I'm reading "The lost Glen" by Neil Gunn at the moment and from within the pages of his book, the words call to me.
As I start recording my new Burns album, so I search for the right words to describe the journey. Words that tell of the longing and connection I feel with these songs, and the need to be part of their being. Words that are the source of the feelings that become the sounds, that become the songs, that become the album.
If I force them they do not come - yet I open the pages of this book .... and here they are..........
"When a woman has a golden voice and sings with great art, the song can yet be borne. But when the same woman croons to herself a tune out of the heart of her race, then she is moving forces beyond her art's knowing or caring."
"Motherhood and childhood, of the one and the many,with all the passions that have gone to their making and the memories drawn off. With no more why of wherefore than exist love and life and death."
So - here is the reason I come back time and time again to the simplicity of the song.
I have been singing for many years now and yes, I love to develop my "art", with all it's twists and glamour and trickery. I practice turns and grace notes until they appear effortless. I feel the need to get it "just right", and sometimes, when I do, it is indeed a thing of beauty.
I can sing like almost anyone if I put my mind to it.
But if I still my mind and let flood my heart, I am me and not me. I am nothing and everything. Being without weight, form or limit..........and that is effortless ...... and then the pages open and these words appear:
" And then up through this voice of the race came the singer's own voice, in notes that grew rich, spreading out and sank once again to the land"
From the beginning of this journey back to the old songs, John has always known the importance of this simplicity. Just sing the songs, he says. And I do, and I will, and here they come........................
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