Utopia Parkway

December 13th, 2023

It is a real geographical place I’ve been to. It is also an album and a song that I like. It is also the name of a book I read once.

It was in the mid 1990s, just browsing at the local bookstore, when this book caught my eye. It was the title that grabbed my attention — then the song of that name wasn't even recorded and I’ve never heard of a road of that name. So, it was all because of a book. I wasn't sure if that name was real and that was before the widespread internet availability, so checking it right away was out of the question. Even looking at the map (at the same bookstore) didn't make me fully believe it. I took a trip to Queens, New York to see it for myself. And there it was, with the street signs in full view with the clear name — “Utopia Parkway”. It was a real place, and I took some photographs so I would have some proof or a memento, since I thought somebody soon would change that name to something more suitable to a city street. It took me several days to get the photos developed (as I said — it was the mid 1990s) and I showed them to my friends and acquaintances.

Nobody was particularly interested in my photos and in Utopia Parkway per se, and I couldnt really explain why it was interesting to me and what the meaning of it was. I kept this whole situation to myself and forgot all about it soon. Since then, once in a while, that name comes back to me, for varius reasons. Then I go back to a particular routine I developed where I listen to the song “Utopia Parkway” on repeat while looking at the works of Joseph Cornell. I am not crazy — the repeat is usually only used once before I move on and forget about Utopia Parkway. Until the next time, that is.