Music Day

I'm pretty sure this is also a newcomer to the iTunes Store. We had it on cassette (before I discovered how to import them into the computer), but it wasn't on iTunes and I wound up special-ordering it on CD from a Christian bookstore an hour and a half away (in case you haven't noticed, music nerds tend towards desperation. Especially when nostalgia is involved). I paid far less than thirty dollars though.
Anyway, nostalgia is a big part of this album for me, and this song in particular. It's not anything spectacular, just one of those little moments in time that imprints itself into your brain for some unknown reason. My little moment for this one is in the parking lot of a fabric store. My mother, a seamstress, had gone inside to make a 'quick' purchase (although nothing was ever 'quick' at this particular store, even before taking my mother's love for the material into account) and my father and I remained in the car.
This tape had been playing the whole time, but I had barely noticed. However, I eventually got bored and tuned into the music, just at the end of the song preceding this one.
And then this song came through the speakers, its stripped-down synth opening. I loved the song immediately. The drama that built up as the song continued transfixed me.
All too soon it was over. I asked my father to rewind the tape and play it again. He did. I listened, trying to drink in every note. The song ended. I asked my father to rewind it again. He did, a little less willingly this time. I listened again, wrapped up in the drama of the synthesizers and the almost-haunting vocalisations. The song drew to a close again. Again I asked my father to rewind it. This time he refused, suggesting that I listen to the rest of the album now. After a bit of convincing, I agreed. But none of the songs that followed were quite as dramatic as that instrumental synth piece based on a supernatural thriller.

Title: Ashton
Artist: Michael W. Smith
Album: i 2 (EYE)
Year: 1988
Label: Reunion Records
It's on iTunes here; YouTube here (you may have to turn up your speakers, especially at the beginning).
The book it's based on is called This Present Darkness, by Frank Peretti. I've begun reading it, but I haven't finished. So far it seems pretty good though.