I love "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris". Brel really was able to express a lot of things I have thought. But now that I am old, I find myself questioning just how well he understood old age. "Old Folks" is a wonderful song, but it does not represent much that I have experienced in my old age. Nor does it seem as though it captures the lives of my fellow Duncaster residents.
As you look at the following video (which I am listening to as I write this), think about my opinions about aging and where I am at today. First of all, the tempo is not what I have experienced in my senescence. Life moves faster than the song. I still dream. I still read. I move more than I ever have. I still go out, I wish arm in arm. I know I'm on the down track. I miss my wife terribly, but life does go on.
Being old is not the end of everything as long as you're reasonably healthy and your mind is still active.
How could he get it right? He died when only forty-nine. I believe you have to live old age to know old age.
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