22nd & 23rd October, 2007

Rod at Dos Vidas. Photo by Thomas Kist from the 2006 Arjan Vlakveld film “Rod McKuen: A Man Alone” for Netherlands Public Television. Photo ©2006, 2007 by Stanyan Audio Video Archives. All Rights Reserved.

A Thought for Today

Without regrets there are no aspirations. 

FROM the¨BOOKS

OF SONGS AND CITIES

I lived beyond the reach
of my own self sometimes,
             outside of me.
Beyond the days
that chased me
down the summer beach.
Closer to the night
but not a part of it.
I am moved by others
and the schedules
that they've set for me
rather than my own watch.
That's all right.
I have always been a driven man.
The difference now
is that more often I'm a passenger,
instead of he who turns the wheel
                    and drives.

My battered sneakers
have carried me down streets
I may never walk again,
through towns I can't remember.
I've kicked them under beds
                       in musty rooms
and worn them on the gravel
of a castle courtyard turn-around.

Coming off a stage one day
I heard a lady whisper to her friend:
He's making money now,
surely he can afford a better kind of shoe.
Ah, but that's the thing -
money's earned for comfort's sake.
I'm comfortable in old things
with so much newness
working through my life.

I'm asked for wisdom sometimes, too.
Whatever the message that I have 
to give is woven in the texture 
of my poems and my songs -
        plain though they may be.
When all the schedules
have been met
and I'm alone again
new songs and parts of those
who've grown
and gone off
on their own
come rushing in;
demanding to be held
or asking if they
might be lent or given.

What I do
and give away
I do with love
there isn't any other way,
or if there was
I wouldn't use it.
Believe that,
for the only lies
I tell these days
are those I tell
about myself.

- from "Love's Been Good To Me," 1978

Click on the Stanyan House logo to buy Rod McKuen books, CD's and lots more

Click on the heart logo to subscribe to the Rod McKuen mailing list

Catch Rod McKuen live!

Click on the links below for details of concerts and appearances.

ROD McKUEN CONCERTS

ROD McKUEN APPEARANCES

Monday 22 October

Constance Bennett o Sarah Bernhardt o Brian Boitano o Patti Davis o Catherine Deneuve o Joan Fontaine o Annette Funicello o Jeff Goldblum o Zac Hanson o Curly Howard o Alan Ladd, Jr. o Timothy Leary o Doris Lessing o Jonathan Lipnicki o Franz Liszt o Christopher Lloyd o Dory Previn o Robert Rauschenberg o Tony Roberts o Shaggy o Leon Trotsky o N.C. Wyeth

Tuesday 23 October

Sarah Bernhardt o Johnny Carson o Michael Crichton o James Daly o Diana Dors o Gertrude Ederle o Doug Flutie o Ellie Greenwich o Senator John H. Heinz III o Emily Kimbrough o Martin Luther King III o Al Leiter o Gummo Marx o Pele o Ned Rorem o Frank Rizzo o Judy Stoner o "Weird" Al Yankovic

Without an audience of one or more, what constitutes the validation of a thought or work?

Never settle for less than more.

EIGHTEEN

- from "Listen To the Warm," 1967