Post 45: Songs and Summer Solstice

FOR LOVE OF

If music be the food of love
Then that explains the shiver down the spine
As melody with rhythm soars and blends
While voices join in joyous pitch
And perfectly with harmony combine

Music can purely fill the space
Between the two extremes of joy and grief
From the rising swell of orchestral sound
To the plaintive notes of one pure voice
In the high arched places of godlike belief

We’ve all felt that catch of breath
At sounds of many voices giving song
Or that lighthearted lifting of the soul
As we partake in flippant dance
A space where one and all of us belong

Music is a dreaming journey
Through calm halls of strings and flute
Or wild gyrations in compulsive dance
To the powerful variable drum
First the rhythm of the parent beating heart
To realization of our cosmic harmony
Our last breath our final fleeting song

As the festival of music, known as Glastonbury, comes round again, I note that the Summer Solstice presages the slowing of the songs of birds. For many weeks past we have sat in our peaceful garden, listening to the welcome cacophony of thrush, blackbird, greenfinch, blackcap, chiff chaff, lark, warblers, chaffinch, goldfinch, dunnock, sparrows, pigeon and collared dove.

Some, like thrushes and blackbirds, amaze with their variety and melody. Others are still pleasing; from the companionable chirping of sparrows, to the creaking rasp of greenfinch. Even the collared dove is forgiven its monotonous tones; awakening us to the early morning sunrise. And we still wonder at the rising rush of sound from the ascending lark.

From the dawn of man upon this earth, music has been an ever present unifying force; evolving from communication via the drumbeats of the forest, the conch and horns from hills and mountains, and the realization of the ability to make music from the myriad objects at our disposal; stones, wood, metal; and, of course, the human voice.  Even the siren calls from other life forms across those newly discovered seas; supposedly luring sailors to their fate on hidden rocks, have been credited with mysterious and ancient powers of unquenchable belief in the power of musical sound.

We need all the unity we can get just now. All power to music, song and dance, to help us leave this worldwide divisive culture of hate and disunity far behind. Bring on the choirs, the bands, the orchestras, the voices raised in harmony and togetherness, to help us heal our divided world.