We always came back to the song we were singing.
—Paul McCartney
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| Photo courtesy of Jake Hopping, I think. |
When I do breathwork under the guidance of my son Daniel , I often have a recurring experience, kind of a waking dream, or a deep dive into my "inner imaginarium" that goes like this:
I'm in a field and there's a huge tent surrounded by trampled grass. It's a dark night but lights have been strung overhead. People are milling about and leaning against cars, talking quietly and laughing in that companionable way that comes with long association. I don't know if they are waiting for something to begin or if they are lingering after it has ended.
I don't have a ticket, but I lift the tent flap and go in anyway. Sam Adams, a young friend and musician who died in a car wreck a number of years ago, is there to greet me. "Come on in, we've been waiting for you!" We hug. It's dim inside and crowded. There's a stage but no one is on it right now. Over the loudspeakers Ray Charles is singing "Come Rain or Come Shine."
In the audience, everyone is laughing and greeting each other—a lot of back slapping and hugging going on. As my eyes adjust, I begin to recognize some of them. Elvis is here and Johnny Cash. Roy Orbison and Nina Simone. Patti Smith and Keith Moon. The Johns—Lennon and Bonham. Aretha and Emmylou. B. B. King and Bono. Nanci Griffith and John Prine. Clarence White and Jimi Hendrix. And Josh is here too. And Kirk. And my other brothers. And my sons. And Kevin. The living and the dead.
Not everyone here is a musician, but we're all here because of the music. Because we've been saved by it at one time or another. And I understand again that it's not about the hereafter, but the here and now. The lilies of the field and the poems made of grass. And I have the thought, "So this is where they come to get it. The music." This is where it begins, and there's no end in sight. And I feel a great gladness and a deep peace. Like everything is just as it should be. Like everyone here has found a way home.
first light in the meadow
mockingbird takes it
from the top
Listen to the Mockingbird. Roland White and Friends: A Tribute to the Kentucky Colonels, 2018. Featuring Josh Haddix on guitar.
Baba O'Riley. The Who. Filmed at Shepperton Studios, 1978.
The Song We Were Singing (re-mastered 2020). Paul McCartney. Flaming Pie, 1997.
Come Rain or Come Shine. Ray Charles. The Definitive Ray Charles, 2001.
Trouble in the Fields. Nanci Griffith. One Fair Summer Evening, 1988.
