Journeys

It was an impulse purchase in the spring of 2000: a CD from the counter display by the cash register at the music store.  The title, Journeys, intrigued me, and when I flipped over the album case to examine the track listing, I noted with pleasure several songs I knew and liked very much, as well as a couple of songs I wasn't familiar with, by artists I admired.  I concluded that this was an album worth owning, and handed it over to the cashier with the rest of my purchases.

I don't remember how much I paid for it, but I do know that I got my money's worth.  It wasn't the first multi-artist compilation I'd purchased, nor was it to be the last - but it was, hands down, quite simply the best.  There wasn't one bad, or even second-rate, song in the mix.  I listened to this album repeatedly as I struggled to reclaim my identity after my first hospitalization nearly ten years ago, and found the powerful melodies and poignant lyrics by turns soothing, inspiring, and reflective of my own unspoken yearnings.
The CD that I bought on impulse ten years ago is long gone, lost, along with so much else that was precious, during the years I was shuffled around indifferently by the mental health system.  I never thought much about it until recently, when I decided to look it up online and see if I could find it again.  The album itself is long since out of print (is that the correct term? - would "out of burn" be more accurate?), but I found it mentioned, with the full track listing, on several music websites.  From there it was a simple matter to individually purchase or otherwise locate the songs I didn't already own.

Journeys lives again for me as a playlist in iTunes - and I for one believe it is a playlist worth sharing.  Some of the greatest names in contemporary music are to be found here (John Lennon, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, to name a few), along with some artists perhaps less familiar.  Although the songs are drawn from several genres and span almost three decades of musical history, they suit each other remarkably well (in fact, many of the artists on the album have turned to each other for collaboration and inspiration: Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush have recorded a duet together; Roxy Music has covered "Jealous Guy"; Sarah McLachlan has covered "Solsbury Hill"; Sinéad O'Connor and Peter Gabriel have both performed with Afro Celt Sound System; Over the Rhine toured with Cowboy Junkies) flowing together into a harmony that is earnestly pensive, and often bittersweet - truly a journey for the spirit and heart, as well as a treat for the ear.

TRACK LISTING:
Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel)
Building a Mystery (Sarah McLachlan)
Back in the High Life Again (Steve Winwood)
Graceland (Paul Simon)
Avalon (Roxy Music)
Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush)
Jealous Guy (John Lennon)
200 More Miles (Cowboy Junkies)
Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinéad O'Connor)
Falling in Love with You (UB40)
Amber (Afro Celt Sound System)
Dante's Prayer (Loreena McKennitt)
All I Need Is Everything (Over the Rhine)
These Dreams (Heart)
Don't Dream It's Over (Crowded House)
American Pie (Don McLean)

And now, just for you, my dear readers, something that was never included in the original album - Truth Unleashed's personal liner notes.

Solsbury Hill - This song was written about Peter Gabriel's decision to split from the band Genesis and embark upon a solo career, but its poetic spareness makes it an appropriate anthem for the soul-searching that accompanies any major life decision.  Some folks perhaps read a little too much into the song.  Check out some alternate interpretations for a laugh: Gabriel's actually singing about alien abductions, the life of Christ, the inner world of a mental patient, or - my personal favorite - "a sniper on solsbury hill [sic] preparing to knock someone."  Because everyone knows the British countryside is just teeming with snipers, and the top of a hill is a great place to conceal yourself - right? right?  Spurious explanations aside, the lovely opening riff, increasingly complex instrumentation, and vivid imagery mark this deceptively simple song as a classic.

Building a Mystery - As a great fan of Sarah McLachlan, I was especially pleased to see her included in this compilation, even though I already owned the album, Surfacing, on which this song first appeared.  One of her most memorable songs, "Building a Mystery" is a haunting portrait of a beautiful, tormented soul.  I can't listen to it without falling just a little bit in love with the complex and enigmatic man she describes: "You're so beautiful / With an edge and a charm / But so careful / When I'm in your arms . . . You feed off our fears / And hold back your tears . . . You're building a mystery."

Back in the High Life Again - This irresistably optimistic song is perfect to listen to when life has landed you in the doldrums and you're planning your comeback: "I'll be back in the high life again / All the doors I closed one time will open up again . . . All the eyes that watched me once will smile and take me in / And I'll drink and dance with one hand free . . . And have the world so easily."  Listening to this song always makes me feel as though that "high life" might be waiting for me just around the next corner.

Graceland - Is there anything not to love about this song?  The music is irresistible, the lyrics simultaneously witty, melancholy, and desperate.  Inspired by the end of Simon's marriage to Carrie Fisher, "Graceland" tells the story of a road trip to Elvis Presley's famous Memphis estate in the aftermath of a breakup, and treats the narrator's heartbreak with frankness and compassion: "She comes back to tell me she's gone / As if I didn't know that / As if I didn't know my own bed . . . And I see losing love / Is like a window in your heart / Everybody sees you're blown apart . . . And I may be obliged to defend / Every love, every ending / Or maybe there's no obligations now."

Avalon - One thing I love about Roxy Music is their ability to consistently produce music that's worth listening to, even as they venture into a variety of styles and genres.  "Avalon" is a taste of their soft-pop side.  This is a song about a man who, dancing with a somewhat enigmatic companion at a party, finds himself experiencing one of life's rare sudden magical moments, transported into an altered state of sorts.  The lyrics are sparse, but their subtle poetry and the haunting music create the tone perfectly.

Running Up That Hill - Somehow, I managed to get through the first seventeen years of my life without ever hearing a song by Kate Bush.  This was my first.  Perhaps it's no surprise I remained unaware of her for so long; she's a serious artist more focused on producing good music than on mainstream success or self-promotion, and her lyrics have a serious intensity that wouldn't fit in with most commercial radio stations.  At any rate, I'm glad I found her.  In this song, she applies her powerful voice to an exploration of the struggle of men and women to understand each other.  "If I only could," she sings, "I'd make a deal with God / And I'd get him to swap our places."  As long as the genders lack this intimate understanding of each other, she implies, we'll go on "tearing [each other] asunder," unawares.  Heady stuff, but to her credit the song doesn't feel at all heavy.

Jealous Guy - I'm not going to insult the readers of this blog by asserting that John Lennon was a great songwriter.  There are some truths that just don't need to be stated in the presence of intelligent people.  (Even his most famous solo song, "Imagine," which makes me want to stick a fondue fork through my eardrums, must be acknowledged to succeed splendidly in its purpose, which is half the reason I detest it so thoroughly.)  I will, however, happily hold up "Jealous Guy" as evidence of Lennon's songwriting genius.  If you've ever acted out your insecurities and hurt someone you cared about, you'll recognize yourself in this song.  The lyrics are spot-on, the perfect combination of remorse and self-pity: "I was feeling insecure / You might not love me anymore / I was shivering inside . . . I didn't mean to hurt you / I'm sorry that I made you cry."  Lennon's voice is just right, too: simultanously straightforward and plaintive.  Like many great songs, it didn't make much of an impression on me the first time I heard it, but it's quietly grown on me, and still manages to move me with its nuances.

200 More Miles - If you can't help thinking there's just something wrong about a song by John Lennon appearing in such immediate proximity to a song by a group called "Cowboy Junkies," you have only to listen to this haunting, lovely song for a reminder that you can't always judge a band by its name.  Guitarist Michael Timmins's poetic lyrics and his sister Margo's breathy, sensually earthy vocals combine perfectly into a song about a lonesome journey and the pursuit of dreams: by turns a lament, an inspriation, and a lullaby.  In this song, it isn't the realization of a dream that brings true satisfaction, but the sometimes arduous pursuit: "I've got 200 more miles of rain asphalt in line / before I sleep / But there'll be no warm sheets or welcoming arms / to fall into tonight," the singer acknowledges repeatedly, before proclaiming, at song's end, "I've got 200 more miles of rain asphalt in line / before I sleep / But I wouldn't trade all your golden tomorrows / for one hour of this night."

Nothing Compares 2 U - The songwriter Prince may be best known for his sometimes raunchy lyrics and eccentric antics, but in this song he proves his ability to capture a simple slice of human experience and turn it into art.  Last year, I compiled a playlist of songs that exemplify the famous "five stages of grief" as they apply to the end of a romantic relationship.  Had space on the list been at a premium, I could simply have tossed out three or four of the stages and replaced them with this song, which dips into each of them in turn and intertwines them masterfully into a neat five-minute landscape of the broken heart.  Music-lovers who share my contempt for over-the-top videos that have nothing to do with the actual song will find this video to be a refreshing change of pace.  Shots of Sinéad O'Connor on a pensive, solitary walk around Paris are occasionally interspersed into what is otherwise a single-shot close-up of the singer's face.  To the best of my knowledge, O'Connor has never attempted to branch off into acting, but the emotional range she displays in this video, via head movements and facial expressions alone, would put some Academy Award winners to shame.  She is by turns anguished, wistful, defiant, pleading.  She truly lives the song.  I challenge anyone with a heart to watch this video and not be moved.

Falling in Love with You - It takes a lot of moxie to cover a song that was a huge hit, in an entirely different style than the original, and release it as the first single off your album.  UB40 did just that when they recorded this classic Elvis tune.  They made what was originally a soulful ballad all their own, as an upbeat reggae number, in a way that pays genuine tribute to the original without overwhelming or diminishing it in any way.  The song deals with love unexpected and perhaps contrary to plan, but whereas Elvis lays his heart on the line with wistful melancholy, UB40 revels in this overwhelming love and finds triumph in it.  Which version you prefer will be a matter of personal taste, but it would be hard to call one or the other the more definitive version.

Amber - I'd never heard of Afro Celt Sound System before I bought the Journeys CD, and I haven't happened to come across any more of their music since.  Of course, they aren't exactly mainstream.  The fusion of Irish, African, and modern dance beats and styles sounds more like an interesting experiment than a formula for good music - until you hear it.  In a world where "multiculturalism" too often means either keeping the "other" at a distance while making a big show of tolerance, or assimiliating beyond recognition, there's something beautiful about Irish lyrics sung harmoniously over a distinctive African beat.

Dante's Prayer - Loreena McKennitt's haunting voice is perfectly suited to these ethereal lyrics, creating a mystical song of timeless yearning.  This is a deeply spiritual song about looking to have a meaningful life and a connection to something higher, even when hope is hard to find.  "I did not believe because I could not see / Though you came to me in the night / When the dawn seemed forever lost / You showed me your love in the light of the stars . . . When the dark night seems endless / Please remember me."

All I Need Is Everything - In this powerful song of spiritual longing and material reality, nothing comes easy and contradictions are inherent in every pursuit: "Time to get up off my hands and knees / 'Cause if I beg for it, it won't come . . . This voice calling me to you / It's just barely coming through / Still I clearly hear my name . . . Feel the slip and the grip of grace again."  Every time I listen to this song, it strikes me in a new way - and I don't think there's a single line in the song that doesn't take my breath away with its poetry.  I love the raw honesty in Karin Bergquist's voice.  I think I'm going to be downloading some more Over the Rhine before very long.

These Dreams - This song, which I've loved from childhood, was one of my reasons for purchasing the album in the first place, and it's one of my favorite tracks.  In light of my lifelong interest in oneirology and dream analysis (as well as my experience as a vivid, occasionally lucid, dreamer), I'm truly impressed by how accurately this song captures the experience of dreaming: the almost overwhelmingly intense details ("Figures up ahead / Moving in the trees / White skin in linen / Perfume on  my wrist") and vague sense of unreality ("The sweetest song is silence / That I've ever heard / Funny how your feet / In dreams never touch the earth"), as well as anticipation or unrest ("In a wood full of princes / Freedom is a kiss / But the prince hides his face / From dreams in the mist").

Don't Dream It's Over - The theme of this song is a relatively simple one: the struggle to maintain a strong bond with another person in world of pressures that often make it difficult.  What makes this song so special is the pure poetry with which it treats its subject, making it alive and immediate, yet with slightly blurred edges that leave plenty of room for personal interpretation.  It is a song about relationship, and yet the verses speak of freedom and priorities rather than emotion: they are almost as detached and impersonal as the world that makes it so difficult to keep love alive.  "There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost," the singer muses philosophically, then adds the declaration, all the more powerful for coming as such an offhand surprise, "But you'll never see the end of the road / While you're traveling with me."  The tenderness in this song is more implied than stated, but all the more powerful for being hard-won.

American Pie - Not many pop songs can get away with being over eight minutes long, without feeling at all gratuitous or excessive.  This is one of the few that can.  The lyrics are famously enigmatic, a history of classic rock 'n' roll peppered with religious references.  (McLean has always declined requests to provide an official interpretation of the song, but DJ Bob Dearborn's thoughtful analysis has never been surpassed.)  Perhaps the most impressive thing about the song is its timelessness: ultimately, this is a song about coming of age and watching the world change, a young man watching everything he once held sacred done away with or corrupted by time, and the sense of confusion and wistfulness is powerful enough to speak to a generation of listeners who have neither personal memory of, nor emotional investment in, the evolution of the rock music scene in the 1950s and '60s.

It occurred to me once that the mark of a truly great pop song is simultaneous versatility and depth: you can play it in the background at a party and it adds to the mood without calling too much attention to itself, yet at the same time it rewards the attentive listener with an insightful and emotional experience that only gets better with repeated listenings. By that standard, every track on this album could be considered a great pop song, deep and yet accessible, speaking to a variety of human experiences in a way that simultaneously provokes thought, recognition, and the desire to nod your head to the beat and sing along.