Synchromysticism

" Synchromysticism:
The art of realizing meaningful coincidence in the seemingly mundane with mystical or esoteric significance."

- Jake Kotze

April 19, 2015

Some Wild Stevie Ray VAUGHAN Syncs Today

I just finished reading Cheryl Strayed's book Wild today after already seeing the movie of the book starring Reese Witherspoon twice since it's release, so I decided to watch it a third time, now that I finished the book and understand Cheryl's story more.
 "A chronicle of one woman's 1,100-mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent catastrophe."
Boot Hill?
The dog named after
Stevie Ray Vaughan in Wild
I will be doing a much larger post on the movie soon, but I'm just going to focus on the part of the movie where a dog named Stevie Ray Vaughan comes into it for now.
When Cheryl asks the people in the car the name of the dog, they tell her its name is Stevie Ray Vaughan, because it was brought home the day Stevie Ray Vaughan died, which would have been 
August 27, 1990.
 "On August 27, 1990, Vaughan had just performed with Eric Clapton at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. 
All of the musicians boarded four helicopters bound for Chicago, which were waiting on a nearby golf course. 
According to a witness, there was haze and fog with patches of low clouds. 
Despite the conditions, the pilots were instructed to fly over a 1000-foot ski hill. 
Vaughan, along with three members of Eric Clapton's entourage (agent Bobby Brooks, bodyguard Nigel Browne, and assistant tour manager Colin Smythe), boarded the third of the four helicopters—a Bell 206B Jet Ranger—flying to Meigs Field
At about 12:50 am (CDT), the helicopter departed from an elevation of about 850 feet, veered to the left and crashed into the hill. 
All on board, including the pilot, Jeff Brown, were killed instantly."
Cheryl then asks about the photo of the little boy hanging from the rear-view mirror only to be told he was eight when he was hit by a truck and killed.
Now the coincidence here was I was on the net buying the soundtrack to the movie Wild, as I liked a lot of the music I was hearing and knew there was more good songs to come.
But there were no Stevie Ray Vaughan tracks on the soundtrack, so I keyed up Stevie's discography and noticed his last album was The Sky Is Crying.
I noticed that The Sky Is Crying was released after Stevie had passed away and that it was released on November 5th, 1991.
I've just been writing a few posts about Back to the Future, so Nov 5 was still fresh in my mind, see the post by clicking on the link just below the BTTF photo above.
The first song on the album The Sky Is Crying is a song called Boot Hill, which is rather synchy considering the movie Wild starts off with Cheryl losing a boot down the side of a hill, then throwing the other one after it in a fit of rage.
Stevie Ray Vaughan Boot Hill
Look up on the wall baby, hand me down my shootin' iron
Look up on the wall baby, hand me down my shootin' iron
Call your mother long distance, tell her to expect your body home

If the city don't bury you baby, lord knows the county will
If the city don't bury you baby, lord knows the county will

You made your last mistake, you going way out on that boot hill

Lord I don't want to wax you darlin', 'cause you gave me my first thrill
Lord I don't want to wax you baby, 'cause you gave me my first thrill
You did me so wrong, you're going way out on that boot hill
Boot Hill?
There is also a Reese W
playing keyboards on The Sky Is Crying.
I was also buying Hozier's album at the same time, as I saw him play live on Easter Thursday at the Byron Bay Bluesfest, but for some reason they weren't selling his CD there.
Hozier on stage at the Bluesfest Easter Thursday
Hozier is an Irish singer born on St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) and in the film Wild there is a scene where Cheryl is walking the streets on St. Patricks Day at night not knowing that her mother had passed way in the early hours of March 18.
Cheryl walking past revelers the night
 her mother passed away.
The headstone of Cheryl's mother's grave in the movie Wild
Now, here is where things start getting weirder, a man named Michael Vaughan died in a parachuting accident right next door to the Bluesfest site a week before Hozier would play there.
"Michael Vaughan was critically injured in the incident when his parachute became entangled with another, at Tyagarah on the far-north coast of New South Wales.
Mr Vaughan was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition, but the 45-year-old died in hospital Saturday afternoon.
His skydiving partner, 29-year-old Briony Clarke, died at the scene."
Second skydiver dies after accident at Byron Bay on NSW north coast
Cheryl Strayed's mother was the same age as Michael Vaughan when she passed away (45 years old) and Hozier was born the same year Stevie Ray Vaughan passed away, 1990.

Life By The Drop
Hello there, my old friend
Not so long ago it was til the end
We played outside in the pouring rain
On our way up the road we started over again

You're living our dream oh you on top
my mind is aching,' Lord it won't stop
That's how it happens living life by the drop

Up and down the road in our worn down shoes
Talking about good things and singing the blues
you went your way and I stayed behind
We both knew it was just a matter of time

You're living our dream oh you on top
my mind is aching,' Lord it won't stop
That's how it happens living life by the drop

No wasted time, we're alive today
Churning up the past, there's no easier way
Time's been between us, a means to an end
God it's good to be here walking together my friend

We're living our dreams
my mind's stopped aching,'
That's how it happened living life by the drop
That's how it happened living life by the drop
That's how it happened living life by the drop


 Then I see this news story today -
'Ultimate guitar hero'
Sadly, Vaughan died in 1990 at the height of his blossoming career in a helicopter crash. Armed with his signature Stratocaster, the Texas bluesman was an unstoppable force on six strings.
John Mayer called it the "honour of a lifetime" to induct Vaughan, whom he called "the ultimate guitar hero."
"Stevie used his guitar to lead him out of town," said Mayer, who later traded licks on Texas Flood with Gary Clark Jr. 
"He gave me hope because heroes give you hope. 
While Jimi Hendrix came down from outer space, Stevie came up from below the ground."
Now, in Australia where I live, Vaughan is not a common first name and I should know, as that is my brother's name, not that he was named after Stevie Ray though.
And on the subject of guitar heroes, I have to say that mine is The Boss, who does have a track on the Wild soundtrack, Tougher Than the Rest.
 Tougher Than the Rest is being played in the scene above when Cheryl is approaching Kennedy Meadows.
Now apart from me sharing the same birthdate (September 23rd) with Bruce, I have just finished reading his biography, and it is mentioned in the book that Bruce's father's sister was hit and killed by a truck when she was riding her tricycle as a five-year-old and this had a tremendous impact on his family and his growing up.
Maybe even on the songs he wrote? 
So, Bruce's Grandmother would have known what the lady in the car at the top of this post was going through by losing a child in similar circumstances.
The name Vaughan is a Welsh name. 
In Welsh the meaning of the name Vaughan is: Little.
Little? You are here? The Sky is Crying?-)

The Sky is Crying


  1. "Boot Hill" (Writer Unknown) – 2:15
  2. "The Sky Is Crying" (Elmore James, Morris Levy, Clarence Lewis) – 4:36
  3. "Empty Arms" (Stevie Ray Vaughan) – 3:29
  4. "Little Wing" (Jimi Hendrix) – 6:49
  5. "Wham" (Lonnie Mack) – 2:25
  6. "May I Have a Talk with You" (Howlin' Wolf) – 5:49
  7. "Close to You" (Willie Dixon) – 3:10
  8. "Chitlins con Carne" (Kenny Burrell) – 3:57
  9. "So Excited" (Stevie Ray Vaughan) – 3:30
  10. "Life by the Drop" (Doyle Bramhall, Barbara Logan) – 2:28

5 comments:

  1. What a wild labyrinth! This is eerie stuff.

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  2. Wild Labyrinth.
    I like that Trish,nice choice of words. :-)

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  3. I believe in karma. Stevie's birthday is October 3rd. Mine is October 13th. My husband went to high school with Stevie. Stevie was a year ahead of my husband. They, along with a bunch of other students, hung out in the back of a head shop after school and on Saturdays.

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  4. Spooky birthday there MissyCat, as 10/13 is 'The X-Files' creator Chris Carter's birthday (born October 13, 1956), which is why he named his production company 1013.
    The truth is out there ... as far as karma goes, but I'm a believer in it.

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  5. Whoops!
    I stuck a "y" in your name MissCat.
    Sorry about that typo and I don't know why it happened to tell the truth:-)

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