I have been a Who fan since my teens. Pete Townshend holds a special place in my heart. My vinyl collection is quite impressive and I make sure to run my cassettes so they don’t snap. What was it about his music that hit me at my soul’s core? I think it was that note…
Pure and Easy comes off their 1974 album Odds ‘n’ Sods. “There once was a note, pure and easy, playing so free like a breath rippling by. The note is eternal, I hear it, it sees me. Forever we blend as forever we die.” Roger Daltrey repeatedly belts out the last line to finish it off, “There once was a note, listen!” Well, I wasn’t spiritually awake back in the ‘70’s when I first heard this song. It hit me, though, yet I didn’t know why. I saw it as a concrete anthem to music and all of its permutations.
Notes blend together to make a song. They are singularly perfect before they meet their neighbors on either side of the staff. Rock and roll is born out of that one note rippling by. I guess it was perfect to sing songs and find meanings without having a spiritual perspective on life. A satisfied rocker, I joined the band and refused to see the empty glass. (wink)
This rocker woke up. After 30 years of turning up the volume, I began reinterpreting lyrics. I saw the bigger picture. Many concepts stood as greater symbols of Unity Consciousness – that we are all One. What a mindblow to return to albums and find a fresh face in them!
It’s that note, I tell ya. It is beyond measure (no pun intended). Here’s more of Pete’s lyrics to this song: “I listened and I heard music in a word.” Can I just take you along and now loosely quote John 1:1? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Do I have to spell this out for you? (smile) That note, so pure and easy… It always was and always will be. We know this inherently, but the guitar smashing possibly distracts and confuses us. Sit quietly and get into a heart space that moves you clear and center to that note. You are that note. We are that note, tied together by Love dancing with abandon. Can you hear the music? Is it in (your) head, or in (your) heart? (Quadrophenia reference, guys.) When you find that place, that overwhelming Knowing that you are Love – the Word – the Note, the rafters knock. (Again, Quadro.)
Find your songs you have cherished and play them again. Listen with a third ear. The lyrics have not changed, yet you have. Is the message still the same? I doubt it.
It is so powerful to feel newfound Joy. Maybe you will stumble upon a song that shifts you higher. (Sly just sang in my ear, “Let me take you higher!”) I write this Blog because I encourage you to revisit what you once found. A revelation might be around the corner. WHO knows?
There once was a note, listen.
Love reign o’er you,
~Joanie
