Harry / Piece This Star Together
Hi.
It’s been a huge week. No new paintings to show. However..
I now have an ongoing exhibition at a new shop, in Mt Eliza. Here’s some pics.
(how about listening to some piano music as you browse?)
This us Tony. He’s an outstanding art installer. He also happens to be my Dad’s long lost cousin (see this recent post: synchronicty). Great to have spent some time this afternoon with Tony, as he went about his work (thanks, Tony).
if you’re passing through Mt Eliza, you can have a look. Barbercuts, Ranelagh Drive, Mt Eliza – and get a great hair cut (thanks for offering your wall space, Maxine!).
Today I was listening to this week’s podcast, reviewing my work as I did the dishes.
I smiled to myself just now. That’s something Harry, (my maternal grandfather) did frequently: the dishes. And the gardening, and listening to the horse racing on a Saturday ( this appeared to be his one leisure time activity – he was a lucky bloke occasionally.. horses and all that. But he only ‘played’ with small amounts. No big risks as far as I know).
I mention this in the podcast episode of Piece This Star Together. The title and key line of this song came from a phrase Harry passed on to my mother, who, in turn, passed it on to me ‘We all have a piece of the same star inside us. We need to piece them together’
A few things there:
The importance of acknowledging and engaging with our elders.
Keeping your ears open as a youngster, to catch the wisdom as it comes through.
i’ve just remembered a book I read called ‘Descendants’, that drew attention to the wisdom of considering 2 generations before – and 2 generations from now – before action is taken.
We are all interconnected.
So Harry gave me the phrase which I used to ‘write backwards from’ to compose a song (which, on reflection, I’m very happy with. I composed it in 1998.) . Thanks again, Harry.
You can hear the song and hear more about how it was composed and how the demo was recorded here:
Song and A Chat Podcast
Episode #205 Piece This Star Together
(song starts at 4.45).
I find it endlessly fascinating, thinking about where a song might come from. In this case, Piece This Star Together came from something my grandfather, Harry, said.
To be creative, you have to believe you can. The key is to have fun and see where the moment takes you. This is ‘being in the moment’ (you can hear this in action as I wing a melody and chords of a new tune on this episode).
This is the sort of feeling I had as I let my hands wander on the keys in 1998, As I looked a the lyrics of Piece This Star and composed the music.
I had in mind a sort of ‘up’ acoustic guitar driven band song. It can be a tricky thing to come up with on the piano, but if I get a feeling to go down a certain track along the creative way, I don’t block the idea.
I’m glad I didn’t block it. Piece This Star Together is an up, happy song.
The demo on this episode was 1 of 14 songs, which I recorded with Paul Dredge and Earl Pollard, in Earl’s garage, in NZ, one afternoon in 1999 read more/ listen
When Harry did the dishes, gardened or when he was driving (there was a humorous troll doll in a white nappy that hung from one of the old knobs on the dashboard. Harry used to tell me it was grandma, as he winked and smiled, both thumbs loosely on the bottom of the steering wheel – humour like that makes the path all a little easier, doesn’t it? Diffusing tension , nerves and all that) any way , or whatever Harry was up to, he was always whistling. Or that’s how it seemed to me.
But Harry didn’t whistle in a ‘look at moi‘ way. Nope. He whistled quietly to himself, really. I’d say it was Harry’s way of lifting his mood, making light of all that was around him – be it a huge pile of dishes – (which became much larger for 6 months, when his daughter came home to live again, unexpectedly – with 4 young kids in tow – but that’s a whole ‘nother story..) or when he was considering a whole lot of weeds to clear from the beans.
(I’m also thinking about the 7 dwarfs here, too)…wisdom. Whistle while you work… how beautiful were the background paintings of that movie – ‘Disney’s Folly‘ as it was once called, due to the huge undertaking and associated costs of Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs. Talk about a risk. Thank goodness Disney had the self belief to see this masterpiece through. It includes what I expect is the longest and most entertaining house cleaning scene in the history of the movies. Check it out here Whistle while you work on youtube …and how about that incredible singing and the orchestration? All live players in the studio. No computers then…incredible achievement.
One of Harry’s 8 note whistled phrases stayed with me and became the repeated motif for this piece:
Disney inspired me to draw cartoons – like this one (you can draw it easily with me right now, if you like. It’s easy and fun – plus you get a few minutes of gentle piano as well. Go on, give it a go!).
All this brings to mind: as an adult, I think we have a responsibility to live life as well as we can – there are always young eyes watching and learning. I do my best – and constantly make mistakes. I try to learn from them.
As I teach, I share my art and music freely and do my utmost to keep the lessons fun. It’s the best way to learn. And we might as well enjoy ourselves as we work, right?
Harry was the photographer of the family …
…then, in turn, the photographer became my mother , who photographed my family’s big moments and small – the keeper & passer – on of memories. The bigger picture of the family story, in conjunction with what was happening around us in the world at the time.
(Mum’s cat’s kittens).
So I learned from this – and this is pretty much what I’m doing as I go along, I suppose – for my children, perhaps for their children, for me and for anyone who might be interested in the parts of the story I’m sharing publicly. So, here’s my cats. Outside, for (my) coffee at breakfast time, this week. it’s the way we start the day… and it’s good (local laws: no cats outside without a harness).
I hope sharing a bit more about me on this blog and podcast is bringing to light what has shaped me as a person, the events that have pushed me on to live the life of an artist and songwriter.
I’ve always loved animals. I suppose they were a way of bringing nature into the house. Living in town, I always longed to be out in the country as a youngster. I still do, now.
I just sat down at the piano to have a quick sing and a play – a break from writing. On a whim, I picked Imagine. It fascinated me that I should have picked this piece, given what I’m writing abut. it seems memories have their own way of emerging and being heard. Timespans are strange: I remember sitting in Harry (and Hilda’s) kitchen, being gobsmacked, the first time I heard John Lennon’s timeless Imagine on the transistor radio. I was about 6 at the time.
So I just enjoyed playing the intro and singing a verse or two for the fun of it..and now, I’ve just remembered this video – here’s me playing the piece a few years ago:
I’ll get back into making videos for Youtube again, later this year – with the 5 upcoming albums – they’ll require some videos!
John Lennon’s death was tragic. A brilliant, brilliant artist. I wonder how much more he might have given us, if he’d had the chance.
I think one life is no more important than another. We are all interconnected if we give ourselves a few moments with any stranger there’ll be points of common interest and connection. Not to mention the billions of tiny ‘whatever’s they’re called’ which makes up the air we share.
I had a long conversation with (well, more accurately, I listened for a long time to) a passer by at the market, this week. She was an older person, loved the arts – particularly liked my book illustrations (in a cartoon style). Her family history was fascinating to hear and I could tell she could do with a listener. I had the time. Everyone’s got a story to tell, everyone’s got a voice ( I mention this on my podcast episode too. I think the arts are for anyone who feels inclined. It’s certainly not an exclusive thing).
So thanks to you, Harry. Your strength of spirit lives on through my work.
Fascinating how much is passed on in the genes – and otherwise (big subject)… more about that whistling:
As I teach and wander the primary school looking for my next piano student’s class, I often semi-absently whistle. ‘Old man-ish’? Perhaps. But I like to think it’s keeping my spirit free by giving ‘it’ a voice. Also, when I’ve whistled from that special place inside, it’s amazing how many nice melodies have come through me when I’ve been in this state of mind and just whistled… like this one:
(that’s my now grown up daughter’s art work. It was done at in her preschool days. I think it’s brilliant. She wrote the word ‘Heven’ on the bus (hence the album name). Topical. From the mouths of babes, down through the years…
I really like this song. Harry used to like songs with a gentle swung beat, like this one.
LAY YOUR BURDEN DOWN FOR A WHILE
PICK UP YOUR SPIRIT, PUT ON A SMILE…
(you can read the rest of the lyrics (also topical), here – that’s another great thing about bandcamp platform.
I’ve just remembered 2 other songs – H and H’s fav : Let The rest Of The World go By
and
Smile by Charlie Chaplin (some consider it his masterpiece) has just come to mind. Harry liked this one, I think. It was featured in the movie Modern Times.
Which brings to mind this modern masterpiece by Bob Dylan Modern Times.
I love how all the art and music – ever – is interrelated.
‘Be free, Pete’, were the words someone spoke to me in my 20s when I most needed to hear them. So that’s what I’ve aimed for, for all those years since – and that’s how I still aim to be now. I think the upcoming ‘archive album’ The Patient hum was my declaration of how I perceived the world, my place in it, looking back. Piece This Star Together is on it. I did press 100 CDs at the time. I’ve since rerecorded the vocal. A quick remix and I’ll put the album online – soon. You’ll hear about it here, of course.
So I share what I create to do my bit at making the world a little more connected, in a good way. That’s my thinking, with this whole online thing.
I had a whole other blog post written to share this week, but I’ll save it til next week now. I think.
I’d written about whole lot of stuff I’m up to…it can wait.
Ok. I hope you’re having a great week – and I hope you’re finding some personal freedom each day. Just a few conscious slow breathes counts… and I’m grateful for each one I take.
Here’s to Harry.
Pete.
(This is a picture of one of the frogs who lives outside my studio window. You can hear him calling out on my podcast recordings).
PS here’s the lyrics to the song on this week’s podcast episode.
Piece This Star Together. Words & Music by P.Pascoe
There’s a feeling you can have
Anytime at all
A feeling you may know’ after a fall
A piece of a star, planted inside us
One by one, we’re feeling the pull, oh yeah.
*
If you choose to leave behind
The anger, the guilt, the blame, the judging
Follow the breeze, let nature remind you:
we’re all as one
*
We need to piece this star together,
A world wide song
Piece this star together
Find your own peace
Then help your friends along.
*
Healing is happening all around the world
A chance to avoid disasters foretold.
If enough love is given wisely,
And as freely as a child, yeah,
We’ll have the chance to make the change
and begin to rebuild
*
Ahh our world is healing
Ahh memories are healing.