Musicians' secret cords

When I was in high school I dated this guy a couple of years older than me who was in a band called "Linus."

I didn't really like the music, it was a little too hard-core for me at the time, but I liked him and would go to his shows in Boulder.

My friends would tease me, saying that I was a groupie. I guess I was in a way, but it was fun and you just can't deny the attraction to musicians, whether they are good or bad.

The attraction to musical people is so strong in this country and any country in the world I assume is the same.

Everyone I know is somehow, in some way attracted to a person with musical talent. I don't know whether it's because they, themselves, have no talent and admire it, or that somehow (which I think is more the case from what I've seen) it is that there is this bond that's like an invisible cord attached to the musician.

This invisible cord sends out this vibe, this mist, this power over the opposite sex that draws them in, deeper and deeper, almost into a trance.

I've observed this many times. Just the other night at open mic I looked over at this guy, and there was a woman up on stage singing and he was just in awe. Maybe he knew the girl, maybe it was his girlfriend, but no, I looked around and saw other people looking at her just the same.

I find myself guilty of it, too. I remember one of my first real big time concerts when I was little, well, my first show was Billy Joel with my mom in 8th grade, but I didn't really feel this way about him.

The concert that did it to me was Radiohead in high school. Me and a big group of friends drove to Boulder to see them play on the "hill."

I was mesmerized by the bassist. He was far from attractive, but I was drawn to him.

In one of Radiohead's early songs, "Anyone Can Play Guitar," the lyrics are: "Grow my hair / Grow my hair I am Jim Morrison / Grow my hair/ I wanna be wanna be wanna be Jim Morrison."

It goes on to say that anyone can play guitar. Essentially, I think this is talking about just that attraction.

I read on line that lead singer Thom Yorke explained the lyrics like this: "I just ranted that verse the day after I saw The Doors film. That film really wound me up, really upset me. It was like [Morrison] was some sort of Arthurian legend or something."

Even he, the musician, noticed this cord and disliked it. But it is there. It was there with Morrison as it is with Yorke.

Maybe it's just the fantasy of the oh-so-overplayed idea of the stereotypical rock lifestyle.

The movie "Almost Famous" is a good example of this. The young journalist is obsessed with music and becomes obsessed with the lifestyle when traveling with the band, falls in love with the "band-aids/groupies."

It's a lifestyle many people lead and it's easy to understand how these stereotypes begin.

Last October, when I traveled by train from Boston to upstate New York, I met a band of boys from Oxford.

The cord was pulling me hard.

They were mesmerizing and I wanted to know everything about their lifestyle. I could have easily toured with them, become a groupie and gotten caught up in the thrill of it all, if they would have asked me.

Maybe someday I will find that, not that it is what I'm looking for, but sometimes you just can't pull the cord hard enough away from you, it pulls you in.

Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be rock stars… they have this cord that will attract bad and good, hopefully the good.

Lindsey Nelson is the photographer at the Whitefish Pilot