If only

Harry Nilsson was an extraordinary musician/composer and a cornerstone of the 70's music world. His childhood was spent in poverty; abandoned by his father at age three, ....

Harry Nilsson, extraordinary talent - his
personal story is a tough one ...

If only I could find a place
Where smiling strangers knew our faces
I would take you there




A place with constant melody
Where you and I could wander free
I would take you there

Seems like such a waste of time
Just trying to unwind the facts of life
If I could find a place, I'd take you
Where the pain don't cut you like a knife
I would take you there

If only there were time enough
Or word enough, or rhyme enough
I would take you there

If only I could find a place
Where smiling strangers knew our faces
I would take you there


A place with constant melody
Where you and I could wander free
I would take you there.

~ 'I will take you there', a song by Harry Nilsson

Nilsson in the 40's, Brooklyn

Harry Nilsson was an extraordinary musician/composer and a cornerstone of the 70's music world. His childhood was spent in poverty; abandoned by his father at age three, he struggled to make his way.

From the opening to his song "1941":

Well, in 1941, the happy father had a son

And in 1944, the father walked right out the door...
Harry of necessity began working early and managed to finish the ninth grade. Fortunately, he was brilliant.

From '69 to '72, his music was a major success.  Harry and John Lennon spent long days together, cocaine and alcohol, hangovers and women they didn't know and trying to remember what had happened the night before.  LSD with Timothy Leary, brief marriages (like his father's) before the last one, a life without apparent shape or restraint. Years were lost, consumed perhaps by the pursuit of wealth and success, both of which were temporary.  He died after just half of a lifetime.

Like most folks, the young Harry Nilsson had every good possibility still ahead of him.  Some of his choices were expensive.

Being a success in the celebrity world seems to have marred so many lives, you can't help but wonder if being non-celebrity, non-rich, and non-popular isn't an immeasurably greater blessing.

Nilsson's lyrics, and especially those in the song, "I will take you there" make the most sense when you realize where Nilsson was coming from.  The place he longed for but couldn't find, just a little peace, a little acceptance, a little real love.

His later years are less popularized.  You can't help but wonder (and hope) if perhaps he found what he was looking for before passing.  Remembered as a loving father, he is survived by seven children. 

Like Nilsson, each of us carries the shaping of our childhood.  We hope and intend to understand ourselves, to choose who we will be, to build well on our beginnings.  Not an easy task.  Is help available?  Or is it as lonely a path as Nilsson's lyrics suggest?