The flash of a distant camera reconnecting thoughts and actions

I attended a British boarding school in East Anglia years ago. It closed sometime in the 1980s but the alumni have slowly begun to reconnect with one another on Facebook in a group under the name of the school. It is kind of magical finding people with whom you shared so many experiences so long ago under circumstances that were so unique.

Sitting here today working on a project, I had Neil Young playing quietly in the background and on came this song from his album Silver and Gold. It nicely captures the blend of nostalgia, pathos, intense memory, and community.

Distant Camera
by Neil Young

The flash of a distant camera
reconnecting
thoughts and actions,
Fragments of our missing dreams,
Pieces from here and there
fall in place along the line,
Disappearing between you and me.

Life is changing everywhere I go,
New things and old both disappear.
If life is a photograph,
Fading in the mirror....

All I want is a song of love,
Song of love to sing for you.
All I need is this song of love,
To sing for you.

On the floor where daylight dances
With the ones
that missed their chances,
When they couldn't let it show,
Lies the land of sweet surrender,
Like a dream
it might have ended there,
but we didn't even know.

Now forever we will live as one,
Floating in love's atmosphere.
If love is a piece of dust,
Shining in the sun...

All I want is a song of love,
Song of love to sing for you.
All I need is this song of love,
To sing for you.

Song of love...
Song of love...