AnElephantCant claim he is musical
He is tone deaf and can’t trumpet a note
But the fact he knows nothing
Doesn’t save you from suffering
He still inflicts on you every single tuneless thought

Yep, he is still doing it.
The motivation provided by the temporarily suspended Haibun Thinking produced by his friend Al is still going strong, so AnElephant decides to continue his one-pachyderm assault on the elegant genre of Haibun.

AMusicalElephant by Phil Burns

And Music of the Past
Before Elvis Presley changes his life, his musical knowledge is limited by his parents’ choices, Al Jolson and Kenneth McKellar, his mother’s favourite.
The former is a legend for being the star of the first ‘talkie’ picture, The Jazz Singer, as his father never tires of telling everyone.
The latter is probably unknown outwith Scots of a certain age, most of whom are now dead.
Fine singers and, probably, fine men, he has no problem with their place in his story.
But one night at a drive-in movie near Durban changes all that, and rock and roll takes over.

Elvis hits the screen
a young heart understands
it’s now or never

As he grows and travels, so his musical tastes expand.
Phil Spector’s ‘Wall of Sound’, the Liverpool explosion led by the Beatles, Motown and then Flower Power.
He is a hippy, heart and soul, a child of his time.
San Francisco, Love and Peace, man.

John Lennon tells us
long long ago
all you need is love

He is also a follower of Bob Dylan, to his mind the poet of the Twentieth Century, and from the late sixties loves the troubled genius of Leonard Cohen.
Other thoughtful and talented singer/songwriters who catch his attention include Carol King, Neil Young, Bob Lind, James Taylor, Don MacLean and Joni Mitchell.
And a myriad of other excellent artistes who are omitted here only because of space constraints.
He always listens to some classical music because, for him, only the violin can match the guitar for sheer excitement.
Then, at the beginning of a new romance, he sees that La Boheme is being performed by Scottish Opera.
A second epiphany takes place and Luciano Pavarotti is soon his go-to guy when he seeks peace of soul.

Luciano’s voice
inspires the world
and no one sleeps