Golden Age

My band the Darcys went on tour this past November all the way from Toronto to Vancouver and back. We went in our big red van with a racing stripe called the red baron. We drove up around Lake Superior in the baron wearing sunglasses to protect our eyes from the glint of the early winter sun bouncing off the massive bodies of water. As we drove west time swept back across us in the other direction and I sensed a transformation was occurring. We stopped in Winnipeg for my birthday and drank sparkling wine in a downtown parking lot. We drove through the plains and drank pilsner in windy parking lots. I thought about the oil sands and the dinosaurs and my girlfriend told me that the mechanical rigs at the side of the road were called nodding donkeys. When we got to Vancouver Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, I watched him on the television, his speeches were inspirational and his country was clearly hopeful. I know near nothing about politics. The next day it was sunny and I walked to Granville Island, the green hills and mountains surrounding Vancouver Island were clearly visible and I was astonished that a city of that size could be so prettily situated; it was cloudy and rainy for the rest of the week. The night we left Vancouver we drove through the mountains and got wasted on kicking horse coffee. As dawn began to break the massive outlines around us became visible and I stuck my head out the window like a dog. The sun came up and we pulled over to survey the Rocky Mountains outside of friendly Calgary. The bar owner in Calgary told us that the greatest musician on earth was not in a touring band, they had a formula for the world figured out in a song that they played in their parents basement, the bar owners name was Clint. On the way back through the prairies the land seemed to have acquired a glimmering golden glint. We got out and played football. We travelled backwards in time to our point of departure but the transformation that had occurred was not undone.  

TV On the Radio- Golden Age