Scattershot Symphony #30

Goin’ Home – Part One

Scattershot Symphony #30

Goin’ Home – On Heaven and Beyond – Part One

Welcome to:

Scattershot Symphony

The Music of Peter Link

(That’s me.)

This week being the thirtieth episode of this podcast, I prefer to let the music do the talkin’.  However, if you need to know more about me, please visit Wikipedia.com – Peter Link.   

This episode is entitled

Goin’ Home – On Heaven and Beyond – Part One

I woke up one morning and realized that my past, on Planet Earth, was probably longer than my future – that there was more time that lay behind than what lies ahead. But then again, I believe deeply in life eternal. So, what’s to worry? 

But … Just what is it that goes on? What stays behind? Where do I go from here? Heaven knows … 

I probably won’t figure it out while treading down this earthly road, but back then, working on this CD, I’d given it a lot of thought. 

I considered ideas drawn from a number of sources, but learned, while trying to figure it all out, that I might as well try … to embrace a rainbow. 

This one thing I do know, however: The purpose of that album was to open our eyes to the timelessness of our future. After all, isn’t that what the basis of Heaven is all about? Moving on. No endings – only new beginnings?

We all deal with this transition nearly every day, no matter how old we are, whether it’s regarding ourselves, our family and friends, or the peoples of the world. Yet most of us ignore it, or run from it out of fear. I have chosen to face it head on over these last years and have found a tremendous sense of life in the endeavor. 

Thus, the music evolved …  along with the energies of a perfectly wonderful group of performers who were all deeply touched by the project. The contemplation of this inevitable transition turned out to be a joyful exploration and appreciation of life. 

So here you’ll find sadness, joy, humor, celebration and, of course, the mystical. Dive into it all with great abandon if you like. You can’t lose. The rewards of the music and lyrics and energies of the performers are great and simply full of life – just as it should be. 

This album is a gift to the world from literally hundreds of people who have supported it from its inception. I am eternally grateful to each of them. We were blessed by this endeavor. 

Margaret Dorn did all the vocal arrangements on this CD and is a master at acapella arranging. Her eight-voice ensemble, The Accidentals, were the 1995 National Champions of the Harmony Sweepstakes, and have won countless awards for acapella groups the world over. So, turning to her to arrange this opening song on the CD was the easiest of choices. For me, she fulfilled all expectations with this gorgeous melody originally composed by Antonin Dvořák for his Symphony No. 9. My one direction to her was, “I see this song coming out of the mist.” 

Darryl Tookes, Angela Clemmons and Choir

Goin’ Home 

I am not an authority on either Life or Death. So I turn, in this podcast, to those who have a better grasp on it all than me. As per example: Quote.

“God exists in eternity. The only point where eternity meets time is in the present. The present is the only time there is.”~ Marianne Williamson 

I originally fell in love with this next song recorded in the early 70’s by The Edwin Hawkins Singers on the album that also contained their hit song “Oh Happy Day” that sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. It won for Edwin Hawkins his first Grammy. Back then we all fell in love with the infectious joy of “Oh Happy Day”, but what really stuck with me over the years has been the spirit of “My Father’s House” – also on the album. It seemed natural to re-record it for this project. Being in the studio with both Cat Russell and Jenny Burton when they recorded their solo work was simply a divine experience. 

My Father’s House 

“For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.” – William Penn

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” – King David – Psalm 23

“Heaven” was the first song I wrote for the project. For me, it defined the project and became the central core from which I worked. Whenever I would find myself wandering away from the creative arc of the project, I would simply go back and re-read or listen to this song and it would always get me back on track. Jenny Burton, as always, brings all her depth and commitment to the performance of this song and simply knocks me out every time I hear it. 

Heaven

“The “kingdom of Heaven” is a condition of the heart—not something that comes “upon the earth” or “after death.” – Friedrich Nietzsche 

Here’s a medley of two other songs that I’ve known and sung since childhood. Some may even know these as camp songs, but they are both firmly lodged in the tradition of the great American Gospel/Spiritual song-book. 

I took the liberties of adding additional lyrics to “I Ain’t Gonna Grieve My Lord No More” and had a few totally silly moments writing them. Over the years I’ve actually mustered up the courage to sing on the same recording with Jenny Burton, occasionally. She certainly can spice up a recording! 

As a child, I never knew what the title meant, but singing the song this past year in the studio, I finally figured it out, and towards the end of the song you’ll hear me discovering the meaning and shouting out the revelation.  A Medley …

“I Ain’t Gonna Grieve My Lord No More and I Got A Robe ”

“It’s not that I’m afraid to die,

 I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” – Woody Allen

The poet, Henry David Thoreau said,

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” – 

Then a couple of centuries later, Eckhart Tolle said,

“Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to “die before you die”
— and find that there is no death.” – Eckhart Tolle

Think about it …

This human experience is such a clash of conflicts. Sometimes I think I’m actually getting somewhere, and then along comes another collision, another matter moment, another trial from which to learn. Sometimes I think that’s what life on Planet Earth is all about – a great exercise in getting over the materialistic hump. And then, of course, sometimes the hump … becomes a mountain. 

Jenny Burton and Quartet
Margaret Dorn, Catherine Russell, Darryl Tookes & Kevin Osborne

There’s A Mountain In My Way

Quote:

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” – Steven Jobs

At the last trumpet

In the twinkling of an eye

In a flash

We shall all be changed

Oh that I could tell the story of how we overcome

Hmm, … Might as well try to embrace the rainbow …

Men’s Quartet: John James, Keith Fluitt, Darryl Tookes and Kevin Osbourne with Peter Link 

Embrace The Rainbow

“If we don’t know life, how can we know death?” – Confucius

“I existed from all eternity and, behold, I am here; and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end.” – Khalil Gibran

Because I could not stop for death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves

 And immortality.” – Emily Dickinson

Though this transition, when it comes, is fascinating to me. Let’s face it. I love my life. Oh it’s definitely a roller coaster ride through time and space, but it absolutely is worth the price of admission. I’m in no hurry to leave. I hear a lot of talk these days about the possibilities of life on Earth becoming eternal through artificial intelligence and replacement parts, etc. I’d have to really stop and think about that one, if truly presented to me. The idea of living many more years is truly attractive to each of us, I believe – as long as we have our health and live in our right minds.
Anyway, right now… I Can’t Go Home… 

“I Can’t Go Home ”

“I postpone death by living, by suffering, by error, by risking, by giving, by losing.” – Anais Nin

One great truth that I’ve lived by and proven over and over in my life is that “The good you do, equals the good you receive”. The opposite is, unfortunately, a great truth as well. “The bad you do, equals the bad you receive”. On second thought, it’s probably not ‘unfortunate’, but, in fact, fortunate that we can’t really get away with nuttin’. In the words of John Lennon, “Instant karma’s gonna get cha”. That’s always meant to me that what goes out from us comes back – whether it be good or bad. Kinda keeps you on your toes …

Catherine Russell sang with Donald Fagen, performing in the N.Y. Rock N Soul Revue, which also included Boz Skaggs, Michael McDonald, Phoebe Snow and Chuck Jackson. In addition, Ms. Russell has performed or recorded with Jackson Browne, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Feinstein, Madonna, Al Green, Dolly Parton, and Isaac Hayes, among others.

Catherine Russell

We Fix It”

“To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know. No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils. And surely it is the most blameworthy ignorance to believe that one knows what one does not know.” – Plato

“In an artist’s life, death is perhaps not the most difficult thing.”

 – Vincent van Gogh

This is not the end … of this podcast. There is still far too much to consider. This is only the Intermission. You will find the continuation of this exploration in Scattershot Symphony #31 – Part Two

“For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.” 

– Khalil Gibran

Also, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts … etc.

A very special thanks also to Stuart Barefoot, our Associate Producer for all your invaluable knowledge and good vibes.

And a posthumous thanks to Ludwig Van Beethoven for your opening 4 bars. 

This podcast is presented with loving care by the staff at Watchfire Music. If you liked what you heard, we got lots more where that came from. In the meantime, you can find the songs you just heard on watchfiremusic.com. There you can purchase the singles or albums and have access to all the lyrics. Also, there you will find all previous podcasts and future scheduling.

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