical in our changing world today.

   If you have never heard the song or it’s been a while since you read the lyrics, it might be worth getting in the car on a nice sunny day, roll down the windows ,  find a radio station and go for a ride back into history.