Cleaning Windows

Took yesterday off from this, so I may go a bit longer! Today, a song from an artist whose music I love and who's also taken every oportunity to be a 28-karat prick. From being notoriously late for his own shows or not showing up at all, in one case cutting the support act's set short because the Lonnie Brooks Blues Band was killing it and Van the Man would not be shown up, so he gave Lonnie the hook (I was at that show), to phoning it in while standing at the back of the stage all night from audience view or (been to a couple of those), sometimes not showing up because he "didn't feel like it" but kept his 50% deposit, physically abusing his guitar tech on stage for trying to untangle the guitar cable he'd managed to get wrapped up around his ankle because he has zero stage awareness (I witnessed this and talked with the guitar tech after who told me, "We're 13 days into this regional 3-week tour, 9 guys on the crew, I'm one of 2 still here, he seems to enjoy firing people"), to his insane conspiracy theory rants... F Van the Man. And, he put out a lot of great music. Can't take the brilliant catalog away from the artist. Van is an asshole, but an inconsequentual one. His assholehisness doesn't affect our lives, so I say it's ok to keep digging his amazing catalog. Whew! Cousin Paul and I binged on "Cleaning Windows" for years and still want to know what the numbers he calls out toward the end mean! Uncle Eddy got tickets for me and my brother to see Van and Dylan co-headline and play together at the Boston Garden in the mid-90s. He didn't call but mailed a flier for the show with the handwritten note, "A receptacle has been reserved your your posteriors. I suggest you attend." Of course we made the trip from Chicago, with our friend Patrick. Uncle Eddy was never much of a drinker, but he insisted we all go for a couple pints of Guinness and talk about the show we'd just seen. It's what you do after a great show, you go for a pint and talk about it. Both artists were at their best that night. I think playing with Dylan kept Van on his best behavior. Anyway, here's Cleaning Windows.