53 - See I've Got this Woman Here

Once again I return to my go-to show for great music, Chuck.  The creators/writers/whoevers that picked the music for this show just had their stuff together and chose great stuff.  This particular song comes from season 2, episode 2.  A great episode.  Watch it.  I mean the entire series.  Go.  Now.  Enjoy.

Done?  Good, well if you did watch it, there's a strong chance by 90 Songs of Autumn series is over and you've missed the rest of this post while it was fresh.  Hope you like stale donuts.

If you didn't go watch the show...well, kudos on getting the goods fresh, but really, you're missing out on a funny/moving/action filled/romance laden show of awesomeness.  I think Buy More has all season available...if you need something to do later.

Song 53
        "Love It All" from the Kooks album Konk.

There is a huge reason I like this song and why it fits into Autumn for me.  That reason is the book The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander.  It's the second book in a five book cycle called The Chronicles Prydain.  If you aren't going to watch Chuck...this would be one option for a better use of time.  Seriously.  Read the series.  But this time...after reading my blog.

Why does this song make me think of a high fantasy series of books for children set in ancient Wales inspired landscapes?  I'll tell you why.  In Cauldron, the heroic companions seek out an evil cauldron to destroy it, preventing the creation of undead warriors known as the Cauldron Born.  The primary character, Taran (a young teenager) is accompanied by several friends.  Some old, some new.  One is the wise and learned Adaon.  He is a young man, I take to be in his mid to late twenties, but is an old soul.  He longs to be done with battle and strife and return to his lady fair, and to tend his garden and pursue peaceful things of life.

Adaon says this to Taran at one point:

“There is much to be known, and above all much to be loved, be it the turn of the seasons or the shape of a river pebble. Indeed, the more we find to love, the more we add to the measure of our hearts.”

The more we find to love, the more we add to the measure of our hearts.  I mean, wow!  This has stuck with me since I read this book at the age of 11.  So, for 2/3rds of my life it's been with me.  I constantly think back on it, and try to apply it to my life.

This song, while not as profound, makes me think of this quote.  The, "love it all, love it all, love it all..." just echoes this concept to me.  Keep finding more things to love.  And you will love more.  Like in the Zelda games.  You can increase your life bar by finding pieces of heart.  You get enough and your life meter gets bigger.  In life, the more you find to love, the more capacity for love you'll have.

And the whole Autumn thing...well, that where these books always take me.  It goes with the whole Autumn/Fantasy mindset that is just a part of how my mind works.

So, go!  Watch some Chuck, read some Prydain, or listen to this song, or find something else, but find something new to love and increase your capacity for love (not specifically the romantic kind either people.)  Cause if there is one thing this world needs desperately...it's more love and kindness.

Love it all.  Love it all.  Love.  It.  All.

grace, peace + hope
-Jesse

10 - A Bass Vibrating and a Fiddle Crying

The Concept:  Feature a song a day for every day of the most magnificent season of Autumn.  The songs are ones that capture the thoughts/ideas/images/feelings of the season for me. 

It's my "Autumnal Playlist" if you will.

This song I came upon while living at Evangel University.  It was my first summer not coming back to PA.  I was on my own for the first time.  The year was 2000.  Gladiator had just come out in theaters.  I was house sitting for the summer while also working at EU's very on TV Station, ECTV.

But the route to this song started the previous year.  On a random night in October some friends and I went to see the latest Tim Burton movie, "Sleepy Hollow."  There was a trailer on that for another movie that was out called, "The Messenger."  It was the story of Joan of Arc.

I of course went to the theater (I think by myself) the very next night to see it.  I was blown away by that movie.  To fully explain that would take another blog.  Needless to say it stuck with me.  So did the lead actress, Milla Jovovich.

So, I was very much surprised when (the following summer) I learned the Ukrainian model, turned actress, turned musician had released an album.  I liked many of the songs but the one that stuck with me the most.

Song 10/Day10

Today's Song:  "In A Glade," from Milla Jovovich's album, The Divine Comedy.

The coolest thing about this song...is that it is sung in Ukrainian.  It is a traditional song from the Ukraine.  While I don't know the origin or history of the song, Milla captures such a haunting beauty in her voice and pacing of the song.   The title of this post is a translation of some of the lyrics, which I never looked up until today, over 12 years later.

This song pulls me strongly into the Fall.  I'm not sure if that's a harpsichord or what playing but the notes just feel like the stems of leaves popping off the trees while the harp fills my mind with images of the red, orange, yellow stars floating down to the dark, damp, brown soil.

And it is almost oppressive, the beauty of this forest of falling leaves.  All that can be seen is the somber hues of Autumn and the dark bark of the trees.  The boughs and branches are too tightly woven over head and still too full of leaves, all the while they are falling and filling the air dancing among the dark wood, until they land and carpet the soil, hiding the patches of green grass.

Her voice beckoning the listener deeper and deeper into the woods until they come across the titular glade.  Here, I see a scene described in my all time favorite book, The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander.  The lead character Taran, a teenage boy, in ancient Prydain (Briton) has a dream.  This dream shows him element representing his primary companions resting on a wet rock.  One item is a harp, that stands for the character of Fflewdder Fflam, a bard.  The harp ties into the music of the song...and we've come full circle.

I love the melancholy overtones.  But there is a flicker of hope tied into her voice.  So enjoy something from another culture, and let it take you somewhere otherworldly.

Check out "In A Glade" from Milla Jovovich's album The Divine Comedy.

-Jesse