Life is not a rehearsal.
Creative Strategy #2: Secrets I Learned in the Ad Biz.
So me and Arthur are playing acoustic guitars at a funeral in a swanky Suburban Detroit Church on a hot summer day. I used to sing a lot in churches way back when. This was a white non-denominational church that to Catholics look like a City Hall.
I recall singing to a sea of white-hatted bare-shouldered women in modest postures of composed grief. They seemed to me, or was it the heat, a charming bouquet of swaying flowers.
The family had asked me to sing “Like A Rock” at his funeral. A staple classic rock anthem to the working man which the deceased, Creative Director Don Gould, had sold Bob Seger as a way to give back and help out his hometown’s latest automotive crisis. After the funeral someone came up to me and said, “Did you see him?”
“Who?” I asked.
“Seger. Bob Seger.”
Bob Seger was sitting somewhere out among the many white-hatted ladies quivering the sun. Maybe that’s why I was woozy.
Bob Seger was in the congregation when I sang his song, “Like a Rock.”
The song he had written for every blue-collar worker in a blue-collar city.
A wistful, and sad tribute to a fond memory of a passing prowess which became an ethic of pride, a fitting memorial to the creator of one of the most successful branding campaigns.
I was speechless.
Don was dead.
Don was my Boss.
He was always the biggest man in every room.
They called him Kuma in Japan.
I remember many kindnesses.
But I can never forget something Don said,
“Life is not a rehearsal. It’s a take.”
I think I’ll be thinking about that a lot more.
For sticking with me to the end, I’ll reward you with a prize.
What Zack Snyder explained to me in Prague: A happy ending.
Little known fact:
Most of the millions Bob Seger made on the Like A Rock truck commercials were given to his touring band.
Most righteous.
Did I live today as if it were a take? Did you?
Patrick O’Leary