The story behind ‘Patches’
by Lyman Spencer
In the novel times in which we live, I have resolved to bring closure to an outstanding image of a long-repressed childhood concept. I had captured a moment of inspiration. This memory, burned into my subconscious mind, illuminates a little thought that was caught on canvas at an impressionable time.
Transported back to a time when recollections could sometimes convey sinister force. Impressions are quaint things; one may be impressed so much by a lapsed predicament that it sticks with you throughout the years but, on the other hand, fail to see the significance of an equally momentous event that occurred the previous evening. This is an example of that chasm from my own childhood. In the words of the prophets, paraphrasing the scripture, ‘Young men shall see visions and old men dream of dreams.’
I reinterpreted the vision I had as a seven-year-old while being chaperoned one particularly memorable day by two young lovers, soon to be newlyweds, my sister, and my future brother-in-law. In those courting-days before the union, my sister was a source of consistency in my frequently chaotic life.
The impression the popular song of 1962, “patches,” written and sung by Dickey Lee, had on my mind is probably more prophetic of my view of the world as I saw it rather than their relationship one to another – because they were and are equally devoted. It’s a great mystery why the tragedy the songwriter wrote of affected me so much, or why I recall it to this day almost sixty years later. Maybe it can be summed up in the vow “till death do us part.”
Anyway, picture we three sitting on the couch in ’62, differing objects of importance in mind, which was more than I could comprehend then, because what could be more critical than togetherness. What was genuinely baffling, though, was why to keep the focus off “us,” when we were obviously having a grand time together. Now, somewhat miffed, because what I held in my logic as a purely communal matter, was now being diverted to another object – I was tasked to draw a picture of the scenes that the song “patches” portrayed. Gathering my inspiration for a masterpiece, I delved into the project with all the zeal I could muster.
“PATCHES” Dickey Lee – 1962
However, the results of my toil must have been impressive in my eyes only for my chaperons can’t now quite recall the episode nor the symbolism of the resulting composition. Imagine my disappointment! No doubt, child psychologists of the day would have been perplexed by the lack of sensitivity shown by my efforts to impress my sweethearts. They would find it hard to put in polite words an appropriate interpretation of these events and vocalize their impressions of my pastiche. As do I!
𝚨nything for A Quiet LifeΩ 