This is the title of a song by Robbie Robertson, which, in a way, is a tribute to the guys he worked with throughout his long career as one of the more influential musicians and songwriters of his generation.
I think we all have a band of brothers that we belonged to.
The people we were closest to in our lives. The people we worked with. The people who shared our visions while following their own. The ones who helped us. The ones who we helped, maybe even just in little ways.
I have a list that’s very long and very broad because, over the course of my working life, I tried a number of different things and was lucky enough to have met amazing people who inspired me and pushed me, and were simply there for me when I needed help. Some came and went. Others came and stayed. Some transformed, others remained the same and just got better at being whatever they were and inspired me.
These are the people I owe a lot to. They were the people who saw what I wanted to be and helped me get there. The more I think it, about the longer the list becomes. Some are still with me, even though I have been ‘retired’ for a few years now and onto more solitary pursuits.
But my life, like Robbie’s song, has been an ongoing series of brotherhoods with both men and women. We all have these brotherhoods in our lives. It’s not just difficult to get through this life without them, it’s damn near impossible.
So thanks to all of those who touched my life and allowed me to touch theirs. This isn’t a requiem, because I’m not planning to check out anytime soon. But it is a thank you. All of you. The advertising guys and girls, the music people, the film people, the literary people, and the freelance amigos.
I believe that everybody’s life, is in some part, defined by the relationships they have along the way. I had many. And they were instrumental in helping me figure out what I wanted to be and wise enough to help me get good enough at it to have a life and career that I got to live more or less on my own terms.
And it simply doesn’t get any better than that.
“When the light goes out
And you can’t go on
You’ll miss your brothers
But now they’re gone,
When the light goes out
We’ll go our own way
Nothing here but darkness
No reason to stay
Oh, once were brothers
Brothers no more
We lost our connection
After the war
There’ll be no revival
There’ll be no one cold
Once were brothers
Brothers no more”
Songwriters: Robbie Robertson / Once Were Brothers lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Featured Image: Robbie Robertson. (2023, August 15). In Wikipedia.
