The Explanation
(for those who require one)

And, of course, that is what all of this is -- all of this: the one song, ever changing, ever reincarnated, that speaks somehow from and to and for that which is ineffable within us and without us, that is both prayer and deliverance, folly and wisdom, that inspires us to dance or smile or simply to go on, senselessly, incomprehensibly, beatifically, in the face of mortality and the truth that our lives are more ill-writ, ill-rhymed and fleeting than any song, except perhaps those songs -- that song, endlesly reincarnated -- born of that truth, be it the moon and June of that truth, or the wordless blue moan, or the rotgut or the elegant poetry of it. That nameless black-hulled ship of Ulysses, that long black train, that Terraplane, that mystery train, that Rocket '88', that Buick 6 -- same journey, same miracle, same end and endlessness."
-- Nick Tosches, Where Dead Voices Gather

Artists in Action #582

Lena Horne 1943
Original Caption:

Lena Horne, actress, singer, and sponsor of the SS George Washington Carver, about to place a kiss on the cheek of Montrose Carrol, a chipper who worked on the Liberty ship, during the ship's launching, Richmond Shipyard No. 1, Richmond, California, May 7, 1943.
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3 comments:

minus said...

She picked a good guy to kiss. A chipper has one of the hardest and nastiest jobs in the shipyard. He has to clean up and fix all the mistakes that welders and fitters make. Involves pneumatic chipping gun and grinder to remove bad welds. Heroes of the yard.

May 12, 2010 3:33 AM
Greg said...

Thanks for the info. Makes me like her even more that she picked him.

May 12, 2010 7:30 PM
Gerard Saylor said...

That guy is loving Horne's attention.

May 17, 2010 10:09 AM

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