Seasons of the Heart - and the complexities of our emotions

As you'll gather from the earlier post, I am an unashamed fan of John Denver.  Frankly I am puzzled by anyone who doesn't at least know or remember several of his best known songs - and those who raise their eyebrows when I wax lyrical about his lyrics, or sing his songs, or enthuse about his earth-loving people-hugging philosophy, I consider with much goodwill and sympathy as misguided souls!

The first album I ever bought was Rhymes and Reasons. The title song is about the loving and valuing of children as the source and focus of our wellbeing and the guarantee of our human future; the royalties were gifted to UNICEF in 1979. Then I bought the double album live concert, An Evening with John Denver, which I played till the vinyl was worn and I bought it again. And when vinyl was replaced by CD I bought it again and regularly play it in the car. Then Windsong was released and he moved to a different level of sound and developed from there material that expressed his deep protective love for the earth's environment, and long before environmental responsibility became politically acceptable or economically thinkable.

I still have a dozen vinyl LPs, a kind of chronology of his career. People differ on which is his best; even fans know that several albums took him as near mediocrity and inferior derivative material as someone of his talent could go. But Seasons of the Heart is the most complete and unified album he ever produced. Written out of his experience in the Far East it contains some of his most reflective, poignant and honest songs about human love and the complexities of human relationships, the mystery of the universe and human existence, and the joy and pain of human togetherness. The combination of emotionally frank lyrics and orchestral musical accompaniment gives it a depth of expression he previously achieved only in Windsong. I've just bought Seasons of the Heart on CD, and listening to it again it still has that emotional complexity, sincerity and inner knowing that gives weight and integrity to the greatest love songs. On one car journey north I listened to this album, then Brahms' violin concerto, some of The Best of James, and Abba Gold. A kind of musical ecumenicity......

Comments

[ang almond]

I love John Denver's songs too...I was beginning to think I was the only one left!