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Broadway

A love song is the thought you have as you study the rearview mirror--the things you couldn't say when you were in the other person's presence.

"I hope you don't mind that I put down in words....how wonderful life is while you're in the world." "I've seen all the movie stars in their fancy cars....But I don't want to waste more time...." "I can't stop loving you. Why should I even try?"

In the musical "Fun Home," Alison narrates her father's life:

Quick dashes mark the property ends.
Beech Creek, a rope that turns and bends...
Little squares for houses, strung along roads.
The land--transfigured into topographic codes.

Alison plants her father on this specific land, then she dares to consider where his thoughts may have been roving. He was gay, and in denial; he had an active mind.

Four miles from our door--
I-80 ran from shore to shore.
On its way from the Castro
To Christopher Street.
The road not taken--
Just four miles from our door.

At the end, Alison drops the pretense and just addresses her father directly; it's a moment for goosebumps.

You were born on this farm.
Here's our house--
Here's the spot where you died.
I can draw a circle.
I can draw a circle.
You lived your life inside.

The effort to live a lie exhausted Bruce Bechdel; he couldn't even commit suicide in an interesting place. He died a few yards from the spot where he was born. The final line has a double meaning: "You lived your life inside a tight space," and also, "You lived your life inside your head, inside your closet."

The word "love" isn't uttered in these lines, but that's the topic. It's a remarkable and painful song. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiLjzZAWNwc

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