Home Sweet Home and Bliss
12 Dec
I am finally back home in Nashville, where it’s freezing cold, the first snow of the winter is falling, and it’s beautiful sitting by the fireplace in my little house tonight. After nearly 11 weeks of travel, after playing songs in Harrisburg, PA., Stone Ridge, NY., Philadelphia,PA., New York, NY., Ridgefield, CT., Provincetown, MA., Raleigh, NC. Then off to Oslo,Bergen and Trondheim (Norway)–Gothenburg, Malmoe, Orebro, and Stockholm (Sweden)…..Brighton, London, Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Norwich, Manchester and Gateshead (England)……Galashiels and Edinburgh (Scotland)….Brussels, (Belgium) …..Melbourne, Queenscliff, Mullumbimby, Adelaide and Sydney, (Australia) and finally…Aukland, (New Zealand), I am home. Whew! Literally, Tania and I flew around the world in the last two months.
Brussels, Belgium Nov. 13, 2010
It’s been an amazing journey, meeting people in different cities every night, playing songs and telling stories to audiences from so many different cultures in such a short time. Everywhere I went I saw tired, stressed out adult stares looking up at me from the audience, expressions that I watched slowly melt into childlike wondrous gazes as songs and stories broke down the walls of time and space to briefly relieve them of their burdens, bringing us together into one human experience…for a short while, for the duration of a song.
From the stage, the process is amazing to watch. Before I became a performing songwriter, I had no idea that performers watch the audience as the audience watches them. But we do. It’s different every night, but yet…good nights are always the same. I look out into the audience after a few songs, after my own nerves are calmed down by the music. Then I look into people’s faces. After that, no matter where I am, I focus all the weapons at my disposal on transcendence. Transcendent relief for all of us..from all the wedges that politicians and religions have used to separate us since the beginning of time…age, race, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, our indoctrinated belief systems. Songs and stories can transcend oceans of differences and unite people, they have the power to connect us like no other medium. Woody Guthrie was well aware of this, when he wrote “THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS” in bold letters on his guitar. Nixon was aware of this when he tried to have John Lennon deported for his work to stop the war in Vietnam. Songs are powerful things.
On good nights, I forget that I am on stage, I forget that I even am. I lose my awareness of myself, (self awareness?) and disappear into the songs I sing and the stories I tell. Even when the song stories are about me, it’s no longer ME I sing about. The stories, if told right, are about all of us, all people..humans, mortals trapped in the human condition, and I am not fully there while I sing them. I slip away into the song, into the story. Even after the final chord has been played, during the milliseconds before self consciousness returns, all that exists is the fading ring of the music. This is artists’ bliss, to be relieved of ego, of separateness. I suppose its one of the big reasons why musicians put themselves through it, all the difficult , painful travel racing through multiple time zones in short periods of time, bone chillingly early flights to the next town carrying heavy suitcases, guitars, heavy boxes of gear, and bags and boxes of CD’s, the hundreds of hours in filthy graffitti covered green rooms with their broken chairs and worn out soiled, sunken in couches sitting on disgusting sticky floors…. the cold, bad road food, the constant abuse from airlines, the disrespect from those promoters who are only in it for the money, the aching loneliness. We do it for the moments of bliss. And as tired as I am right now, I am already starting to think about getting up there on the next stage in the next town and doing it again. And again.
I missed you at Harrisburg and Philly but am glad to see such a positive response you are getting from your music.. I guess if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.
Kudos!
Saw Mary Gauthier perform this remarkable work in its entirety at Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem, PA this year. It’s among 40+ recordings on my 12th annual best of the year list. The entire list (in no particilary order) will be aired and streamed worldwide on WDIY’s The Blend on Monday 12/27/10, 1-4pm EST and will be viewable on Spinitron.com.
The words You write about bringing us together, it´s because of Your story from life and Your love to life which You have put down in Your words that describes it so well, that we all can relate. Joined You in Malmoe and it was magic. Such a amazing evening with beautiful tunes, lyrics, power and love. Your music and lyrics will heal forever. Wish You a relaxing Christmas and a happy healthy New Year!
See You next time in Malmoe!!
And we SO very much appreciate that you put up with all of that to bring us your beautiful stories (though often they are about not so beautiful things, which is what makes them beautiful, and heartfelt and soulful, in and of themselves;).
Happy to have you back in the States safe and sound. Would be even happier to have you back in Knoxville
Rest up and take your time, then come see us when you need a fix!
SM:)
Ah….the warmth of a crackling fire.
Those embers draw you in like a moth to a flame.
Seems like they capture your heart and soul and suddenly every wrinkle the world has placed on your forehead are “poof” GONE!
Big ole cup of tea with honey to sip and maybe a cookie or two and suddenly you are in a land that time forgot!
Enjoy your break and your fire and “Thank you so much for sharing your gifts with us. We are so Thankful.
Nicely said. Thankfully, I have experienced that unity through your performances and am always looking forward to the next time. Very appreciative of your candor and your willingness to put yourself out there.
Enjoy your rest!!
I appreciated your words and reflections. You gave me a view of what you and others do that I didn;t have before. Though I am not a muscian I aim for transcendence with those I work with as well. Your connections with Woody Guthrie and John Lennon give me hope and appreciation for the the role music and muscians play…and hope for me too. Thanks for putting it out there for us all and above all Welcome Home.