Another Invitation

Another invitation, 1968, this time to the dorm room of a high school friend.

Come down off your throne and leave your body alone…

It was a nice private college, not Ivy League, but as close as my home town got to one.

Somebody must change…

She said ‘Let yourself in, I might be a little late.’ This was only the second year of co-ed dorms at the college, one of the first in the country. I had done a photo shoot with her the previous summer, she wanted to show how she had decorated her room.

You are the reason I've been waiting all these years…

When I did go in I was surprised to see that she had all the pictures I had taken of her pinned up on the walls. I wondered what her roommates had to say about that!

Somebody holds the key…

When I did go in I was surprised to see that she had all the pictures I had taken of her pinned up on the walls. I wondered what her roommates had to say about that! I sat down at her desk and turned on the radio; a Blind Faith song was playing.

Well, I'm near the end and I just ain't got the time…

The songs simple lyric channeled post-adolescent angst, repeated over and over, and made me think of how my life path had diverged from my friend’s. I was still living at home and becoming increasingly alienated. She had found a new home, here, in a place she made her own.

And I'm wasted and I can't find my way home…

While my studies were pointless, hers were focused. Her career track was set, while I hadn’t yet to start mine.

I can't find my way home…

After graduation I lost contact with her for years.

But I can't find my way home…

My studies were pointless, hers were directed. Her career track was set, while I hadn’t yet to start mine. I lost contact for with her for years. And she did go on to a career, making a name for herself, as did I, in a more humble fashion.

But I can't find my way home…

Several years later we met up again, her career had ended, while mine was reaching its zenith.

But I can't find my way home…

And then time caught up with me, and I joined the ranks of the unemployed as well. We got together more often and life was good.

Still I can't find my way home…

But then, ever since the pandemic began, I lost her… again.

And I've done nothing wrong…

All I have left of her are some photographs I took on that summer day.

But I can't find my way home.



Lyrics: Steve Winwood