Old Friends

Those who know me are well aware of my love affair with music. As a young person I was hooked by the melodies of the Beatles and became addicted to pop music. In high school, it was hard rock and heavy metal. Over the past ten years or so, I've become a big fan of the progressive rock/metal genre and concentrate more on lyrics than on melody. One of my most recent purchases is the new double-CD by Neal Morse. It's called Testimony. I've been a big fan of Morse for several years as the lead singer/songwriter of one of my favorite bands, Spock's Beard. Last year, he left the band for religious reasons. He had become a Christian and felt he had to leave and work on his relationship with God. Anyway, I was upset at the time but I've gotten over it. In any case, Morse just released this auto-biographical CD that is heavy on the religious side but so stunningly beautiful that I became hooked instantly. The reason why I'm telling you about this is coming...hang with me! There is a side project of mine that will be reviewing CD's online. It's called Pick Your Noise and it will be up and running soon. I did this because people are always asking me about my musical taste because most of the stuff I am into is foreign to them. So look for the site soon. ANYWAY...back to the story...

The first track on the Testimony CD is "The Land of Beginning Again." The lyrics talk about going back in time...

"I wish there was a way to start again. Just blink and count to ten. In the land of beginning again. Where no one knows the bad things that you've done. The past is truly gone. In the land of beginning again."

I've been listening to this a lot lately and thinking a lot about it. Then, yesterday, I get an e-mail from my old friend Lou. I have not been in contact with Louie in 6 years. We were tight in college at West Chester University. After graduation in 1990, we kinda went our separate ways. He's in Willow Grove still and works as a high school science teacher. Anyway, it was so good to hear from him and the effect was greater because of all this "stuff" in my mind from listening to Morse's CD. Sound strange? It's amazing what effect music can have in my life. Anyway, I am looking forward to getting together with Lou soon and talking about old times - going back to the land of beginning again.