Beloved

I was listening to The Grateful Dead channel on Sirius over the last two days.

It occurred to me yesterday that The Dead are beloved. By the way, The Grateful Dead is one of the greatest band names in the history of rock.

The Dead are beloved. The Allman Brothers are beloved. The Beatles were beloved. The Stones are beloved.

Justin Bieber is not beloved. By the way it occurs to me that it is amusing when I try to make current cultural references. I am so out of touch with "today's music" that what I am assuming is current, is probably ancient.

Perhaps I am officially old. Or maybe I just don't give a shit.

"Beloved" is defined by Vocabulary.com in this way: "the adjective beloved is more intense than the adjective loved."

If I make up the word behated, does that mean I really fucking hate somebody?

The definition leaves something to be desired, but I like the fact that it is a special word meant to convey a more powerful emotion. I dig powerful words.

Fans and DJ's on The Grateful Dead channel speak of them with reverence and awe. And knowledge. Same with the U2 channel.

Allman Brothers fans - same thing. One of the great joys derived from the many Allman Brothers concerts I attended in my life was partying in the parking lot - before and after - with fans 20 years younger than me. People wandering back and forth between cars sharing joints, booze - and conversation. They were one generation removed from my original addiction to this band and yet they were enthusiastic, respectful and awed.

Amusing Aside: I have told this story before - I will tell it again. 

One summer me and my friends had already attended two Allman Brothers concerts. But they were set to play in Manchester, which is 45 minutes from my home. Could not talk anyone into going so I said fuck it and went by myself. Ended up sitting next to some youngsters and we were shooting the shit about the ABB.

One kid asked me how long I had been an Allman Brothers fan. I said: "Since 1969, when the first album came out. He responded: "Wow, you must be old." In hindsight I am pretty sure he was joking, amiably busting my balls. But maybe not.

My brain started percolating on the word "beloved" yesterday. Strangely enough, I finished a biography on Tiger Woods this very morning. The very last sentence of the book - and I am paraphrasing - said something like "in his life, Tiger evolved from being loved as a golfer, to being beloved as a human."

Crazy, huh? I am in beloved mode.

Beloved is good. I hope to be beloved some day.

Seems like a worthy goal.