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Living in a suburb of Dallas means being exposed to lots of stories this time of year about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This being the 50th anniversary of the his assassination means even more stories than usual.
I have mixed feelings about the events going on in Dallas and Fort Worth focused on this sad anniversary. While I feel the occasion should be marked, I also feel that it's strange that Dallas would, again, be drawing attention to itself in connection with this tragic day in history. After that day, many felt hatred toward the city. I recently read Stephen King's book “11/22/63” and in that story you get the feeling that he still feels a deep hatred for the city of Dallas. Whether he really feels that way or just writes like he does (his stories have themes of evil having a grip on some towns and cities) I'm not sure.
I will not be attending any of the tributes or events. Like many other people, I have my own memories of that day and I will mark it privately or possibly in conversations with family and friends but not with the crowds of tourists and strangers. It's not that I blame those who choose to take part in those events. I simply do not feel compelled to do it. Perhaps if I lived in Dallas at the time of the assassination, I would feel differently but I wasn't even living in Texas at the time. Even living in another state, though, it had a huge impact.
There are not many songs that mention both mail and the assassination of JFK but this one does — and it talks about the conspiracy theories. I think it's got a more positive melancholy feeling about it. That might seem like an oxymoron but maybe you'll get what I mean after you have a listen. I hope that you feel that it remove some of the darkness from the memory without making too light of it. As always, thank you for letting me share some of my personal thoughts, this Mail Music Monday.