New/Old Music

Tuesday, May 28, three interesting cds were released – interesting to me, anyway. Paul McCartney re-released his early solo live album “Wings Over America,” about which I intend to write more soon. John Fogerty, who some may know as the lead singer for Creedence Clearwater Revival, released “Wrote a Song for Everyone.” Finally, Columbia released a cd “Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions, Live 1962.”
Fogerty’s cd is fascinating. It primarily recycles older material, but with guest artists helping out on the songs. Bob Seger joins on “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” “Fortunate Son,” a strong rock song in the original is made even more blistering backed by the Foo Fighters. Country singer Alan Jackson sings with Fogerty on “Have You Ever Seen Rain.” The list goes on. The recording received rave reviews from Rolling Stone – “a testament to the continuing truth and power in Fogerty’s greatest hits.” Others did not think so highly of it. Some consider the cd a “dumbing down” of the songs.
The Bennett and Brubeck cd was discovered in a vault at Columbia records. The 1962 concert was held at the base of the Washington Monument, and it honored college students who had come to Washington, D. C. to work for the summer. President John Kennedy had met earlier in the day with the students. It was the only time Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck made music together until the Newport Jazz Festival in 2009. Dave Brubeck died earlier this year.
I love that these two cds came out on the same day – old music made new, voices and instruments from the past reconnecting with heart and soul. Bennett and Brubeck swing their music in a way that typically brings a smile to my face. Their optimistic beat seemed perfect for a more optimistic time. Yet even now we need a little lift, a little hope, and this music brings that to me.
For a long time, I have appreciated John Fogerty’s songs and his singing. His voice seems to come out of the night, a sometimes dark night where our dreams and fears collide. His songs ponder pertinent questions. “Who’ll stop the rain?” “Have you ever seen the rain?” They identify unfairness – the favor given fortunate sons. They present more personal issues. One song on this new cd that I had not given much attention before provides the title for the cd. “I wrote a song for everyone, wrote a song for truth. Wrote a song for everyone, but I couldn’t even talk to you.”
In my life I need the joyous, buoyant hope I hear in Bennett and Brubeck. I need to be reminded of the complexities of life. I need to ask tough questions and confront the tensions in living. I need to be able to reach into the resources of the past – words written, songs sung, feelings felt, ideas thought – to make my way into the future.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David

Gregory Wolfe’s Editorial Statement in the latest issue of Image led me to this quote that I thought worth sharing:

The reason to read Blake and Dickinson and Freud and Dickens is not to become more cultivated or articulate…. The best reason to read them is to see if they may know you better than you know yourself. You may find your own suppressed and rejected thoughts flowing back to you with an “alienated majesty.”
Mark Edumundson

With Faith and With Feathers,

David

Roots and Wings

There is a saying that the best gift we can give our children is roots to grow on and wings to fly. I don’t know who said it, but it makes a lot of sense to me.
On Friday, May 3, Julie and I sat with two of our children, David and Sarah in the beautiful State Theater in downtown Minneapolis. My mother and her husband were there as were Julie’s cousin, David and his wife Sharon. We were in this wonderful place because it was where the University of Minnesota Medical School was holding its graduation, and our daughter Beth was graduating.
Finishing medical school has been the culmination of ten years of post-high school education. Beth was in college for five years because she was a college swimmer. She took five years for her medical education because she wanted to spend a year abroad. She spent her time in Sweden, India and Uganda. It was in Uganda that she finally decided to specialize in ob/gyn medicine. She wants to help women take care of their health as a way to make the world a better place.
I was a deeply proud parent that day, as were all the parents there, I am sure. It was a particularly special day because our family was together. Through the day, I could not help but reflect on where life has taken each of our children, think about what each has chosen or is choosing to do.
David is working in juvenile corrections, working with kids who have messed up to see if they can get their lives on a better track. He retains a deep passion for politics because he wants the political processes in this country to work to make the world more just. Sarah was admitted into the physical therapy program at St. Catherine University this winter. She chose to be a physical therapist, in part, because she saw her older sister work through a broken hip. She wants to bring a little healing to the world.
Our children are their own people. They have made these decisions for their lives. I am proud of what they are doing. I admire who they are and who they are becoming. They are not perfect. They have made mistakes along the way, but I am proud to be their father.
I hope in some way, Julie and I have given them some strong roots for making good decisions about who they will be. I hope we have given them some wings for flying. As I grow older and consider what my life has been, I hope that I can say that David, Beth and Sarah had some solid roots, some strong wings, and rejoice that they are doing some wonderful things with them.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David