Monday, December 12
{Near the end of the last band rehearsal, before splitting up for Winter Break.}
David: Well, folks. Great rehearsal, as usual. Quiet tunes, mellow vocal blending, rock tunes, funky tunes. I’m very proud of the lot of you. Your patience with me, as well as your professional talent on the music.
Today is our last full meeting of the whole band before you all head off for the University’s Winter break. I hope, for all of you, it is a relaxed time. Tell lots of jokes, play a variety of music, and please return to this project when classes begin again in mid-January!!
I wanted to do a quick exercise thingy with our first tune in the sequence, “Aged Face”. It may seem like a really strange choice to start a rock concert with a very quiet, very vocal, extremely mellow introductory piece. Especially with the focus on the voices and not the instruments so much. In thinking about these last moments before you all take off, I wanted to do a quick little conversation on this first song, and why it signifies or represents pretty much everything else that we will be doing for the next year or so. And I’ve decided that, if she is willing, I would really like Brianna to come up and read a passage that she shared with us in the past. And then we may spend a few moments connecting that passage to this first song. You’re okay with that, Brianna?
Brianna: Yes, of course! It was my inspiration even before we began this whole project. I call it “The Sending” message. Our small Halloween group mentioned it in our Dedication Commission ceremony. Here it is again. Think about this verse, and how it fits the lyrics of the “Aged Face” song.
Today, I am reading from the Lamsa translation:
Isaiah 6: 8-10
…And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Then said I, “Here am I. Send me!”
…And he said to me, “Go, and tell this people: “‘You can hear indeed, but understand not; and you can see indeed, but do not perceive.”
For the heart of this people is darkened and their ears are heavy and their eyes closed, so that they may not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted and be forgiven.”
David: And I am going to review the basic lyrics to the song, even though most of you have them memorized already!:
“Aged Face”
The aged man walks around, Watching his children play.
He speaks to them with hardly a sound, Hardly a sound.
(who will deliver me to thee?)
Waters flowing down my face, Nourish these children.
I am he who often waits, Often waits.
(who will bring liberty to thee?)
Son, arise, to waken dawn, Someone is needing.
If just for one you leave your home, Then leave your home!
So, who wants to make some connections between the two pieces?
Brianna: I want to start. Who will go deliver a message for me? Who can I send, that I trust to pull this off? And then Isaiah’s tiny little voice squeaks out: “Well, I guess I can do it. Sure, go ahead and send me. After all, I’m right here, not much else going on”!
Deva: Not much commitment going on there, girlfriend! You think he was just a bit wimpy with his reply?
Brianna: No, I don’t think he was wimpy. Hell, if you were having a conversation with God, you’re going to be kind of a little bit intimidated, don’t you think? So it came out as wimpy sounding, maybe because he was just a little bit afraid. But he said the words, in God’s presence, and I think he is ready for the task.
Sal: The song even says that He speaks to them with hardly a sound. He’s not screaming out his request. Like Jackie keeps reminding us, there is an amazing power in the presence of silence! Did any of you guys ever have parents who, instead of bitching and moaning at you if you did something wrong, they talked very softly, very slowly, And in that still moment, you knew that they were feeling much more intense than just letting it all out in a big burst of anger.
Sticks: Sure thing, man. Been there, heard that! The spooky silent treatment.
David: So what is that weird section about when he is criticizing the people for not being able to hear or to see or to understand?
Joanna: David, that’s the whole thing we’ve talked a lot about, being awake and aware. These people were not awake and aware at all. Just plain dense. Now it is going to be up to poor little Isaiah to try to teach some kind of skills or message in order to properly wake them up. And if they don’t? Well, you can kiss heaven goodbye, fellas!
David: How about the part where the water is flowing down his face, obviously tears. Just plain old frustration, or is there some other level of concern you think that the song is discussing?
Debi: I noticed that when you wrote this piece, you used the word “liberty” instead of “simplicity.” But either word could be substituted for the other. Liberty simply means freedom. Freedom to do more than what you are currently doing. Wake up and learn how to really live!
Denise: So the tears not only represent the speaker’s frustration with Isaiah and the people, but also tears and water tend to be very nourishing things to those who begin to accept the message of nourishment. Nourishment of our bodies and nourishment of our souls. There is a positive possibility lingering here beneath those tears.
David: So, bring it on home, go ahead and tackle my last verse. “Son, arise, to waken dawn, Someone is needing. If just for one you leave your home, Then leave your home!”
Morrie: That part is definitely us, sir. We’re not going to spread a message by sitting around here getting our crappy college degrees. At some point, we’ve got to get off our collective butts and go out and talk to real live people. Anywhere, anytime. Isn’t that the whole reason for the possibility of a tour next summer? To take a message, simplicity, for example. And leave the comfort of our fancy little homes, get on a stinky old bus for a month or two, and share the simplicity message with people who seem to need it the most?
Deva: David, I notice that you had a little play on words there, I think. He told the son to arise, to waken down. But you spelled the word “son” as if it were a person, not a big giant bright orb floating around in the sky! So the God, or Energy, who is doing the speaking, who has the message to be delivered, is talking to a human vehicle. Not just blubbering up some “thoughts and prayers” into the heavens and the planets. A human person is needing something, some help. And it must be another human person, or group of musician-type people, who go provide that help.
Joanna: After all, this group right here is at the perfect age for pulling this off. College students, so we’re bright enough to handle it. We’re traveling during late spring and through the summer, so we’ve got the time off. Somehow, we are also going to find the kind of financial support we need to conduct this whole tour thing, and the traveling thing. We are like the perfect demographic to be sharing this kind of message, at this kind of time, to these kinds of places. Got it?
David: That whole thing that you guys just shared was very spot on! And Deva, I don’t think you’re the only person who has noticed that I do like to play around with the spellings and pronunciations of words. Words are just cute little temporary tools. Also, which one of you was the first to pick up on the word game that I played with the title of the song? Why didn’t I call it the “aged man”? Or the “aged father”?
Sal: I laughed when I first saw that, David! Beautiful little clue there. I was looking at the music chart, I played the chord bass line A-G-E-D. And then for the chorus, I played the chord bass line F-A-C-E! There it was. “The Aged Face”! Funny, but simple funny. I expect nothing less from you, O Mighty Wordmaster!
Morrie: One other little musical trick, I suppose you inserted deliberately?? As I messed with the keyboards, I noticed that the A-G-E-D Major chords progress in a downward direction. And then the F-Am-C-E chords move back upward? Coincidence? Not likely, knowing how oddly your mind works!
David: Just keeping you all on your musical toes! Twinkle toes! Good job, everybody! We’re going to eventually have this same type of conversation with every tune, just so we understand the significance of each of the lyrics, how they were put into an organized form, and so you can sing with meaning, rather than just a blind sharing of meaningless notes and words. I thank you all for your honesty and your insight!
David: And real quickly, how about random comments on the song “Transformation Traveling Road?”
Sticks: Hey, we’re a rock band. Rock bands travel, some rock bands Transform themselves in the process of traveling. It is called “getting out your ya-ya’s”! We’ve got to make changes, we’ve got to make rearrangements. That’s growth. As movement! Living the life!
Sal: Traveling, maybe a bit of unraveling, but we are definitely committed to getting from the place where we choose to start, all the way across country, to the place where we choose to finish! Duh! Cross-Country Combination? Even that band name has lots of little hidden clues and codes in it!
David: (in a very solemn voice): Meditate on these literary wonders, my children. Go thou now and be saved and safe, as you travel though this weary land!
Brianna: Me and Deva and Jackie are heading out to the much warmer Southern climes. Sedona, Arizona! Land of mystics and miracles!
Sal: Me, and Sticks, and Morrie are also going to appreciate the warmer wonders of the southern states. Austin, Texas. Winter music festival time down there. Aztec Theatre, Austin City Limits Live, and the House of Blues.
Debi: Denise and I are going in the opposite direction. We’re gonna be chilling in the cold, cold winter snows! But before we leave campus, all cheerful, and full of holiday spirit, we get to dress up in elves costumes, going to hand out goodies at a local event, a Christmas gathering for unfortunate kids and their families. Then we plan on going no further away than some cozy cabin area in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Pretty much hunker down and enjoy an igloo type of life for a while. Skiing and snowshoeing, slip-sliding down the hills. Just a few weeks of holiday spirit, including New Year’s Eve as well.
Denise: I would, and should, and could, invite any of you to call us from wherever you are. But don’t. Really! Don’t! Old Scrooge says “Just Say NO!!”
Joanna: I am currently not exactly sure where I’m going to be ending up . And I will be chatting about that with David as soon as you crazy folks get out that door and head south and north as your destiny intends you to go!
Brianna: Okay, then. That is our cue!! Big circle, guys and gals! “Let’s go heal some hearts, including our own, people!! Group hugs, laughs, tears, and leavings! May the many Gods bless us all, Every one!!! Simplicity rules!!”
*****
{A few minutes later….}
David: What is this about “not exactly sure” where you are going to end up? I just figured it would be around here, working on more tunes, and band plans for when they all get back from vacation.
Joanna: To be honest, David, despite the fact that we are all talking and singing about searching for simplicity, my life at this point in time is presently a little more complicated than usual.
David: So, in using those specific terms, what does that mean? For you? For me? For us? Where will you be for the next couple of weeks?
Joanna: Well, I’ve been meaning to tell you about that…
*****