"...Sprinkle My Ashes Over The 1980's..."

Photo by Caught In Joy on Unsplash

A few years ago, I was at a Van Halen concert - specifically, the David Lee Roth Reunion incarnation. Halfway through the gig, Diamond Dave sat with an acoustic guitar without the band and said to the crowd: 

"When I die, I want you to sprinkle my ashes over the 1980's".  

It was classic DLR - a quote that fit the moment, the mood, well. One that the audience - most of whom grew up on the band’s music back in the 80s - could relate to. We all laughed and the concert went on. A great gig, as always.

The next morning, I woke up thinking about that, almost throwaway, quote. That perhaps it wasn’t quite such a throwaway line for him. That morning, it felt very poignant and, in some ways, quite heartbreaking, especially for him.

I’ve talked about the idea of our golden years before and how I believe we shouldn’t fall back on that idea as an excuse, how we should always strive to keep improving, keep redefining ourselves such that our golden years are always with us, always ahead of us. I still believe in that.

But there’s something to be said for those time periods - when the circumstances were such, when events happened in a specific sequence, when the chips fell just right - that hold a special place in our lives. 

I could understand that while Dave was trying to be funny, he was making a point and reflecting on his own reality. The 80s were his heyday, a time when Van Halen owned the airwaves as the biggest rock band in the world. They had the most admired, most innovative guitarist in a generation as well as the most flamboyant frontman in rock. Things were never quite the same after that. And I imagine he looks back on that time with a special fondness - pride, happiness and melancholy all mixed together. 

Perhaps we all do, about the Eighties or otherwise. Perhaps we all have that sense, about that time when things came together and clicked. Not a heyday, per se, but a time when everything flowed, when it was ‘perfect’. 

We should relish those times. Enjoy them. They shouldn’t stop us from moving forward, of course, or leave us with any sense of regret. We should take them for what they are - part of the tapestry of our collective personal experiences.