Just in the background as you do more important things in the real world and not in this twittering one.
WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Welcome to the New American Digest: 2003-2020
Gerard Van der Leun
Stone-cutters fighting time with marble, you foredefeated
Challengers of oblivion
Eat cynical earnings, knowing rock splits, records fall down,
The square-limbed Roman letters
Scale in the thaws, wear in the rain. The poet as well
Builds his monument mockingly;
For man will be blotted out, the blithe earth die, the brave sun
Die blind and blacken to the heart:
Yet stones have stood for a thousand years, and pained
thoughts found
The honey of peace in old poems.
— Robinson Jeffers
His soul stretched tight across the skies
That fade behind a city block,
Or trampled by insistent feet
At four and five and six o’clock;
And short square fingers stuffing pipes,
And evening newspapers, and eyes
Assured of certain certainties,
The conscience of a blackened street
Impatient to assume the world.
I am moved by fancies that are curled
Around these images, and cling:
The notion of some infinitely gentle
Infinitely suffering thing.
Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots.
— Eliot
I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this
air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their
parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.
— Walt Whitman
The scientists are in terror
and the European mind stops
Wyndham Lewis chose blindness
rather than have his mind stop.
Night under wind mid garofani,
the petals are almost still
Mozart, Linnaeus, Sulmona,
When one’s friends hate each other
how can there be peace in the world?
Their asperities diverted me in my green time.
A blown husk that is finished
but the light sings eternal
a pale flare over marshes
where the salt hay whispers to tide’s change
Time, space,
neither life nor death is the answer.
And of man seeking good,
doing evil.
In meiner Heimat
where the dead walked
and the living were made of cardboard.
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How very strange.
This album was on the soundtrack at the pub at Cal State Disneyland when I was a (34 year old) senior. Those were not especially good times. It was fall semester ’86, and I should have graduated in Spring, but I got married, and had to get a job. I was too old to be there, taking on brutal class loads, trying to plow through fast, and realizing I had made one of the all time “Wut th’ fuk wer yoo thinkin’?” moves of my life by marrying my less-than-ideal first wife. I had classes at odd times, sometimes getting out early in the evening. I’d grab a sandwich at the cafeteria, then stop at the campus pub, and get a pitcher to end the day. I’d sit there, smoke cigarettes, and drink it alone. The third track on this album, “Love/Longing” would always seem to be playing. That sad, haunting melody just seemed like the theme song for that time in my life. It has been one of those odd recurring earworms for years. But I never knew who played it, or what it was called. Now as I type this, I recall asking the bartender if he knew, but he did not. It was just on a background tape they had. As soon as I clicked this on I recognized the style on piano. I scrolled down the timeline: “Love/Longing (on an album called, “Autumn”) Could that be?…
Holy cow, but it is. Thanks, Gerard, for clearing up one of life’s small mysteries for me.
JWM
If you like this stye of piano may I suggest more from George Winston:
SUMMER – with a terrific version of Living in the Country, a cover of the old Randy Newman tune – Living Without You, Hummingbird and my favorite – Loreta and Desiree’s Bouquet part 1 and 2. Lovely music.
The album titled FOREST is another good one.
And one of my very favorite albums is LINUS AND LUCY – The Music of Vince Guaraldi. Really great stuff. When I was a lad growing up in the NYC-metro area, the Big Apple offered a wide variety of music radio stations (Radio City). One of my regular stations to tune in was WNEW-NY. I forget the DJ that used to open his show with Guaraldi’s Cast Your Fate to the Wind. That tune still puts me in a dream-like state with so many memories rushing in.
Enjoy.
Beautiful music, but horrible associations. So fortunate to have survived the consequences of poor decisions. Have been resurrected since and am grateful every single day.
Beautiful scenery, too!
I had the chance to see him play in 1986, and again about 10 years ago. He is quiet and seems very humble on stage, and simply plays beautifully. Not sure if he still tours, but he’s definitely worth the price of the ticket; the last time I saw him the place wasn’t as full as it should be.
I barely missed being in the same high school that George attended. Integration and all of that BS.
He’s an incredible talent and most of the time you wouldn’t know if he was in the room. Thanks again GVL.
Windham Hills record label had many great musicians on vinyl, and then acrylic. They’ve issued sampler albums of various artists every year since at least 1978.
My favorite albums include William Ackerman – “In Search of the Turtles Navel”; George Winston – “December”; Mark Isham – “Vapor Drawings”; Alex deGrassi – “Slow Circle”; and Liz Story “Solid Colors”.
Great music. It was a good way to gather my thoughts! Thanks for sharing.