Happy birthday to me. Today is my birthday. How old am I? I had my first child at age 47. He just turned 8. Do the math.
Yes, I am old. My crow's feet have crow's feet. Mostly I am okay with it. I like myself. I like my family.
I. Love. This. Song.
This is probably one of the best songs ever written. Al Stewart is a poet and a storyteller as well as a fine musician. This song has some of the most intricate acoustic guitar you will find outside of the classical guitar style. I think the studio version is more haunting but I also love this live version (the only studio version I could find on Youtube adds some funky sound effects esp. at the beginning that don't add anything and, in fact, detract from the music).
I first heard this song in 1973 or 1974. My first thought was I needed to figure who this musician is. Then I heard another song "Nostradamus"... another great song. Whose song is it? Al Stewart. I became a fan immediately. I have seen him in concert about 3 times back when I lived in Seattle. The first time was a mostly acoustic concert. The next had much more orchestral backing and the last time was in a very intimate setting (he is going to be in Edmonds the end of January...wish I still lived in Seattle).
Here is "Roads to Moscow." It is the story of a Russian soldier in WWII. The words are haunting and the guitar evokes images of smoke and snow and desolate landscapes.
The following is one of his more recent songs, "Hanno the Navigator". Older, grayer, but he is still sounds great, is still writing songs that have real words that mean something and that tell a story. I still love him.
