European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 12, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse The search for by Mary Ann Reese staff writer sphere s no great spectacle. No Al flashing lights. No fanfare. No great drama. Only a Stark Barren stage and a frail fellow with the prosperous mop of hair and his guitar. Yet they come paying to sit quietly and listen. There s no screaming no sighing from the teeny toppers no tears of hysteria. Half of them Don t even speak his language. Why then do they come what draw them to sit at the feet of Donovan he rarely sings of protests. He does advocate the overthrow of anything nor does he dwell on the tragic. He sings of love of being Superman of the universe so Don t tangle with me of the girl who fell in love with a Swan she has feathers in her the words he sings sound As he sings something strange happens. A weird sensation creeps Over you. It s relaxation. An opiate of sound and words. Suddenly you re no longer Ina Frankfurt concert Hall you re in a Friend s living room sitting on the floor with your shoes off sipping wine and listening to the guitar and voice blend. Donovan the world a Beautiful it s freezing cold outside but you Don care any More. The mice fall asleep under the write and sing about the most Beautiful things in the world says Donovan a High school dropout who made Good during an interview at 1 . In a Frank fun discotheque. He signs his name in big bold Black letters across his fac and hands out his picture postcards to fans crowding around. He s tired aftera hectic concert tour but he does t men Tion it under All that hair he has startling big Blue eyes. He still looks fragile. To a terrible romantic says Dono Van Phillip Lei ten sipping a Coke. I left Home Scotland when i was 15and just moved around. I Sang songs. I told stories on Street Corners for a then he was discovered and remade records and he got Rich. Every few Hundred years fans pro Duce somebody somebody crazy. I sup pose i m that he s not crazy. He s Young he s unconventional he s idealistic. Researches. My words my songs Are not really absurd. The world is Beautiful and in tune when 1 sing of these Beautiful things. If they sound absurd it s because of ugliness in the does he account for his Success a Success that at the age of 23 has Al Lowed him to buy two islands off Scot land and a Home in a Forest near Lon Don. Every generation produces its poets its musicians its painters. It seeks them out to serve their needs to express themselves. I am less important than my generation. My generation is important because they feel what i sing. Whenever i turn on a television the news is bad. That s Why 1 look at the Good and sing of the Good things. I feelgood to sing of these things. I m very Young so i Don t know very much. I m just learning what i m doing. It s strange to have recognition i your own time. But to get too much criticism is a real blow too. I am Lucky losing and get paid for it. The world suf fers from such loneliness that any con tact we have with one another is Good. I get this Contact by d in portion they sit quietly to hear him sing about Small things that make life worthwhile Onovan is polite and signs Auto graphs All the while be talks. Germans who attended his concert said they came because we have All his records and this is his first time Here. He makes us feel an american in the audience says his music is like he s saying come on Over and let s have a Good time. Never mind All the problems. Just relax and let s enjoy ourselves. Tomorrow s an other Day. " he s Low keyed. He s matter of he s tired of his incessant singing he just says i m tired now. I la Beback in is when he s heckled he handles Tattoo the game Way. When Are you going to hang it up asks somebody an sit on the River Bank and listen to the voices of the Trees Flo Ivers and animals. American in the audience. Hey what s your first name when i was in new York says Don Ovan a Friend and i were working to Gether. One night after work we hailed taxicab. When a cab stopped the Driver looked at us and said. If i d of know nit was you Long haired Guys i would t have stopped my Friend said it is justas difficult for us to tolerate your ignorance. Let s get on with this the hecklers ignore his message. He ignores the hecklers. Everyone else inthe audience wishes they d be quiet and let him sing. Donovan is a naturalist. A modern Day Walt Whitman or Bobby Burns or Henry David Thoreau. He lives outside London in his version of Walden Pond an area he Calls backs Alley sur rounded by Woods wild Flowers Birds fish cats All that can Delight morning when London is asleep i go to the Woods. In the summer Bathe in a Stream. I sit on the River Bank and listen to voices of the Trees Flowers and animals. I can dream All Day in Bucks Alley. I even forget to drink and eat. I am part of nature. In the evening hunger pains remind Meto eat. Then i Light a Coal oven in t in House and Cook for myself. Many times let the Day go by and wait for evening. As Long As possible i sleep i the am delighted with the Moon overhead. By the full Moon i be written my mos Beautiful melodies and poems. Friends often come to see me. In the evening we sit around with bread and wine in the Beautiful Forest and we Simiand talk. We Are Happy and sleep until noon on the floor of the Forest. Those Are Happy hours. Hours of love. I live for d 16 the stars and stripes Oes he really do All this in the 20th Century it s hard to sing about Small things that make life Worth while for men. I sing As Well with no guitar like the beggar out of the thousand and one nights on Stree Corners at one time i wanted to make the world a better place to change i through my songs. I wanted to change the inequalities. Today i sing not against what i hate but for what i love. I Don t know where my career will Lead. Earlier this year i was in India with the beatles. During Long conversations we firmly decided we weren t pleased with ourselves. That we must Al change ourselves. At the moment none of us knows exactly in what have the feeling that i m standing now at a crossroad. But already i m Les confused. My music is clearer Freer now. When we ourselves untangle these doubts the beatles and i will be Happy. Maybe we will work Only alone industriously steadily can a Man do his great work. We want to help and learn from each other to be inspired by one another but the time in t quite his Fame and Fortune Are a Little con fusing to him a Little frustrating. He s grateful. Yet sometimes it All presses inon him. Then i have to go wandering. I like to go with a horse and my Friend Gypsy Dave and a guitar. One morning i will Wake up and take off. Far fro the noise and unrest of the City and pressure of stage work i will compose melodies and poems that will be nicest to the Magpie to a most illustrious Bir dwells in a Diamond tree one brings sorrow and one brings Joy sorrow and toy for me. 1 saw toe gentle Magpie Birdin Dusky yester eve one brought sorrow and one brought Joy and sooner than soon did leave 1 he does t claim to have the answer to life but he has an answer and he seeks. And what he seeks he finds. An what he finds he shares. And when he shares they come. And they find a moment s rest. Sunday january 12, 1969
