It’s fall and there’s nothing like crisp, golden guitar music to set off the fading autumn sun, so I’ve been listening to a lot of John Fahey.  The other day I was listening to him play “Spanish Dance” when a sudden wave of remembrance washed over me.  I’m not overwhelmingly guided by childhood nostalgia, but one Sesame Street segment came back to me.  It’s a fairly well remembered one, with two boys flying a kite set against some beautiful guitar music.

Listen to the music.  It sounds very much like Fahey or even Leo Kottke.  I tried doing some weak internet research, but found nothing connecting either musician to anything on Sesame Street.  It’s quite possible that the music was originally composed for the show.  I know that the music from the “How Crayons Are Made” segment was composed specifically for that piece (which makes sense when you see how it matches up).

These two videos, especially the second, seem so perfectly attuned to the child’s mind, it’s amazing.  The color and movement are striking and the music only serves to reinforce those impressions.  These clips belong to such a specific time and space that it makes me wonder what the children’s shows of today will reflect back to us in twenty years time?