“If this has anything to do with neil Young, I swear to God…”
The primary reason Treg Charlton’s wife can no longer understand him is the debilitating nature of ALS. Less obvious to her, apparently, is the fact that for the better part of the past 4 years, Mr. Charlton has been toying with conversational norms – casually substituting whimsical lyrics from Neil Young’s 1974 release On The Beach in place of yes/no answers.
While praised by savvy critics, On the Beach (Young’s follow up to 1972’s certified 4x-platinum release, Harvest) lacked the radio-friendly standards of its predecessor, such as Old Man and Heart of Gold. Still, it is the 2nd side of On The Beach that stirs Mr. Charlton’s imagination, as he artfully weaves Young’s words into lengthy answers to simple questions.
Recently, Dianne asked, “Do you need to pee before I go to the grocery?” I said “Yes. In fact, we’re all just pissin in the wind. You don’t know it, but we are. And there ain’t nuthin like a friend who can tell you you’re just pissin in the wind.” To which she replied, “Hurry up and stop messing around. I will meet you in there.” It’s almost like she heard “Yes,” and then just quit listening.
“Neil Young? Don’t get me started. First off, the man is a poetic genius – a fact that seems lost on women born after 1970. Second, I’ve seen him live probably twenty times. I had front-row seats to his show in Columbus back in 2000, so I took my wife. She fell asleep. To this day, I consider it a slap in the face. Mr. Young’s face as well as my own.”
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