I love to blog. It is something that is becoming more and more clear to myself. And I keep being surprised about that. And keep wondering what it is that I love so much about it. I never liked to write before, so why do I now.

But I also never liked to read and to study, until that all changed some years ago. From someone that would not read a book if it was not filled with pictures, graphics or photo's, I changed into someone that could not stop reading.

I read about all kind of subjects (actually hardly ever a novel) and wanted to know as much as I could find, about the subject I was interest in at that time. Which changed constantly.

But there was one thing that all the books had in common, it had to do with ‘reality of ideas'. I read books about philosophy, art history, psychology, astrology, music and even about physics and other sciences. The reason I could read even those books was because of the fact that there are writers that can make even the most difficult subjects interesting, but above all, understandable.

Then after spending more and more time on the computer I loved to participate in groups, forums and discussions online. Again about the same subjects.

But actually participating is not exactly the right word, as it was much more reading then writing what I did. Which is also rather strange as in ‘real life' I tend to participate in discussions easy.

But the problem online is that you have to WRITE your opinion instead of just say what you think. And I just find that very difficult.

But then I started a WordPress blog. From the first moment on I loved its potential. The potential for me to put down my thoughts, but also the potential for developers to add new things all the time. It is like a very compact and powerful core, which can grow by who ever wants to expand on it.

And even for me as a total beginner it was doable. A bit overwhelming at times, but really exciting. And I even got to manage a selfhosted blog. And at times was totally surprised that something worked, although I had no idea how I got it done.

But now with another blog, already my fifth or so, I want to focus on writing and chose again a not self hosted. And am impressed to see what has been added again.

And the writing. Well, it is going easier all the time. I have far lesser drafts (there where times that I had more drafts than posts) and I am getting better at finding the words I am looking for.  And above all, I just love blogging.

These last few weeks, while listening to the music of Camel, I decided to get the dvd of their live concert Pressure Points. It was my first live concert of Camel and it had a huge impact on me at that time. And now I just wanted to know why. Was it the fact that it was my first concert ever? Was it the fact that it was in a relative small space and the sound was overwhelming? Or was it the music itself?

Last week I got the dvd and now I know it was the music itself. The concert was called Pressure points and now I know why. The concert was mainly about their album Stationary Traveller wich has the instrumental Pressure Points. On their album it is a relatively short track, but during the concert it is very much extended. And it takes you in an unescapable atmosphere right away. There is no turning back.

That is very much what I felt back then and that is what I felt now, when I listened to the music again. And while I was working on The story of the Snow Goose, I noticed the similarity with both albums. As I see it, Stationary traveller is the zooming in on the process of what was already pointed at in The Snow Goose.

The discovery of a powerful free will, but with the realisation of taking full responsibility for every action. It is the transformation that only can take place in absolute honesty, when there is nothing left but the individual self, separate from all surroundings.

With Stationary Traveller this soulsearch takes a whole album and it is given the form of the divided Berlin, before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The concert is recorded in 1984, so at that time the Wall was still very present. I will try to give my impression of the whole concert in another blogpost, but here is the beginning of the dvd on a Youtube video.

It starts with an introduction which is not part of the concert itself, but gives a fascinating desire to look at what is real. You see the man, while dancing with the woman, loosing his mask.

And than Pressure Points starts.

Music by Camel, based on ‘The Snow Goose' by Paul Gallico.

'The Great Marsh' starts (after about 20 sec) with bird sounds and softly the music sets in. In the background there is the repeating sound of female vocals and occasionally there is the highlighting of a guitar. Then the pressure goes up, the drums enter and it becomes a coherent setting for the story to take place.
  

...the ocean cut through the sodden land that seems to rise and fall and breathe with the recurrence of the the daily tides. It is desolate, utterly lonely, and made lonelier by the calls and cries of the wildfowl that make their homes in the marshlands and saltings ...

Part 1
'Rhayader' is the introduction of the main character. His introduction is rather sensitive with the sound of a flute, but soon gets a firm grounding with the drums and keyboard, while the tambourine gives it a light and dancing touch. And it ends again with the sensitive flute in a repeating rhythm.

...his heart was filled with pity and understanding. He mastered his handicap, but he could not master the rebuffs he suffered, due to his appearance. The thing that drove him into seclusion was his failure to find anywhere a return of the warmth that flowed from him...

But then, with the start of 'Rhayader goes to town', there is a remarkable change. The drums make a determined statement and the guitar comes in very strong. 

...he was twenty-seven when he came to the Great Marsh. He had travelled much and fought valiantly before he made the decision to withdraw from a world in which he could not take part as other men. For all the artist's sensitivity and woman's tenderness locked in his barrel breast, he was very much a man...

This is made very clear by the drums, keyboard and guitars, while they express the powerful spirit of Rhayader. Then the music changes again and while still holding this power, it starts to move. It sounds like a strong and determined walk as he goes to town. But in that movement he looses his power bit by bit, and takes him out of his centre.

And so he returns to his sanctuary, which he build for the birds but which he needs himself just as much. The story describes that he has a safe place for all hunted creatures.

... this made Rhayader happy, because he knew that implanted somewhere in their beings was the germ knowledge, of his existence and his safe haven, that this knowledge had become a part of them and, with the coming of the grey skies and the winds from the north, would send them unerringly back to him...

'Sanctuary' is a very balanced guitar piece, the plucking of the strings that give a basic ground and the space to express the guitar.

So in this self created sanctuary, where he can embody his spirit by developing his skills of painting and managing his boat, he, one day gets a visitor, and 'Fritha' enters.

... desperately frightened of the ugly man she had come to see, for legend had already begun to gather about Rhayader, and the native wild-fowlers hated him for interfering with their sport. But greater than her fear was the need of that which she bore. For locked in her child's heart was the knowledge, picked up somewhere in the swamp-land, that this ogre who lived in the lighthouse had magic that could heal injured things. She had never seen Rhayader before and was close to fleeing in panic at the dark apparition that appeared at the studio door...

This is expressed by the music which gives the feeling of something that will disappear with the slightest movement.

And then there is another change as 'The Snow Goose' starts and the guitar is showing it's most amazing moves.

...he told her the most wonderful story. The bird was a young one, no more than a year old. She was born in a northern land far, far across the seas, a land belonging to England. Flying to the south to escape the snow and ice and bitter cold, a great storm had seized her and whirled and buffeted her about. It was a truly terrible storm, stronger than her great wings, stronger than anything. For days and nights it held her in its grip and there was nothing she could do but fly before it. When finally it had blown itself out and her sure instincts took her south again, she was over a different land and surrounded by strange birds that she had never seen before. At last, exhausted by her ordeal, she had sunk to rest in a friendly green marsh, only to be met by the blast from the hunter's gun. A bitter reception for a visiting princess, concluded Rhayader. We will call her La Princesse Perdue, the lost princess...

Part 2
This is the part that bears the essence of the story, but it is the part that is least played in live concerts. There are probably several reasons for that, like the use of wind instruments (Friendship) the non lyric-vocals (Migration) and the use of female voices (Preparation), which are not the regular ingredients of a rock band. And also does this part not so much have the brilliant and active guitar performances that are present in part one (Rhayader goes to town and The Snow Goose) and in part three (Dunkirk and La Princesse Perdue).

This part is much more like the Adagio in a classical symphony. It is more contemplative, the phase of reception instead of action. Part one and three are the active parts, part one in the way of a creative self-expression and part three expressing developed talents for the sake of a bigger whole.

But here, in part two, there is the need of another person, the other who reflects, but who also makes aware of the connection with the world again.

With 'Friendship' there is a feeling of getting to know each other, which is reflected by the wind instruments that show the exchange of energy.

...they sailed together in his speedy boat, that he handled so skillfully. They caught wildfowl for the ever-increasing colony, and build new pens and enclosure for them. From him she learned the lore of every wild bird, from gull to gyrfalcon, that flew the marshes. She cooked for him sometimes, and even learned to mix his paints...

Then 'Migration' very much gives the feeling of nature runs its course. The non lyric vocals make it sound rather unaware and just following the natural instinctive circle of life.

With 'Rhayader alone' there is the feeling of accepting and sadness with the soft keyboard and sensitive guitar expressing his loneliness.

...and Rhayader was heartbroken. All things seemed to have ended for him. He painted furiously through the winter and the next summer, and never once saw the child...

Here arises the awareness for Rhayader in 'Flight of the Snow Goose' and the reconnection with his soul is expressed by the sound of water and female vocals in 'Preparation'.

But at the same time this moment brings fear for Fritha, because she does not understand the power yet.

... and Fritha was suddenly conscious of the fact that she was frightened, and the things that frightened her were in Rhayader's eyes - the longing and the loneliness and the deep, welling, unspoken things that lay in and behind them as he turned them upon her. His last words were repeating themselves in her head as though he had said them again: this is her home now - of her own free will. The delicate tendrils of her instincts reached to him and carried to her the message of the unspoken things between them. The woman in her bade her take flight from something that she was not yet capable of understanding...

Part 3
Part three starts with action again, but the difference with part one is that the action is conscious now. It is the action that is the result of the realisation of having a free will. A will to choose which direction to move the power. Not to let it be a destructive or dominating force, but to use it in a serving way. This awareness came over him while he watched the snow goose return. 

And so he decides to act and use his developed sailing skills to save as many men as he can in the battle at Dunkirk. It came upon him in excitement, but as he sees the fear in Fritha's eyes, he explains it to her so she can understand his desire to fulfil his mission.

...they are lost and stormdriven and harried, like the Princesse Perdue you found and brought to me out of the marches many years ago, and we healed her. They need help, my dear, as our wild creatures have needed help, and that is why I must go. It is something that I can do. Yes, I can. For once - for once I can be a man and play my part...

This is beautiful expressed in 'Dunkirk', which start off as a very determined active ongoing movement, which gives the feeling of something inevitable to happen. And now the strong spirit of Rhayader is capable of acting but also reacting within the same movement. During the battle he can stay in his own power, and at the same time do what is needed. And it only increases the power. This is brilliantly shown by the guitar and drums near the end.

He can immediately react upon what happens and save many lives. And with the snow goose flying above his boat it becomes an impressive story, to be told by many.

But Rhayader will never return, as he dies in the battle.

...when we turned our attention to the derelict again, the boat was gone. Sunk. Concussion, you know. Chap with her. He must have been lashed to her. The bird had gone up and was circling. Three times, like a plane saluting. Dashed queer feeling. Then she flew off to the west...

In 'Epitaph' the feeling returns as in 'Preparation' but now as a memory for the heroic act of Rhayader. Who just followed his strong drive to act in the knowledge of a world beyond his individual being.

In the meantime Fritha is waiting, roaming through the lighthouse. This is translated with a silent piano tune 'Fritha alone'.

... she found the picture that Rhayader had painted of her from memory so many years ago, when she was still a child, and had stood, windblown and timid, at his threshold, hugging and injured bird to her.The picture and the things she saw in it stirred her as nothing ever had before, for much of Rhayader's soul had gone into it...

But deep within, she knows that she will never see him again, and becomes aware of her love for him as she watches the snow goose fly.

...the sight, the sound, and the solitude surrounding broke the dam within her and released the surging, overwhelming truth of her love, let it well forth in tears. Wild spirit called to wild spirit, and she seemed to be flying with the great bird, soaring with it in the evening sky and hearkening to Rhayader's message. Sky and earth were trembling with it and filled her beyond the bearing of it...

'La Princesse Perdue' which, after a while, reminds of 'The Snow Goose', is a very melancholic goodbye on the guitar and a coming together of two souls.

...watching it, Fritha saw no longer the snow goose but the soul of Rhayader taking farewell of her before departing for ever...

Finally the lighthouse is blown away by accident and the sea has taken over again, shown at the end in 'The Great Marsh'. 

...the sea had moved in through the breached walls and covered it over. Nothing was left to break the utter desolation. No marsh fowl had dared to return. Only the frightless gulls wheeled and soared and mewed their plaint over the place where it had been... 

You can see, hear and feel the soul of the story in the first piece The Snow Goose, then the transition to the classical wind instruments that perform Friendship, and finally the expression of Rhayaders powerful spirit that gets off centre in Rhayader goes to town.

Well anyway, that is how I perceive the music and the story...

The Snow Goose: the original album (just click the first track and the rest will automatically follow)

A Live Record: album of Camel live with the London Symphony Orchestra (The Snow Goose starts and ends with 'The Great Marsh')

Part three starts with action again, but the difference with part one is that the action is conscious now. It is the action that is the result of the realisation of having a free will. A will to choose which direction to move the power. Not to let it be a destructive or dominating force, but to use it in a serving way. This awareness came over him while he watched the snow goose return.  

And so he decides to act and use his developed sailing skills to save as many men as he can in the battle at Dunkirk. It came upon him in excitement, but as he sees the fear in Frita's eyes, he explains it to her so she can understand his desire to fulfil his mission.

...they are lost and strormdriven and harried, like the Princesse Perdue you found and brought to me out of the marches many years ago, and we healed her. They need help, my dear, as our wild creatures have needed help, and that is why I must go. It is something that I can do. Yes, I can. For once - for once I can be a man and play my part...

This is beautiful expressed in ‘Dunkirk', which start off as a very determined active ongoing movement, which gives the feeling of something inevitable to happen. And now the strong spirit of Rhayader is capable of acting but also reacting within the same movement. During the battle he can stay in his own power, and at the same time do what is needed. And it only increases the power. This is brilliantly shown by the guitar and drums near the end.

He can immediately react upon what happens and save many lives. And with the snow goose flying above his boat it becomes an impressive story, to be told by many.

But Rhayader will never return, as he dies in the battle.

...when we turned our attention to the derelict again, the boat was gone. Sunk. Concussion, you know. Chap with her. He must have been lashed to her. The bird had gone up and was circling. Three times, like a plane saluting. Dashed queer feeling. Then she flew off to the west...

In ‘Epitaph' the feeling returns as in ‘Preparation' but now as a monument for the heroic act of Rhayader. Who just followed his strong drive to act in the knowledge of a world beyond his individual being.

In the meantime Fritha is waiting, roaming through the lighthouse. This is translated with a silent piano tune ‘Fritha alone'.

... she found the picture that Rhayader had painted of her from memory so many years ago, when she was still a child, and had stood, windblown and timid, at his threshold, hugging and injured bird to her.The picture and the things she saw in it stirred her as nothing ever had before, for much of Rhayader's soul had gone into it.

But deep within, she knows that she will never see him again, and becomes aware of her love for him as she watches the snow goose fly.

...the sight, the sound, and the solitude surrounding broke the dam within her and released the surging, overwhelming truth of her love, let it well forth in tears. Wild spirit called to wild spirit, and she seemed to be flying with the great bird, soaring with it in the evening sky and hearkening to Rhayader's message. Sky and earth were trembling with it and filled her beyond the bearing of it...

‘La Princesse Perdue', which reminds of ‘The Snow Goose', is a very melancholic goodbye on the guitar and a coming together of two souls.

...watching it, Fritha saw no longer the snow goose but the soul of Rhayader taking farewell of her before departing for ever...

Finally the lighthouse is blown away by accident and the sea has taken over again. This can be heard with the last song on the album, again called ‘The Great Marsh'.

...the sea had moved in through the breached walls and covered it over. Nothing was left to break the utter desolation. No marsh fowl had dared to return. Only the frightless gulls wheeled and soared and mewed their plaint over the place where it had been... 

This is the part that bears the essence of the story, but it is the part that is least played in live concerts. There are probably several reasons for that, like the use of wind instruments (Friendship) the non lyric-vocals (Migration) and the use of female voices (Preparation), which are not the regular ingredients of a rockband. And also does this part not so much have the brilliant and active guitar performances that are present in part one (Rhayader goes to town and The Snow Goose) and in part three (Dunkirk and La Princesse Perdue).

With ‘Friendship' there is a feeling of getting to know each other, which is reflected by the windinstruments that show the exchange of energy.

...they sailed together in his speedy boat, that he handled so skillfully. They caught wildfowl for the ever-increasing colony, and build new pens and enclosure for them. From him she learned the lore of every wild bird, from gull to gyrfalcon, that flew the marshes. She cooked for him sometimes, and even learned to mix his paints...

Then ‘Migration' very much gives the feeling of nature runs its course. The non lyric vocals make it sound rather unaware and just following the natural instictive circle of life.

...and Rhayader was heartbroken. All things seemed to have ended for him. He painted furiously through the winter and the next summer, and never once saw the child...

Here arises the awareness for Rhayader in ‘Flight of the Snow Goose' and the reconnection with his soul is expressed by the sound of water and female vocals in ‘Preparation'.

But at the same time this moment brings fear for Fritha, because she does not understand the power yet.

... and Fritha was suddenly conscious of the fact that she was frightened, and the things that frightened her were in Rhayader's eyes - the longing and the loneliness and the deep, welling, unspoken things that lay in and behind them as he turned them upon her. His last words were repeating themselves in her head as though he had said them again: this is her home now - of her own free will. The delicate tendrils of her instincts reached to him and carried to her the message of the unspoken things between them. The woman in her bade her take flight from something that she was not yet capable of understanding...

‘Rhayader' is the introduction of the main character in the story of the Snow Goose. His introduction is rather sensitive with the sound of a flute, but soon gets a firm grounding with the drums and keyboard, while the tambourine gives it a light and dancing touch. And it ends again with the sensitive flute in a repeating rhythm.

...his heart was filled with pity and understanding. He mastered his handicap, but he could not master the rebuffs he suffered, due to his appearance. The thing that drove him into seclusion was his failure to find anywhere a return of the warmth that flowed from him...

But then, with the start of ‘Rhayader goes to town', there is a remarkable change. The drums make a determined statement and the guitar comes in very strong. 

...he was twenty-seven when he came to the Great Marsh. He had travelled much and fought valiantly before he made the decision to withdraw from a world in which he could not take part as other men. For all the artist's sensitivity and woman's tenderness locked in his barrel breast, he was very much a man...

This is made very clear by the drums, keyboard and guitars, while they express the powerful spirit of Rhayader. Then the music changes again and while still holding this power, it starts to move. It sounds like a strong and determined walk as he goes to town. But in that movement he looses his power bit by bit, and takes him out of his centre.
And so he returns to his sanctuary, which he build for the birds but which he needs himself just as much. The story describes that he has a safe place for all hunted creatures.

... this made Rhayader happy, because he knew that implanted somewhere in their beings was the germ knowledge, of his existence and his safe haven, that this knowledge had become a part of them and, with the coming of the grey skies and the winds from the north, would send them unerringly back to him...

‘Sanctuary' is a very balanced guitar piece, the plucking of the strings that give a basic ground and the space to express the guitar.
So in this self created sanctuary, where he can embody his spirit by developing his skills of painting and managing his boat, he, one day gets a visitor, and ‘Fritha' enters.

... desperately frightened of the ugly man she had come to see, for legend had already begun to gather about Rhayader, and the native wild-fowlers hated him for interfering with their sport. But greater than her fear was the need of that which she bore. For locked in her child's heart was the knowledge, picked up somewhere in the swamp-land, that this ogre who lived in the lighthouse had magic that could heal injured things. She had never seen Rhayader before and was close to fleeing in panic at the dark apparation that appeared at the studio door...

This is expressed by the music which gives the feeling of something that will disappear with the slightest movement. 
And then there is another change as ‘The Snow Goose' starts and the guitar is showing it's most amazing moves.

...he told here the most wonderful story. The bird was a young one, no more than a year old. She was born in a northern land far, far across the seas, a land belonging to England. Flying to the south to escape the snow and ice and bitter cold, a great storm had seized her and whirled and buffeted her about. It was a truly terrible storm, stronger than her great wings, stronger than anything. For days and nights it held her in its grip and there was nothing she could do but fly before it. When finally it had blown itself out and her sure instincts took her south again, she was over a different land and surrounded by strange birds that she had never seen before. At last, exhausted by her ordeal, she had sunk to rest in a friendly green marsh, only to be met by the blast from the hunter's gun. A bitter reception for a visiting princess, concluded Rhayader. We will call her La Princesse Perdue, the lost princess...

... half-submerged meadowlands ending in the great saltings and mud flats and tidal pools near the restless sea. Tidal creeks and estuaries and the crooked, meandering arms of many little rivers whose mouths lap at the edge of the ocean cut through the sodden land that seems to rise and fall and breathe with the recurrence of the the daily tides. It is desolate, utterly lonely, and made lonelier by the calls and cries of the wildfowl that make their homes in the marshlands and saltings ...

1. The great marsh

2. Rhayader

3. Rhayader goes to town

4. Sanctuary

5. Fritha

6. The snow goose

7. Friendship

8. Migration

9. Rhayader alone

10. Flight of the snow goose

11. Preparation

12. Dunkirk

13. Epitaph

14. Fritha alone

15. La princesse perdue

16. The great marsh

Years ago, when we just got married, we discovered the music of Camel. We already had some of their music, but after being in London in a recordstore with lots of their albums, we both got addicted to their music. We loved all of their work, but the Snow Goose was our favourite. Of course because of the beautiful music, but also because it was an album that could be played easily with visitors. The music brings along many emotions but it is never to extreme, it is as in one ongoing movement. The parts go over from one into another and you just want to keep on listening.

Although we were Camel fans and we did go to two of their concerts when they were in the Netherlands, we both hardly knew who were the members of the band. And as time went by and I had listened to their albums numerous times, I switched to classical music. I got interested in the history of western music, listened to all kind of classical music and came up with some favourites of which I blogged about these past few weeks.

But then, a few weeks ago, I rediscovered Camel. I found a lot on Youtube, some great websites and a music site where I could listen to their albums again. And besides that I got to read about the people behind the band. And was really moved. I also got interested in the story of the Snow Goose written by Paul Gallico. I already read some reviews of the book and many people were moved by the story. So I thought I might look in our local library to see it they had it. And to my surprise (there are not so many English books in a local Dutch library) they did have it. So I read it in maybe an hour (it really is a short story) and was so very moved by it.

My intention was to write a blogpost about my perception of the music of the Snow Goose, but now I will try to also give my interpretation of the story, in three different blogposts. Here in this post there is a synopsis of the story, a video with excerpts of the Snow Goose, and a little piece from the book to get an idea of the sphere. And here you can listen to A Live Record where Camel played with the London Symphony Orchestra. The Snow Goose starts and ends with the Great March. 

The Story

The Snow Goose is about a man, Rhayader, an artist with a hunchback and a crippled arm. He is rejected by society and lives on a desolate marshland by the sea in an abandoned lighthouse. There he paints the land and wildlife and provides a sanctuary for birds over the winter.
One day a young girl, Fritha, comes to him, carrying an injured goose. She comes to the lighthouse timidly, for she is frightened of the strange man. But she has heard of his reputation for taking care of the birds. Rhyader cures the goose and Fritha comes to visit him often to see the goose. But when the goose is recovered and leaves, her visits stop and Rhyader is alone again.
As one day the goose returns, Rhyader sends Fritha a message and she returns to the lighthouse. From that moment on a cycle repeats, when the snow goose returns Fritha comes to visit and when the goose leaves, her visits stop. Then one day it becomes clear that the bird will stay for good. But what does this mean for their friendship, that of a crippled lonely man and Fritha, now a young woman. It confuses her and she leaves for a while.
When she returns again, Rhayader is about to leave in a strange mood. He is determined to go to Dunkirk to save as many soldiers as possible. Fritha is very sad because of his leaving but promises to take care of the birds in the sanctuary. Then Rhyader sails away with the snow goose flying above the boat. Rhyader saves many lives and will never return, but the snowgoose does and Fritha sees it as the soul of Rhyader saying farewell. 

Preface
"At low water the blackened and ruptured stones of the ruins of an abandonded lighthouse show above the surface, with here and there, like buoy markers, the top of a sagging fence-post. Once this lighthouse abutted on the sea and was a beacon on the Essex coast. Time shifted land and water, and its usefulness came to an end.

Lately it served again as a human habitation. In it there lived a lonely man. His body was warped, but his heart was filled with love for wild and hunted things. He was ugly to look upon, but he created great beauty. It is about him, and a child who came to know him and see beyond the grotesque form that housed him to what lay within, that this story is told.

It is not a story that falls easily and smoothly into sequence. It has been garnered from many sources and from many people. Some of it comes in the form of fragments from men who looked upon strange and violent scenes. For the sea has claimed its own and spreads its rippled blanket over the site, and the great white bird with the black- tipped pinions that say it all from the beginning to the end has returned to the dark, frozen silences of the northlands whence it came."

While I was looking for material to write a blogpost about Camel's album the Snow Goose, I found a video where the original members of the band where telling about how they got the idea of making that album.

It is really interesting because I think it highlights what is art, what is inspiration, what is a creative process, but above all, how art can be a collective process instead of that of an individual.
 

You can listen to the whole album here (you have to click on the first track, but it takes about 30 seconds before you hear music, it first starts very softly with goose sounds).

Yesterday I found a blog with a video of Lisa Gerrard. And I was completely blown away by it. She has an incredible strong, haunting and sensitive voice. Of course I immediately had to go looking at Youtube to find some more about here. I found a lot already and I uploaded one below.

I also found another one where she talks about her singing. There she says something like:

"You let the language grow by itself, your own language. You have the ability to create a dialogue to make you travel to places more beautiful then we were ever promised"

This got me very much thinking about music. I thought this is really ‘making music'. These past few days I was thinking about these same lines when I watched Andrew Latimer of Camel play his guitar at a young age. Here the band was playing Lady Fantasy and you could just watch the music develop.

In the first part it is as he is discovering his guitar as a way to express himself. Especially at the end of that part he is really exploring every edge of it.

In the second part, after a sudden change, you can just watch his most amazing wondering about the beauty he and his guitar are capable of producing. He is almost feeling and searching for the next note. As if it is already there but he has to catch it before it is gone. And then when he has it, he wants to hold it.

Then in the third part, immediately after the beautiful lyrics, there is this repeating ‘I got it and I want to play it over and over again', as in a sort of trance. And then after the last change there is this ‘expressing it to the universe'.

Well, anyway that was the impression I got from it. But it felt like the same growing and creating a language that Lisa Gerrard was talking about.  

I also uploaded a few of her songs to my playlist on my recently discovered music site Deezer, where I found 7 of her albums. Just to listen for free!

So great to hear this kind of music on demand and it finally takes me away from  Youtube (where I also could make playlists) and where I sometimes could not stop watching the amazing facial expressions.

This I can play in the background and be finally able to get on with my work on the computer.