Tuesday, September 19, 2006

A Salty Song


Massive. Fateful. Theatrical. Dreamlike. Longing. Hulking. Eerie. Devastating. Tragic. Gloomy. Significant. Profoundly sad. Fierce. Ambitious. Multi-layered. Relentless. Terrifying. Strange. Bottomless. Black. Tremendous. Heart-rending. Wretched. Striking.

All describe this song. It's older and I found it quite by accident. The first time I heard it I was stopped in my tracks and for the next three days I listened to it over and over. How could something this incredible escape a broader audience? And so I offer it to you.

It begins with a hauntingly calm call for "all hands on deck" and continues "let no one leave alive." This song deceptively and skillfully paints the auditory equivalent of a terrible shipwreck, which from the consenting tone of the narrator seems to be anticipated and unavoidable. But this isn't the story of a ship which is sinking, but a ship sailing to another land from where the sailors will not return; a celebration of the soul's ultimate liberation.

(Formerly A Salty Dog by Procol Harum. This song has been removed from the rotation.)

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