glen campbell died and i didn't know. it happens all the time now. people dying and me not knowing. i didn't even know he had alzheimer's until today when i watched his film of his last tour up to his last song. his last song. i tried to see what songs he wrote, and most of the glen campbell songs in my memory were written by others, they were his songs anyway. 
he made the songs from words he found. 
on his last tour he read from a prompter and when the it failed during gentle on my mind the words just stopped. but music the music was still there when the prompter failed and he couldn't recall his daughter's name.
on his last song he sounded so good and strong.

I'm still here, but yet I'm gone
I don't play guitar or sing my songs
They never defined who I am
The man that loves you 'til the end

You're the last person I will love
You're the last face I will recall
And best of all, I'm not gonna miss you
Not gonna miss you

I'm never gonna hold you like I did
Or say I love you to the kids
You're never gonna see it in my eyes
It's not gonna hurt me when you cry

I'm never gonna know what you go through
All the things I say or do
All the hurt and all the pain
One thing selfishly remains

I'm not gonna miss you

I'm not gonna miss you

that's his last song. i like that when the words are gone you write new ones, and when the words don't come the music stays with you. when he was asked about his alzheimer's he said he was fine, he'd been trying to forget stuff for forty years. to wind up with music and no memories, it's strange, but that may be the circle we make back from hard experience 
to innocence.