mike was barely an acquaintance… however, as a local shooter and he, a local performer, his face is forever in my memories and in some of my images. today he is gone. this is a photo of him playing bass from a don mccloskey performance at the beach house in north falmouth. the words below are also by don mccloskey. as a recorder of images, i sometimes feel like i must be responsible to the images and to those whose likeness i capture— as the guardian of some small but lasting memories. mike very well may have been playing the song rooftops when this image was recorded.
rooftops by don mccloskey
Well I been up since dawn
have someone else’s T-shirt on
wondering if these thoughts I think
will never stop to go on and on
I drink til I forget
say things that I regret
until there’s nothing left
of the morning light and a cigarette
It all reminds me of a song I used to know
When you would put the speakers in the window
and we would sit out on the fire escape and watch
the sunrise over the rooftops
well, that was years ago, many painful tears ago
I almost lost it, thinking bout you many beers ago
But I’m back on my feet, staggering and can’t be beat
screaming out with swollen eyes and smashing bottles on the street below
When you would put the speakers in the window
and we would sit out on the fire escape and watch
the sunrise over the rooftops
It all reminds me of a song I used to know
well there’s no end in sight, at least not for me tonight
my loneliness gets stuck and when I see it in the morning light
so I stick around to be destroyed, lovesick and paranoid
one step closer to the edge and one day further from the face I can’t avoid
It all reminds me of a song I used to know
When you would put the speakers in the window
and we would sit out on the fire escape and watch
the sunrise over the rooftops
