Moments before sunrise and my son and I were speeding down New Hampshire Route 101, with today’s selection as our musical accompaniment.  There are a myriad of ways to see in your 50th birthday and I’d decided to see in mine by watching day break over the Atlantic at Hampton Beach.

Why Hampton Beach?  Well, it’s within easy reach of our Boston-area home, and in the early morning you can find hundreds of parking spaces along the competently manicured strand.  Hampton also holds schoolboy memories of a time long lost…gone. And although I never could vouch for its honky-tonk surrounds, any dawn in decent weather brings that enchanted moment, when the world holds its breath and the sun cracks the cerulean horizon before blending into the day.  Over in an instant, it’s the “grand commencement,” and what happens next is all up to you.

When the baby of our family whooped it up at her own (high school) commencement this past weekend, with her pal, Christian providing “musical accompaniment” on a plastic trumpet (from his impromptu perch near the podium), it reminded me of that moment and this song, featured on Todd Rundgren’s 1973 album, “A Wizard, A True Star.”

Propitiously perhaps, the vinyl album is memorable for pushing the limits of how much music (55:56) could fit on an LP (long-playing record). Acknowledging a slightly diminished sound quality, in the liner notes, Rundgren advised listeners to crank up the volume.

Hmmm, push the limits and crank up the volume.  Sounds like sage advice to me.

LISTEN TO TODAY’S SELECTION – Monday 11 June  

Just One Victory

 We’ve been waiting so long

We’ve been waiting so long

We’ve been waiting for the sun to rise and shine

Shining still to give us the will

 Can you hear me, the sound of my voice?

I am here to tell you I have made my choice

I’ve been listening to what’s been going down

There’s just too much talk and gossip going round

 You may think that I’m a fool, but I know the answer

Words become a tool, anyone can use them

Take the Golden Rule, as the best example

Eyes that have seen will know what I mean

 The time has come to take the bull by the horns

We’ve been so downhearted; we’ve been so forlorn

We get weak and we want to give in

But we still need each other if we want to win

 (Hold that line, baby hold that line

Get up boys and hit ’em one more time

We may be losing now but we can’t stop trying

So hold that line, baby hold that line)

If you don’t know what to do about a world of trouble

You can pull it through if you need to and if

You believe its true, it will surely happen

Shining still, to give us the will

 We’ve been waiting so long

We’ve been waiting so long

We’ve been waiting for the sun to rise and shine

Shining still to give us the will

Bright as the day, to show us the way

Somehow, someday

We need just one victory and we’re on our way

Prayin’ for it all day and fightin’ for it all night

Give us just one victory, it will be all right

We may feel about to fall but we go down fighting

You will hear the call if you only listen

Underneath it all we are here together

Shining still to give us the will

Bright as the day, to show us the way

Somehow, someday

We need just one victory and we’re on our way

Prayin’ for it all day and fightin’ for it all night

Give us just one victory, it will be all right.

 (Hold that line, baby hold that line

Get up boys and hit em one more time

We may be losing now but we can’t stop trying

So hold that line, baby hold that line)