I remember sitting out on the playground on the last day of Elementary School. Summer vacation was a day away. Next year we would be in Jr. High. They threw us an ice cream social, and I reminisced with my buddy, Todd Johnson. We sat by a puddle, shaded by an oak tree. It had been a rainy year, so the puddle had been there forever -- allowing evolution to begin. Weird things were growing in it, to us they were sea monsters -- and amazing. Across the street was a turkey farm, and being really hot, the place reeked of wet feathers and bird crap. There was the muffled “gobble, gobble” from panting, angry turkeys.
It was the seventies and we dreamed of what the far off 21st century would be like. Had we really known what we were in for, we would have tossed ourselves face first into the muddy puddle and let the monsters eat us.
The other thing I remember from that last year of school was “Morning Has Broken.” I was in choir and it was one of the two songs we sang. The other was “Tie a Yellow Ribbon.” Even then I hated that song, but I loved “Morning Has Broken.” It was magical. Slides of flowers, rain and birds glowed on the screen as we sang it in the dark, sweltering gym. It still gives me chills to hear the song after all these years.
The idea that every morning is as holy and magical as the first morning is something I need to be reminded of. There are days I get in a black mood. I hear this song and think, “I’m alive. And that is a little miracle right there, dummy. Listen to a bird. Look at a flower and know it for what it is: a miracle. Life is a jewel. Enjoy that treasure everyday -- one day it will be gone.”
Not only do the lyrics moved me, but I love the way the piano part ripples like sunlight pouring through a thick canopy of leaves -- giving a speckled effect on the dark ground below. I recently heard Cat Steven’s (now Yusuf Islam) original demo of the old hymn and was struck by how empty if sounded; just Cat singing, accompanied by his guitar. The piano, in the final version of Cat’s hit, really did add something. It was played by “Yes” keyboard player Rick Wakeman. Cat Stevens had promised Rick ten pounds if he played a little something at the beginning middle and end of the song. Wakeman didn’t get credit on the album nor did he get the ten pounds. And, frankly, he’s still pissed.
All that doesn’t matter, it created one of the most beautiful, honestly uplifting songs I have ever heard. The fact that Cat screwed Rick doesn't take away from that. When I hear this song I am transported to a magical first holy morning, a blackbird waking, the first golden light of the sun, dew glistening upon an emerald blade of grass and Rick Wakeman, hunched up in the fetal position, crying like a baby. I glow and smile, knowing the mystery and magic of life. You see, I have always hated “Yes” and every dork in that lame, pretentious group. Yes, God is good. She sees the fall of every sparrow and hears the whining of every idiot.
“Morning Has Broken”
Words: Eleanor Farjeon
Music: traditional Gaelic tune known as "Bunessan"
Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word.
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven.
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning.
Born of the one light Eden saw play.
Praise with elation, praise every morning;
God's recreation of the new day.
Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word.
It was the seventies and we dreamed of what the far off 21st century would be like. Had we really known what we were in for, we would have tossed ourselves face first into the muddy puddle and let the monsters eat us.
The other thing I remember from that last year of school was “Morning Has Broken.” I was in choir and it was one of the two songs we sang. The other was “Tie a Yellow Ribbon.” Even then I hated that song, but I loved “Morning Has Broken.” It was magical. Slides of flowers, rain and birds glowed on the screen as we sang it in the dark, sweltering gym. It still gives me chills to hear the song after all these years.
The idea that every morning is as holy and magical as the first morning is something I need to be reminded of. There are days I get in a black mood. I hear this song and think, “I’m alive. And that is a little miracle right there, dummy. Listen to a bird. Look at a flower and know it for what it is: a miracle. Life is a jewel. Enjoy that treasure everyday -- one day it will be gone.”
Not only do the lyrics moved me, but I love the way the piano part ripples like sunlight pouring through a thick canopy of leaves -- giving a speckled effect on the dark ground below. I recently heard Cat Steven’s (now Yusuf Islam) original demo of the old hymn and was struck by how empty if sounded; just Cat singing, accompanied by his guitar. The piano, in the final version of Cat’s hit, really did add something. It was played by “Yes” keyboard player Rick Wakeman. Cat Stevens had promised Rick ten pounds if he played a little something at the beginning middle and end of the song. Wakeman didn’t get credit on the album nor did he get the ten pounds. And, frankly, he’s still pissed.
All that doesn’t matter, it created one of the most beautiful, honestly uplifting songs I have ever heard. The fact that Cat screwed Rick doesn't take away from that. When I hear this song I am transported to a magical first holy morning, a blackbird waking, the first golden light of the sun, dew glistening upon an emerald blade of grass and Rick Wakeman, hunched up in the fetal position, crying like a baby. I glow and smile, knowing the mystery and magic of life. You see, I have always hated “Yes” and every dork in that lame, pretentious group. Yes, God is good. She sees the fall of every sparrow and hears the whining of every idiot.
“Morning Has Broken”
Words: Eleanor Farjeon
Music: traditional Gaelic tune known as "Bunessan"
Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word.
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven.
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning.
Born of the one light Eden saw play.
Praise with elation, praise every morning;
God's recreation of the new day.
Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word.
