I know why you’re crying ~ Orbison & lang know why too

Crying ~ Roy Orbison

Music is a powerful muse for me, and words often flow from the imagery and emotion which rises as the melody plays out. Less often, the words I’ve written bring a song to mind. This poem was in my thoughts this morning and as the words of it washed over […]

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Hearts traveling faster than the speed of love ~ the B-52s, Topaz

52s ~ COSMIC THING ~ Topaz

A vivid memory of dancing solo on an Australian beach, the full moon intermittently obscured by racing clouds even as its rays glitterred off the cascading breakers pounding the beach. This song, Topaz, blasting at top volume from the small portable stereo speakers attached to my iPod. A breathless churning […]

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Neil Young: He came dancing across the water

Zuma ~ Neil Young

I can remember the first time I heard this album, Zuma. I was all of 20 years old, ski bumming in Whistler, BC, and gathered with a bunch of friends after the bars had closed. I can’t remember her name. She was skinny and not very attractive in any traditional […]

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Courage

The Courage to Start

I started a post about courage, featuring this song, a couple or three weeks ago. It’s still sitting in the drafts folder. The Tragically Hip are a favourite Canadian band from the late ’80s and early ’90s, a time when I, and many other Canadians, considered them the best rock […]

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Cloudbusting a rainy day in Vancouver: Kate Bush is in my subconscious

Hounds of Love ~ Kate Bush

Maybe it’s due to the thick layer of clouds busting down with rain overnight and today. Maybe it’s about getting caught up in a rearward look last night. Maybe it’s about the upbeat glee of a gift and a moment shared with a friend across the miles. I’m not sure […]

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Nothing Else Matters when Bif Naked is your muse

Superbeautifulmonster ~ Bif Naked

Bif Naked came into my life in an odd way, the leading edge of a wave of the odd, the uncanny, the revelatory. This song has a lot of meaning for me, coming as it did amidst upheaval, chaos and — ultimately — awakening. And she came right into the […]

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Remembering with Shakti: Lotus Feet and Vancouver’s Sea Wall

Remember ~ Shakti

It was a couple years ago that this piece of music resoundingly re-entered my life. The spring in Vancouver seemed to be a never-ending stream of sunny, tranquil days, riding my bicycle along the miles and miles of sea wall ringing the city. This is a spectacularly beautiful city once […]

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Black and white, darkness without light: a spiritual journey begins on a Three Dog Night

Seven Separate Fools ~ Three Dog Night

The joyful melody and playful rhythm will be all too familiar to my mother, and the eldest of my sisters. I was about 12 when this song came into my life, the first 45 rpm record I recall owning. I spun the disc hundreds of times…maybe thousands…playing it again and […]

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Deva Premal sings The Moola Mantra: a gift of love

The Moola Mantra ~ Deva Premal

A couple days ago, this mantra played during a peaceful, energetic, meditative moment while in a healing session with my chiropractor. It reminded me, as it often does, of the woman who gave it to me. It was my introduction to the grounding peace and tranquility of mantras. As I […]

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Fleetwood Mac and my summer of love

Fleetwood Mac ~ Rhiannon

I can’t remember how I met her. I think it was possibly on the boardwalk, or in the arcades at Weirs Beach. I do remember my buddy Brad and I hitching part way around Lake Winnnepesaukee so I could be with her. It was the summer of ’76 on the […]

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