Boring true story alert!Some songs resonate deeper than perhaps they would be expected to. Angel from Montgomery is one such song for me.
Music and my guitar have always been my safety net in life. More than a decade ago I damaged the ulner nerve in my left hand leaving my pinkie and ring finger numb and useless. I had to accept my playing days were over and my old buddy just hung there on the wall.
I heard Angel from Montgomery, (covered by Dave Matthews), and boom!
I was there in that kitchen with her, flies 'n all. I felt her frustration, the emptiness swamping her soul, her stifled silent scream. I HAD to play the song, tell her story, let her scream out.
I spent the next week in agony. My hand would cramp up in protest after trying to play for a few minutes. I let it pass and went straight back.
It might all sound melodramatic but she needed released and failure wasn't an option. Through dogged persistence, (ok, ok, bloody-minded stubbornness then), I got there eventually.
I was back playing again, slower, clumsier and with a lot of chord shapes no longer feasible to even think about trying, but I was at least playing. I went on to expand into mandolin, dulcimer and keyboards, (did I mention the stubborn bit?).
In Alabama prison parlance the Angel from Montgomery is a last minute pardon on death row.
In my attempt to release her, she released me, her scream was my scream and I am so eternally grateful that she helped me get it out.
My daughter went to see Bonnie Raitt in concert recently, when she sang Angel from Montgomery my girl burst into tears.
S'ok, you can all stop cringing now.
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sooz06
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