Life sure is something isn’t it? I imagine, many of you who’ve experienced a great loss in their life (or are experiencing another one, as I am, at the time of this writing) can understand the course of feelings one goes through. They’re complicated. You can call it a certain numbness. Bouts of intense heartache, anger, transition to those of extreme focus, resolve, and dissolve into brief bouts of withdrawal and malaise. Periods of deep nostalgia feed into many sleepless nights. What you try to do is find a positive outlet to explore this complicated world of love and loss. To cope, in such a simple term. To find a way forward. It’s something I tried to comprehend through my latest Digging Deep mix for LYL Radio.
Since I was a child, I think, I’ve felt music has been the perfect vessel to understand and empathize with others. So, when I’m able to share what I like with others, and describe the “why” of it, it’s (in some way) my way of expressing my self to the “self” of others. In essence, using music to form important invisible connections to those we’ve yet to meet.
On this mix, a huge inspiration came from Max Meazza’s sublime, early work for the Solid Air Record label – whom I’ll circle back to (fate permitting, in the future). Specifically, the mix’s opening track that I borrow the title from.
“Complicated Life” was written in 1986 as a touching tribute to the late, great Nick Drake at a time Nick was, seemingly, quite forgotten. In atmosphere, music, and in plain-sung words Max captured perfectly the reason many people were touched by Nick’s music and life. Rather than deify the man, his humanity was understood as it was – complicated.
And I thought this beatific sentiment, this beatific expression, ever-present in Max’s music and in that of others, could be of use to anyone who (heaven forbid) is going through a similar trying time. Sometimes who we love and miss are those whose life itself contained such multitudes. It seems, the “art of living” stems directly from the worth ever-present in the root word found in our vocabulary for complicated, comfort, and comprehension.
While nothing lasts forever. Imperfection is perfection. In the end, experiencing loss meant you actually had something or someone to value. It’s that value of love’s perfect mix that I hope is something you can easily remember, at least, take with you for the next hour…
Complicated Life
Tracklist:
Max Meazza – Complicated Life
Antonello Salinas & Nana Vasconcelos – Lester
Steve Beresford His Piano & Orchestra – I Was There
Hidefumi Toki (土岐英史) – Magic In The Night
Lucio Dalla & Gianni Morandi – Cuori Di Gesu
Minox – Purgatoryo
Javier Zuazu – Silencio Blanco
Botany 5 – Shadows And Dreams
Alice – Cieli Del Nord
Chika Ueda (上田知華) – ガラスのマリアージュ
Jay H. Alanski – Where I’ll Be With You
Yasuko Agawa (阿川泰子) – It’s Easy To Remember
…and all that jazz.
Editor’s note: Cover image in post and other images generated by Dall-E 2 AI with prompts by author. “Cover” image reimagined by author for post.
One response
I’ve been subscribed to your Youtube channel for a while but never knew you had a website. Your write-ups are so informative! Will be spending hours reading through them.