Track 6

Hello,

Today I have been thinking about entire albums. You know those classics where you can start from track one and listen straight through the entire set without once wanting to skip a song, because every single one is just that good.

Ben Folds Five Whatever and Ever Amen is one. Sargent Pepper's Lonely Heart Club is another. Led Zeppelin IV, Blister in the Sun, Nevermind, Doc Watson's Southbound.

There's something special about discovering an album like this. It's like finding a buried treasure. Around my middle years in college I discovered the treasure that is Graceland. It influenced a significant portion of my life.

In 2000, when I decided to walk from Georgia to Virginia, Paul gave Adam and I the mantra, "Who am I to blow against the wind?" It was actually Adam who reminded me today about Graceland. He said, "I had two tapes with me while we were hiking, Graceland and Bob Marley Legend. Two albums one could listen to over and over and never get tired of. I particularly remember hiking and you singing "He sees angels in the architecture Spinning in infinity He says Amen! and Hallelujah!" From call me Al. Maybe start there. Love you guys Excited to see the list expand."

There was also a summer at ReCreation where Graceland was on a bit of a loop every night in the kitchen.

Somewhere on this road Noble will hear Graceland from start to finish, today I selected Under African Skies

6. Under African Skies                             Paul Simon

Joseph’s face was black as night
The pale yellow moon shown in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the Southern Hemisphere
And he walked his days
Under African Skies

This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain

In early memory
Mission music
Was ringing ‘round my nursery door
I said, “Take this child, Lord
From Tucson, Arizona
Give her the wings to fly through harmony

And she won’t bother you no more”

There is so much strength in this song. The kick drum is like a heart beat steady and true and the lyrics paint a clear picture in my mind. I hope that Noble will know the powerful pulsing of love in the vein and I dream that he will be one with the roots of rhythm. The wings to fly through harmony would be magic.

He was laying on his mother's chest as the song began and as you can see, clearly he understood the gravity of this one.

Track 6.

Thank you Adam, we love you guys too.