Of Gods And Men

Description

Of Gods and Men by Lyndon Morgans is his first album under his own name. He previously released eight albums with Karl Woodward and Dave Paterson under the Songdog name. Morgans songs are a musical version of Diane Arbus photographs. They create word stark word snapshots like in The Queen Of The Deal Shes all chipped nail polish and cheap perfume, shell pull a string of coloured flags from her coat, and capture moments in a life of music, love, mistake, and regret, Well be Jean-Paul and Simone drinking brandy and vermouth, and youll tell me Im handsome, it dont have to be the truth. You can be as shameless as you want to be, your scars are like lines of poetry to me, Mabel.(Love Song for Mabel)

And these are love songs, but not youthful hymns to infatuation. They are about real life, with all its awe and joy, longing, lust, and loss. Songs in the style of Leonard Cohen; recognizing that authentic love continues even beyond togetherness; but Im hooked on you, my darling, and I hate that were apart, Christ, I hate it. (A Normal Life), And songs of the love for people. The album is a litany of secular saints; Shirley, hot as twig of the burning bush (of Gods and Men), Mabel, Iris, Ophelia, Pearl, Moria with the rosebud lips, Peggy She reckons all will be well in the end and if not, then its not the end., and Rosalyn, And like the characters of Ken Keseys Sometimes A Great Notion, each one comes alive no matter how brief their appearance.

And these are songs; poetry that needs music. Words that require harmony and melody to illuminate them. This is Allen Ginsberg putting the music back into Blake. The music lifts the listener out of moments of loneliness and longing, making the pain bearable and providing the means to continue in spite of experience. And it is very good music. Along with Morgans, the musicians include long-time Songdog member, Karl Woodward, who provides the Mellotron, Mathew Conner on drums, backing vocalist Colleen McCarthy and producer Alex Franklinos on bass. Together they weave sounds around Morgans words in a way the adds to their emotional depth.

There are songs of lost opportunities as in I Am My Own Worst Enemy, but in acknowledging them there is the hope that there will be other chances. Within the pain there are flashes of celebratory memory that reminds us that as long as one is alive there is possibility, but if we felt like being happy, couldnt we just be it? (Love Song for Mabel)

You only write these songs if you paid attention while living. Morgans celebrates life, having experienced it in all its pain and joy. So, listen and enjoy it for as Morgans sings in Little Lights We go out so quick, us little lights, dont you think, like a match in a storm?