Now that college isn't eating my life and soul and the very blood from my veins, I can attempt to re-instate this once-proud feature of the blog. Since I'm not paying for college and by some miracle managed to find a job, I can actually kind of afford music again, so now I've also got actual material for these posts again.
I actually had a different post all written and lined up for today, but then this afternoon I finally decided to check out Randy Stonehill's gold mine I mean Bandcamp store. I've been eyeing up this album since they first opened the store (last month). It's so rare you can't even find a 'fair' version on Discogs. All I had was a TERRIBLE crackly noisy vinyl rip I bootlegged from somewhere years ago. I'm no audio snob (as you can probably tell from the average production values of my genre of choice), but even I cringed at the audio quality of that bootleg. I knew I wanted to replace that copy with a clean copy the first chance I got. It's a beautifully orchestrated and written album, and it deserved better than to be drowned out by surface noise.
This song was always my favourite, even marred as it was by the cracks and pops. I can't think of any other artist in this genre that does a legitimate overture to their album, and if they all could be as beautifully done as this one, I would say that more people should do this on their albums.
I can't think of any other time I have reacted this viscerally to an instrumental piece of music. Lyrics, sure, but never raw music. I cried. I had never heard this song other than on that atrocious bootleg, and to hear the orchestra (and it is an orchestra) in all its purity gave me chills.
Woodwinds feature heavily in this overture, and I think that's very apropos. Randy is a lighthearted soul (and voice), but can fit right in with the likes of Terry Scott Taylor or Mark Heard, lyrically, just as the flute is playful and light but still is a crucial part of any 'serious' orchestra. The lighter woodwinds also embody the idea that life is fleeting -- an idea that's also found in the title song and recurs throughout the album. Celebrate This Heartbeat -- as the next one is not promised to us.
Maybe it's more poignant just today. My grandfather's heart beat its last very early this morning. This brings up conflicting emotions, as he was not a good man by almost any standard. I think that in itself is sadder than anything else about his death -- any chance he may have had to redeem himself is well and truly gone now. He was a bitter man, deeply shaped and wounded by Nazi ideologies that he never did truly shake in all his ninety-two years -- even after spending more than seventy of those years on the other side of the world, both physically and culturally. When I think of celebrating this heartbeat, he is probably one of the last people I would think of. That itself is what saddens me most, I think. He had a long life and could have done so much... but he left behind a legacy of brokenness and pain because he was never healed from his own brokenness and pain eighty years ago. And now it's too late.
Don't be like this (I preach this to myself as well). It's so quietly, deeply tragic. I suggest using this song to kick off your own celebration of your own heartbeat.
Title: Overture - Celebrate This Heartbeat
Artist: Randy Stonehill
Album: Celebrate This Heartbeat
Year: 1984
Listen and purchase on Bandcamp here.
(Keep in mind today is Bandcamp Friday, which is when the Bandcamp site waives their own fees so ALL the money from purchases made on Fridays goes directly to the artist.)
(Also, if you're in the market for more Randy Stonehill, there are other older gems on his Bandcamp store that have been out of print since before The Simpsons was on the air -- plus you can check out his brand-new album The Lost Art Of Listening, which should be arriving in my mailbox next week.)
