The Elysian Fields

Here is the final part, Part XII of A Pleasant Shade of Gray.




This Shade of Gray
This certain sadness
This cold morning light
And this silent madness

It hangs in the air
It hangs like a memory
It hangs like a cloud
It hangs on desperately

Between dark and light
Between was and be
Between young and old
Between you and me
Between you and me

I remember cities
And I remember rain
Like the sound of your voice, falling
These memories and more remain

I remember Winter
And I remember strain
Like the sound of your voice, breaking
These memories and more remain

I remember the nights
And I remember pain
Like the sound of your voice, alone
These memories and more remain

So where do we begin
And what else can we say?
When the lines are all drawn
What should we do today?

Close our eyes awhile
As morning shadows play
And listen to the rain
Wash the long night away
Face to face we'll awake
To see another day
And with hope in our hearts
Embrace this Shade of Gray
This pleasant Shade of Gray

Back to the officially sanctioned video for Part XI, the penultimate portion of A Pleasant Shade of Gray:



Do you think that I, that I remember
Do you think that I, that I recall
When you were falling
And I just watched it all?

Do you think that I, that I remember
Do you think that I, that I recall
When you were breaking
And I just let the pieces fall?

Don't you think that I remember
Don't you think that I recall
When you were alone, oh all alone
And I didn't hear, hear your call?
Call - Hear you call, hear you call, hear you call...

Another Perfect Day is from 2004's FWX ~ while the song is about coping with depression, the video is a slideshow of lolcats, the Taj Mahal, and other images that someone thought were silly. Maybe watch with closed eyes?

Anarchy Divine is off of 1988's No Exit:

Today's tune goes back to the love stories of 1991's Parallels.

Eye to Eye is the theme song for every relationship that just fades away... maybe, in a sense, it reflects every relationship, at one time or another. If you work through it (or just outlast it), the relationship continues. Otherwise, it doesn't.

But maybe that's just me...



I saw you once again last night
Through a sea of sullen faces
Admiring eyes following
The path that the spotlight traces

Eye to eye
And the miles still divide
Eye to eye

What was it you saw last night
When you gave yourself to me
Was it the thread of a common bond
Or the touch of cold reality

Eye to eye
And the miles still divide
We can move each other to tears
But we can't see
Eye to eye
And the miles still divide
Each of us alone in silence
When we meet
Eye to eye

All we can really share
Is the coldness we feel
And the silent memory
Of the moment we met

Eye to eye
And the miles still divide
We can move each other to tears
But we can't see
Eye to eye
And the miles still divide
Each of us alone in silence
When we meet
Eye to eye
And the miles still divide
We can move each other to tears
But we can't see
Eye to eye

Through Different Eyes, from 1989's Perfect Symmetry, is probably my favorite Fates promo video.

Today's tune is River Wide Ocean Deep is from 2004's FWX. The video is just the album cover, but the song is worth a listen.

And this one is for the ladies... /Barry-White-Type-Voiceover

Seriously, Point of View is from 1991's Parallels, where "parallels" refers to "significant others".

So here we have Fates with a whole album full o' love songs.

Except, they're really rather realistic love songs. In other words, happily ever after doesn't really come into the vocabulary.

Case in point: the lyrics of today's tune:

looking out on a familiar scene
theres no agreement in what we see
your perception lacks clarity
and my perspective is blinding me

side by side
divided they stand

parallel lives running parallel with YOU
to the point where our horizons divide
my opinion is just a point of view
and your position is the other side

caught up in our convictions we forget
how our senses distort things we see
we cant accept our differences
but we can always disagree

side by side
divided they stand

parallel lives running parallel with YOU
to the point where our horizons divide
my opinion is just a point of view
and your position is the other side

where I stand is not so far from YOU
a different opinion is just another point of view

parallel lives running parallel with YOU
to the point where our horizons divide
my opinion is just a point of view
and your position is the other side

So there you have it, all in a ee cummings sort of way, with the exception of YOU, because these songs are all about YOU... =)

Today's tune is Silent Cries from 1988's No Exit. This was vocalist Ray Alder's first album with the band, he was around 18 at the time, and came in after much of the work on the album was done.

So where do we begin? With Part I, of course, of Pleasant Shade of Gray.

It's just a wee tiny 1:54 of one of the best albums ever recorded. This 1997 release does not have songs on it. There is only Part I through Part XII. Simple, right?

Despite being a single, album length work, this has more variety than most albums, and yet each part ties well to the next and to the piece as a whole. The musicianship on this album is just staggering. There have been other "concept" albums before it, and there will be more after it. This doesn't have that "concept" feel to it, hence why I put the word in quotes, and I love and tend to collect concept albums ~ from rock operas to symphonic poems to, well, operas. This is closer in feel to a symphony, although with twelve parts, it certainly doesn't follow the proper four movement form. It's also not truly symphonic, although, for all that it's performed by a small group, it is certainly well orchestrated.

Although guys like Bach and Beethoven might sneer at it, I'm sure guys like Gershwin and Stravinsky would have this loaded on their iPod for regular listenings.

That may sound a bit over the top, and that I just threw that out there because this is, to my mind, the One Band to Rule them All... and it is, but it is no less true.

Most of the videos are from a limited edition DVD that is so... limited... that even the mighty Amazon only lists it in a VHS version. Today's Part, and a few others, are created of still images, one per tune. Although the director of the video chose shots that do evoke the feeling of the music, they are surpassed by the live clips that the bass player, Joey Vera, cut with footage he filmed, to make up the live, limited edition film.