Hits!

Baseball players have a weird relationship with their bats. Though the bat is an instrument that they use in their profession, they often get a bit quirky about them. They have long questioned how many hits were in their bats. As if the bat itself had some mystical quality. Break one in the middle of a good streak and they wonder how many more hits were still in that bat. Yesterday I found myself thinking in a similar way.

I was sadly recognizing the short future that lies ahead for my Baby Taylor guitar which has developed an illness. Thought it's a finish problem located on the back side, the signs of it spreading over the rest of the body are already there.

So as I reminisced about the number of songs that were created on it, I wondered how many songs/hits it had left. In my mind the guitars and the songs they spawn are related. You might say they have the same DNA. Though I don't keep track of such things, I still can recall where and on what guitar most of my songs were created.

I definitely have a quirky relationship with my guitars. I admit that freely. Though in this case I like to believe that the relationship is personal enough that it makes sense. If you play, then you know the feeling you get when you pick up one of those special guitars. It's not always related to quality or price, but more often on feel, touch, some spiritual feeling you get. Kind of like a soul mate. A good friend.

So as my Baby Taylor moves slowly towards retirement, I'll be waiting lovingly for it's twilight songs. Every melody a hit for this admittedly romantic composer.