Rainy Day Review

Warm and rainy in south Florida today, Father's Day. Makes for an easy excuse to laze about the house and reflect. Enjoyed a nice service at church with my reason for being a father, Sophia. She delivered her father's day gift to my bed at 7am, further reinforcing what a deliberately good and nice child she is, illustrating once more that despite personal losses and set backs I have much more to be grateful for than regretful or sad.

Chilling in the kitchen with all the things I love on a Sunday morning.
1. New York Times Sunday edition. 2. A pot of fresh brewed coffee. 3. Fresh bread from the bakery toasting lightly as it prepares to meet my Norwegian smoked salmon. 4. A wireless internet connection on my laptop, allowing me to peruse newspapers and events worldwide as I enjoy my breakfast, this on "my day". 5. And finally, music. The naturally melancholic day brought forth by the ominously puffy rain clouds combined with the sadness of my father not being here has me falling back to an old classic.

There are but 10 albums PinF would need should he ever be cut off from the world. Just ten, they encompass all musical genre's and moods; each explaining a different layer of my own experience. As I sit here and listen to one of the single best albums ever made, I'm cognizant of how much of who I am and what I like is so similar to my own father. He loved his newsapaper and coffee, and had he been here today I most definitely would have found him doing almost the exact same thing I'm doing upon my obigatory father's day phone call--difference being he would be chilling to Sinatra.

So I carry on-- as I am now the dad, and Sophia looks to me. She's printing out her father's day tribute on the desk top as I sit here pondering my day, and indeed the year that has been to date. By now I'm sure you're all wondering just what is that "top ten album"? Let me say this--there are very few truly timeless albums that speak the same truths to the generations who've listened to them. Equally so, there are few albums that will raise social, moral, and religious consciousness. PinF digs this type of music. Music of substance for the heart as well as the soul. Lyrically the music must drive the message, it isn't enough to be just an instrumental compostion, that leaves much to much to interpretation. The lyrics serve to drive the music, dictating where the artists chooses to take you, and what he wants you to know was in his heart and soul, not to mention the world in which he created the piece.

The music is the canvas. The lyrics are the paint. As I read the diametric news of the day I'm reminded what a powerful and relevant body of work I'm listening to. The enviroment is in trouble. The world continues to war. People die needlessly and voicelessly in squalor and disease. This is my world as I read today's newspaper. And as I do I wonder why if schools require certain classic pieces of literature, then why we don't require the same of classic pieces of music? For if we did I would suggest that every 12 grade student listen to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" before embarking onto their next phase of conscious living. The incredible relevancy to today's problems in the world truly serves as a testament to what genius this body of work is. I've listened to album literally hundreds of times, each one of them I've come away with something new, something that serves as a parallel lesson to today's troubles and events.

This album truly needs to be savored, absorbed, and contemplted to really be appreciated. It speaks of God, religion, morality, war, social injustice and political confusions. Listen to lyrics of "What's Happening Brother?" and see if it this message doesn't convey the questions of a generation fighting the war in Iraq, as people slowly begin to ask, what for? For the troubled forgotten souls of yesterday and today Marvin still speaks through the lyrics of "Wholy Holy". The staggering amount of children whose mortality is stunted through disease, famine and war is so purposely covered by the song "Save the Children". PinF can think of very few other albums that challenge such forward social, political, and moral introspection. Certainly the song that ties it all together into one world anthem of questioning the direction our planet is heading would have to be "Mercy, Mercy Me". Could there be a more relavent song to today's useless war and division it's causing amongst ourselves as fellow Americans, not to mention as members of world community than the song "What's Going On"?

If you've never listened to this album straight through-- do it. If it's been a while, then listen again. The mesage is old, but it's the same one no matter the year, love.