Daryl Hall: Sacred Songs

Daryl Hall was best known for being in Hall and Oates, a classic eighties pop'n'soul duo that contained one man who looked like Freddie Mercury and another man who looked Princess Diana.

Relatively few people know about his collaborations with Robert Fripp. the guitarist best known as the leader of King Crimson, and whose particularly English weirdness is almost impossible to describe, but summed up very well by the phrase "happily married to Toyah Wilcox", which indeed he is.

I used to have this album on cassette; I wore the tape out, but then I found it on CD when I went to San Francisco. It stands the test of time, as they say.

I'm a bit disappointed to have found out that the idea for 'Without Tears' was actually taken from a book called 'Magick Without Tears' by Aleister Crowley. I'm not a fan of the occult. I liked the song because it was all about emotions, and being articulate about emotions. Even today, when I cry about all kinds of things, I care very much about being able to talk.

Without Tears

Too much time is wasted on the world
Too much time is wasted on you, girl
Indifferent or cold
A dragged-up scene from an old dream
Does it surprise you where those feelings can go?

Too much power is wasted on the wrong words
Too much power is wasted on the words
And if there's one thing I've learned through the years
It's how to pour my heart out without tears
Without tears.

Earth magic

Looking for the lines
But never knowing that stream
Ley line the spring that's always flowing
Spirals up and down then reverse direction
Don't you wonder where the energy goes?

Too many secrets have been told this way
Too many secrets have been given away
But if there's one thing I've learned through the years
It's how to pour my heart out without tears
Without tears

Earth magic

DARYL HALL

Grace

Hugh McLeod, the cartoonist who drew "Love Begets Love" just sent me a wonderful quote about Jeff Buckley.

I remember the late, great Jeff Buckley describing "Grace" as "the idea of your own mortality not being that bad, once you've found True Love."

I thought that was worth passing on.

Hugh sells prints of his cartoons from his website at http://www.gapingvoid.com Pay him a visit and spend a little money.

Mood Swings

80%

20%

Twenty Ten

I took a long holiday over Christmas and New Year, and went to stay with friends. It was the right thing to do, because I was physically and emotionally tired, and as soon as I got on the train to London I began to feel myself unfolding.

2009 was a moderately good year for me, but I feel very glad the first decade of the century is over. (Apologies to anyone who counts from one and not zero.) It was a hard decade for me, including the death of a child, the end of a marriage and, very nearly, the loss of my whole self.

We live and learn. And we love one another, the best we can.

Happy New Current Year, everybody.

Writ by his own hand this day,
St. Dwynwen's Day,
in the Year of Our Lord Ten Past Eight