#375 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Saturday June 11)
Good morning,
SEALS & CROFTS
This week saw the death of Jim Seals, half of the 70s hit duo, “Seals & Crofts.” As opposed to the rock acts that have weathered the years and we’ve watched age gracefully (Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart) and not so gracefully (like David Crosby), some musicians faded off and remain frozen in our minds as they were forty or fifty years ago. Seals & Crofts are among those. I was lucky enough to hear them live on the grass at USC in the mid-70s.
Music is a strange thing in that, if one opens one’s mind, different genres can take us to different places and different moods. One can party with the Stones or sit and think with Miles Davis. One can visit the 60s with British invasion or hang in the 80s with Dire Straits and Michael Jackson.
Seals & Crofts were special in creating a spirituality and almost stillness to tumultuous times. Whereas I can listen to Brubeck or Stravinsky with the brain, or others with emotion, with Seals & Crofts, it was quiet contemplation. Perhaps it’s the lyrics, perhaps the pace, certainly the lyrics and most certainly the mandolin!
While I like to share live performances, it is worth listening to just the melody, the strings, and the near-perfect mix of these two pure voices. Try listening to “Summer Breeze” as if you’ve never heard it before:
and “Get Closer” with Carolyn Willis:
Finally, the wonderful “We May Never Pass This Way Again,” performed live:
POETRY IN LYRICS
From “We May Never Pass This Way Again”:
Life, so they say, is but a game
And they let it slip away
Love, like the autumn sun
Should be dyin', but it's only just begun
Like the twilight in the road up ahead
They don't see just where we're goin'
All the secrets in the universe
Whisper in our ears
And all the years, come and go
Take us up, always up
We may never pass this way again
We may never pass this way again
We may never pass this way again
Dreams, so they say, are for the fools
And they let 'em drift away
Peace, like the silent dove
Should be flyin', but it's only just begun
Like Columbus in the olden days
We must gather all our courage
Sail our ships out on the open sea
Cast away our fears
And all the years will come and go
Take us up, always up
Have a great weekend, “always up,”
Glenn