9. Cyclone - (Bruce Hornsby)

"The rain came down where I made my stand
And the cyclone rose with a wave of my hand."

Well la-dee-da.

"Look at me! I'm Bruce Hornsby! I can make the weather do stuff and... stuff."

Prospero: Been there, done that.

Yup, it's another hidden Shakespeare reference in pop music. This time? We're tackling The Tempest -- widely believed to be the *last* surviving play penned solely by The Bard and The Bard alone during his lifetime. And it's a doozy, at that.

The Tempest tells us the story of Prospero, the erstwhile Duke of Milan, whose dabbling in the dark arts end up earning him a good old-fashioned ousting and a 12-year-long exile on a tropical island, Castaway-style. But Prospero is something of the defiant type who tends to learn lessons the hard way, and so rather than repent for his sins and learn from the error of his ways, he decides to spend his days brooding about revenge while conjuring up all sorts of magical spirits, spells, and (wait for it!) storms.

Fittingly, Shakespeare's "late career" masterpiece also just so happens to tackle some equally serious "old age" subject matter: the veteran playwright reflects on his own life and tells a story of a similarly veteran, storm-wearied protagonist who likewise gazes back on the mistakes he's made, the lessons he's learned, and the life he has led.


Jimmy Buffett: Did somebody mention "A Pirate Looks at 40?"
Quiet you.

We're still talking old man Prospero and his quite-possibly-senile weather-driven revenge, dag nabbit!

But let's not forget about his grumpy old man partner in crime that just so happens to be one cyclone-spinning son of a gun named Bruce Hornsby (no spring chicken himself, of course). "Cyclone" is a standout single from Hornsby's 2009 Levitate album, but lest we forget -- the author's closing in on age 60 at the time of the song's composition, and so the track has got a pretty decent chunk of life experience behind it.

After all, Hornsby's first major hit initially appeared on the airwaves WAAAY back in 1986 ("That's Just the Way it Is"), and in the quarter century since? He's released dozens of studio albums, picked up three Grammys, and toured the country countless times over as part of The Noisemakers, The Range, AND The Grateful Dead.

THE GRATEFUL FREAKIN' DEAD.

So yeah, he's got some years on him.

Indiana Jones: It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage ...
Heck, Bruce says it himself right there in the text, telling the audience he often thinks back to "when I was a boy," as he "just can't see [storms] so well" these days on account of his "fading eyes." As it rolls along, this song paints a pretty clear picture that our protagonist is older and wiser, but still a little hardened by the life he left behind. He's contemplative, alone, occasionally angry, and fixin' to kick up an honest-to-goodness mess of weather to show for it. You might even call him Prospero-esque:

Most of our years have flown away with nothing much decided
Except the board we′re playing on, how it′s to be divided
Will more years yet die alone? The question′s many-sided
Got no answers of my own and none have been provided

When I was a boy there was nothing to know
The wind followed me wherever I′d go
Rain came down where I made my stand
And the cyclone rose with a wave of my hand

Like the Shakespearean hero, Hornsby's Cyclone-spinner doesn't seem to have learned his lesson all that well. Instead of respecting nature and obeying it in his old age, the protagonist foolishly attempts to summon up a squall and bend the elements to serve his every will. It is a lonely life, and an angry one -- and neither man seems to be any better off today than he was yesterday (or the day before that, or...) by virtue of only having made the same mistakes over and over again.

Wow -- that's kinda' bleak, huh?


Thankfully (SPOILER!): both The Tempest and "Cyclone" are not without their broader messages of hope. In the case of Shakespeare's play (after much introspection, seemingly unrelated subplot activity, and -- of course -- the sudden arrival and promise of love and redemption), our weather-wearied protagonist finally learns himself a valuable lesson, throws the magic book away (lean back! lean back!), and releases all of the captives of his storms free. For as Prospero ultimately says:

"The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance"

In other words: Sure, Prospero *could* keep conjuring storms and seeking revenge, but that'd only leave him feeling empty and alone -- and he'd rather give love a chance. Kinda like Mr. Hornsby himself, as a matter of fact:

"You know if it wasn't for love / I might just be a wandering man
I believe I've made the better choice / To sing about it with this band."

Or, in other words:

Sure, Bruce's narrator *could* keep conjuring storms and getting himself all worked up, but... ah, you know the rest.