Art and Earth

Living with Goldilocks (Poem by Umar)

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:30:00 -0400

Say what you will,We are mere biological tubes In one end and out the other Goes the dead...

Club Christ (Poem by John Kimball)

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:22:00 -0400

There you sit staring at the god in the bottom of your glass smiling smiles too obvious to...

For My 37th Birthday (Poem by D. W. Moody)

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:31:00 -0400

Tires drone evening song on a road beside miles of western silhouettes. A thousand...

Schrödinger’s Soul (Poem by Rakuli)

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:02:00 -0400

In a three-windowed boxThe door unlockedOne soul existsIn a darkened cornerEyes to the wallOne...

A Flower's Gift (Poem by Audrey Howitt)

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:35:00 -0400

Whither marks the passing of this day? Its limned edges folding in upon themselves, A golden...

So I Said I Am Ezra (Poem by A.R. Ammons)

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 16:37:45 -0400

So I said I am Ezraand the wind whipped my throatgaming for the sounds of my voice I listened...

Magical Dancing (Poem by Craig Lawson)

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:55:00 -0400

Safe within aurora, far from the stars,Uncanny evocations of cool lightMove in their...

WHAT A GORGEOUS MUSIC VIDEO (“100 YEARS”) REVEALS...

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:07:00 -0400

WHAT A GORGEOUS MUSIC VIDEO (“100 YEARS”) REVEALS ABOUT MOVIE-MAKING

Back in some other lifetime I was employed as a professional film reviewer. I’ve searched for a way to share what I learned without giving a pedantic lecture or presenting a long series of film clips. As soon as I saw this lovely 2004 music video, I realized that I had everything I need. All the important elements of film are contained within.

This beautiful broad-brush piece of art is probably the best and most universal music video I have seen. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find it on any of the “Best Music Videos” compilations I checked. It should have received a lot more attention than it did.

The lyrics (below) form a sort internal dialog, describing the narrator’s thoughts and feelings at six different ages ranging from 15 to 99. But this is clearly a universal, not a personal, voyage.

The words describe a progression similar to Shakespeare’s seven stages of man: first love, marriage, parenting, a middle-age crisis, old age, and death (symbolized by the empty piano stool in the last shot).

The face, gender, and ethnicity of the characters change constantly. One person (narrator and singer-songwriter John Ondrasik) seems to be playing everyman, containing all the other characters within him.

You may notice that, although this film was shot in color, the palette is very muted and controlled. It’s composed mostly of soft blues and browns— “earth tones” or “natural” colors. When color is muted like this it takes a back seat, allowing other cinematic elements to assume center stage.

The setting here is pure earth, sun and sky. The video declares early on, by coloring everything similarly (including the characters) that it will have a universal message. All the world is a stage.

Even the sun plays its part in the background, appearing low in the sky (a morning sun) at the beginning, but nearly to its zenith at the film’s climax, which happens around 3:00 minutes in. It flashes obligingly over the narrator’s shoulder when he yearns for “just another moment.”

This video is packed full of triangular images, which form its main visual motif (theme). The setting includes mountains, the angles of the branches attached to the tree, and the framing of the players as seen through the piano. The triangle motif (along with the fact that one of the characters climbs the tree) make it clear that this is a song about progression and ascension.

The depiction of the middle-age crisis is sublime. As the narrator realizes he is no longer young, the character representing his younger self falls out of the tree with a silent crash, and the camera slowly trails over storm-broken branches littering the ground. According to the lyrics, wisdom and “moving on” follow soon after.

I find this video’s’s message particularly touching. We are not really separate, but share a collective human consciousness and life story. We inhabit this worldly stage together. And when we recall the highlights of our life or have a near-death experience, all of our lifetime is contracted to fit within a few moments. The time and space separating us is an illusion.

The earth-toned setting, progressive lighting, brief plot, dialog (song lyrics), images of climbing, and citizen-of-the world characters come together beautifully to deliver a universal message. Although our lifespans today are the longest humans have ever known, it still seems we have too little time to live and too much to experience and learn.

Footnote: Sometimes comparison is the best way to see the quality of a film. The story here is rendered largely in symbolic terms, giving it a universal message. Another professional video of this song has been produced, but the interpretation is literal rather than symbolic. You can see it here. Notice how a literal interpretation narrows the video to a particular place, time, and culture.

*******************************************************************************************

100 Years lyrics:

I‘m 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I’m just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are

I’m 22 for a moment
And she feels better than ever
And we’re on fire
Making our way back from Mars

15 there’s still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
15, there’s never a wish better than this
When you only got a hundred years to live

I’m 33 for a moment
Still the man, but you see I’m a “they”
A kid on the way, babe.
A family on my mind

I’m 45 for a moment
The sea is high
And I’m heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of my life

15 there’s still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose yourself
Within a morning star

15 I’m all right with you
15, there’s never a wish better than this
When you only got a hundred years to live

Half time goes by
Suddenly you’re wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We’re moving on…

I’m 99 for a moment
And time for just another moment
And I’m just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are

15 there’s still time for you
22 I feel her too
33 you’re on your way
Every day’s a new day…

15 there’s still time for you
Time to buy and time to choose
Hey 15, there’s never a wish better than this
When you only got a hundred years to live

(100 Years written and performed by Five for Fighting).

Wabi Sabi (Short Story by Autumn Dragonfly)

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 23:42:00 -0400

I miss you when we sat as royalty on top of the stonewalls that have taken a lifetime to build....

To the First Snow of My Last Winter (Poem by John Kimball II)

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 22:21:00 -0400

You fell, frozen; living static, turning a night which was almost too clear into poor reception on...

Weeds (Poem by Umar)

Fri, 31 May 2013 15:30:00 -0400

Have you ever witnessed the rude beauty of weeds? Dark green savages, lying low stillbrazenly...

Can You Feel It? (Poem by RaisetheCurve)

Tue, 28 May 2013 15:49:00 -0400

I’ve always enviedcertain trees with their perfect leaves,like hands,that shakethe morning...

MUSIC FOR MEMORIAL DAY (Click on arrow above to play...

Mon, 27 May 2013 12:45:00 -0400

MUSIC FOR MEMORIAL DAY (Click on arrow above to play song):

Gentle Soldier of My Soul

Hey-yah

My love has gone all upon the crimson trail
His drum at dawn beating brimstone through the veil
Clear light through smoke and ash
And balmy seas, where breakers crash and roll

Gentle soldier of my soul

Hey-yah

He lays me down in his garden growin’ bed
He weaves a crown, twigs and feathers for my head
He sings the fields awake
And folds me in the love that makes me whole

Gentle soldier of my soul

Hey-yah

When I have passed through the forest of my trails
And stand at last where the shadows run for miles
We’ll ride on ponies fine
With painted shields through fields of shining gold

Gentle soldier of my soul

Hey-yah

******************************************************************************************

Composed and performed by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammar

Image: Knight by John Williams Waterhouse

God Sweats (Poem by John Kimball II)

Sun, 26 May 2013 12:06:00 -0400

I am salt they are skin smoke and mirrors corrupted by the dance of the dispossessed I am...

The Last Drop Cafe (Short Story by Magi)

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:27:00 -0400

PART ONE: SKINNY WHITE FLAT Except for me leaning back in a chair, the café’s outdoor tables were...

Ode to a Happy Man (Poem by Corinna Parr)

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:21:00 -0400

Yoursis peaceful strength;I see you settled,ankle perched on knee,head bowedwith the weightof...

Ghost of Earth Future (Poem)

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:38:00 -0400

As the water table rises you seep upward a chilly ghost levitating fluid limbs spread as the sun...

Waves (A Lesson in Poetic Sibilance by Albert Ahearn)

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:22:00 -0400

Clear undulating waves play tag with an omnipresent seashore; each recurring breaker...

Conch (Poem by Albert Ahearn)

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:50:00 -0400

A seashell was the greatest find for an eight year old at the time. A conch shell was the most...

The Salt Witch (Poem Excerpt by Audrey Howitt)

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:44:00 -0400

I am a child of brine and sea water, a witch born in the tidal push. A soft foam gathers at my...