Pinprick holes in a colourless sky
Let insipid figures of light pass by
The mighty light of ten thousand suns
Challenges infinity and is soon gone
Night time, to some a brief interlude
To others the fear of solitude

Brave Helios, wake up your steeds
Bring the warmth the countryside needs

That is the reading that opens Side One. Formed in 1964 in Birmingham, England, they progressed through the blues as cover artists to be one of the 1st prog-rock bands, though in those days, it was called art rock, or, my preference, symphonic rock. They went through extensive member changes, morphing into the sound many of us recognize today. These core members shared the same ethics of musicianship, and remained married to their 1st wives/girlfriends. Hmmmmm. They wrote songs as tributes to those partners and their children. Not sex violence and drugs. Well, maybe a few drugs back in the day!! Their 1st album, recognizable as their unique style was "Days of Future Passed". The liner notes say, "Here, where emotion and creativity blend - where poetry, the beat group and the symphony orchestra feed on each other's inspiration - the Moodys have chosen to paint their picture of everyman's day, which takes nothing from the nostalgia for the past and adds nothing to the probabilities of the future." Whew, weren't we ambitious. It was one of the 1st concept or song cycle albums. Actually, even more ambitious than that it mirrored a much earlier, non-musical work. So, what is that work?? I'll be back with clues, if you need them!!

Nancy.

Annette

Glad your back is feeling better. Absolutely no fun to have back pain. I am thinking of trying yoga, but will probably have to opt for the free shows on cable rather than a class I have to pay for since salary is again frozen for the coming sachool year. Getting tired of that happening every year.

Cynthia

Nancy.

Thanks Bobbie, I was waiting for you to chime in before I put more clues out.

May I say that it was a novel idea about a Greek odyssey?? That actually works, in a not too oblique manner!!

Nancy.

Cynthia

Nancy.

TM

Breathe deep the gathering gloom
Watch lights fade from every room
Bedsitter people look back and lament
Another day's useless energy spent

Impassioned lovers wrestle as one
Lonely man cries for love and has none
New mother picks up and suckles her son
Senior citizens wish they were young

Cold hearted orb that rules the night
Removes the colours from our sight
Red is grey and yellow, white
But we decide which is right
And which is an illusion

And so the album comes to a close, as does the day of our question. Hard to imagine, but Justin Hayward was only 19-years-old when he wrote Nights in White Satin. Annette - I attached a superb concert below. It's a little weird, as the music does get a bit out of sync...They're backed by the World Festival Orchestra. Only 1st half is good - 2nd half is a repeat of the 1st without music(?). Seeing these guys live, preferably with an Orchestra is definitely on my bucket list!!!

Nancy.

TM

I recently saw this concert on our local PBS channel as part of their pledge drive. Some songs I knew and others were not familiar. I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks for the link.

Good question. Great album. Thanks, Nancy. Hope everyone has a marvelous week. I am afraid I need to return to reality. *sigh*

Cynthia

Annette

TM

Yes, James Joyce's Ulysses it is!! It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach in February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature, it has been called "a demonstration and summation of the entire movement". "Before Joyce, no writer of fiction had so foregrounded the process of thinking." Ulysses chronicles the passage of Leopold Bloom through Dublin during an ordinary day, 16 June 1904 (the day of Joyce's first date with his future wife, Nora Barnacle). The title alludes to Odysseus (Latinised into Ulysses), the hero of Homer's Odyssey, and establishes a series of parallels between characters and events in Homer's poem and Joyce's novel (e.g., the correspondence of Leopold Bloom to Odysseus, Molly Bloom to Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus to Telemachus). Joyce fans worldwide now celebrate 16 June as Bloomsday. Cyn, you'll love this: it uses 'stream of consioucness' narrative. It was initially banned in the UK as obscenity. It was also banned in the US for a brief time by the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. Although Ulysses was never banned in Ireland, neither was it available there. So, there you go: from the airport code for Toronto to the Moody Blues to James Joyce: stream of conciousness indeed.
So, for Bobbie and TM

- you just have to follow the stream, sometimes!!

Thanks for playing - see you next week!!

Nancy.

TM