Na Tucson, grad u Arizoni, verovatno nikada ne bih ni obratio pažnju da kao tinejdžer nisam proÄitao da se u njemu rodila Linda Ronstadt. ÄŒitajući intervjue sa njom, mogao sam samo da zakljuÄim da je reÄ o gradu sa burnom istorijom jer je blizu Meksika, ne mnogo veliki u odnosu na neke druge u Americi i ne preterano interesantan za život. Okružen pustinjom, nije ono u Äemu može da uživa Å umadinac poput mene. No, ako Linda kaže da joj je detinjstvo ipak bilo zanimljivo, meni je ostalo samo da maÅ¡tam o tome kako ću, jednoga dana, da se provozam oko Tucsona u kabrioletu i posmatram kaktuse i pustinjsko žbunje umesto Å¡ljiva. 
Moglo je to i da se desi pre petnaestak godina. Ali nije. 
Pored Linde, najpoznatiji muziÄari koji dolaze iz Tucsona su Howe Gelb i njegova grupa Giant Sand, kao i naÅ¡i miljenici, Calexico. Kako sam postao osetljiv na pomen ovog grada u pesmama i sam se nalazim zateÄen velikim brojem najrazliÄitijih muziÄara koji ga pominju. Za ameriÄke mi nije neobiÄno (Springsteen, Paul Simon, Los Lobos, Little Feet, Johnny Cash, BOC…), ali je poslednje mesto gde bih ga oÄekivao pesma The Beatlesa. Sećate se kako poÄinje “Get Backâ€? Da vam pomognem: “Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona for some California grass…“. 
Zasad poslednji pesmu koju sam Äuo, a da se u njoj pominje Tucson, peva Dan Fogelberg i toliko je dobra da sam odmah seo za tastaturu.
Fogelberg je jedan od onih songwritera koji je u Evropi, pa tako i kod nas, malo poznat. Jedan je od retkih koji osvaja na prvo sluÅ¡anje – iz njegovih pesama zraÄi toplina koja se odmah da osetiti. Prva asocijacija kada ga Äujete je, recimo, da je njegova muzika poput one koju izvodi Al Stewart. Dakle, naglaÅ¡eno melodiÄna i, u neku ruku, “mekanaâ€. No, ako budete imali strpljenja da se proÅ¡etate kroz njegovu diskografiju od petnaestak albuma, lako ćete moći da utvrdite da Fogelberg nije bežao ni od elemenata jazza i world musica. Uživao je veliki ugled kod kolega: prvi album mu je producirao Joe Walsh. IÅ¡ao na turneje sa Eaglesima u vreme njihove najveće popularnosti. A kada se pogleda ko je sve uÄestvovao na snimanjima njegovih albuma, lako je primetiti da su se u studiju naÅ¡la nama dobro poznata i draga lica.
Od desetak Fogelbergovih albuma koje sam preslušao, barem polovina je jako dobra, a par je vrhunskih. 
Album Windows And Walls (1984) je osmi koji je snimio. Na Allmusicu je dobio samo dve zvezdice i pomislili biste da je slab. No, kada se presluÅ¡a, ostaje utisak da se recenzent gadno zeznuo. Album nije nimalo loÅ¡iji od ostalih, a ocena je rezultat poreÄ‘enja sa prethodnikom The Innocent Age (1981) koji je bio Fogelbergov najveći komercijalni uspeh u karijeri i postigao je viÅ¡emilionske tiraže. SviraÄka ekipa koja je uÄestvovala je, po obiÄaju, impresivna (Mike Porcaro, Joe Vitale, Russ Kunkel, Joe Lala, Jeff Porcaro, Tom Scott, Timothy B. Schmit…), tako da savrÅ¡eno zvuÄi. Album je imao dve pesme koje su se plasirale na top liste: rokerska “Language of Love” i plaÄljiva balada “Believe in Me“.
Ali, sve to je slabo u odnosu na pesmu “Tucson, Arizona” u kojoj se ne zna Å¡ta je bolje – muzika ili odliÄan storytelling. Uostalom, prosudite sami; ovaj filmiÄni tekst je lak za razumevanje i nije mu potrebno posebno objaÅ¡njavanje. 
Tucson, Arizona
Rising in the heat like a Mirage
Tony keeps his Chevy
Like a virgin locked in his garage
He brings it out at midnight
And cruises down the empty boulevards
And he prowls the darkened alleys
That snake between the city’s thirsty yards
The lonely desert skies reflect the anger in his eyes
And it is dawn.His father died of drinking
And left five children sinking with his mom
His older brother Bobby
Never made it back from Vietnam
With high school well behind him
He lives at home and works this shitty job.
And he thinks his ’60 Chevy
Is the only true amigo that he’s got
His heart is filled with sadness
And his soul is like some ugly vacant lot.Mary Estelle Hanna
Came out from Louisiana for the sun
A deal gone bad in Dallas
Left her burned and broke and on the run
To make the rent and groceries
She takes this job at $3.15 an hour
Serving shots of whiskey and tequila
In some smoky red-neck bar
And she dreams some day she’ll make her way to L.A.
And become a movie star.Tony saw her working
He swallowed hard and asked her for a date
Mary laughed and answered
“I would but every night I’m working late”
He said he had some cocaine
That she could have if she’d just ride along
She said “What the hell, I may as well
I haven’t had no fun in so damn long”
He picked her up at closing time
They pulled out on the road and they were gone.Tony’s mom got frantic
When she found her son had not come home
Mary’s roommate panicked
And called the sheriff from a public phone
They asked her lots of questions
She tried her best to tell them what she saw.
And late that night they found poor Mary
Lying in some narrow, dusty draw
And the coroner reported
That she hadn’t been deceased for very long.Two weeks on they found it
Buried to the windshield in the sand
There inside lay Tony
With a small revolver in his hand
The papers simply stated
It must have been the drugs that drove him mad
The neighbors speculated
What could make a good boy go so bad?
Well, it might have been the desert heat
It might have been the home he never had.
Ostaje vam samo da se bacite sami u istraživanje Fogelbergove muziÄke zaostavÅ¡tine. Moja preporuka su albumi iz sedamdesetih. 