Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Days Of Future Passed...

The Moody Blues, 1967. All I can say is wow what an excellent album. I cannot remember listening to this whole album all at one sitting in over 30 years, and therefore I cannot believe what I was letting myself miss out on for all that time.

Listening to it right now is like reliving a daydream that never quite faded away. If you are as old as me, and decide to listen to this, pay careful attention to the track: The Morning: Another Morning. Tell me was that childhood living or what!

This came out right as I passed from childhood into my teen years. I almost 12, or 12, when it was recorded in October 1967, and definitely 12 when it was released in November that same year. Yeah, I was a Beatles fan then, but that was all soon to change with fine music and lyrics like this, and this album was played over an over for years back then. This was definitely one of the first of all life based impressionistic albums of my youth. They covered life in a day, and I do mean a whole life covered in one day, all in one album of only 7 songs. From: "The Day Begins" all the way through to "The Night: Nights in White Satin". Damn it was and is good, and was as they said it from yesterday's dreams to tomorrows sighs. To which I can truly say: today's sighs are often remnants of yesterday dreams for sure - mixed in with all that stuff we never dared dream about that blew many of our dreams all asunder (like growing up, graduating school, getting a job, war, crime, politics, hate, love, getting married, working hard for almost nothing so your kids will have it better, did I forget to mention having kids, slaving to get the American dream, illness, middle age, death, hardship, success, joy, old age and whatever).


Still though, some of those Nights in White Satin have survived unopened by the reader to whom they were written but to whom never sent. Those dreams survived all the way until today, many only tucked away in the recesses of faded memory, some more easily recalled. Yet others of them, at least for some of us, actually unfolded by the one for whom they were meant, blossomed into a reality, a lifetime of wonder, more marvelous than could ever have been just dreams of our youth. Dreams or reality you decide which was the better. Me I'll take the reality built upon the dreams, even upon the ones that never quite made it. As the album's last words said: "..but we decide which is right, and which is an illusion".

All the best,
Glenn B

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't listen to the Moody Blues in years, I have most of their albums (on vynal) but no turntable. Your post prompted me to download an electronic version. Who knows, maybe I'll recreate my entire collection. :-)

Glenn B said...

I have gathered some collection of DVDs over the past few years. I prefer the plastic even if the smaller size of a DVD than the all digital things my kids use (iPods and Dell DJs). I figure I can use them as frisbees once the technology is done away with.

Glenn B said...

By the way, I had an excellent turn table when I moved into my house about 13 years ago. I am 99.9% certain my wife threw it out. It is probably worth a fortune as a collectors piece, it was a highly rated turntable used about 5 times before we moved.