Pastoral. For a long time we’ve thought of that simply as pastures, poetry about streams and paintings of lush, lime green grass. Cows. Works by Virgil. A certain longing for the countryside. Shepherds. Hills rather than towns.
Yes all of that is pastoral, but the notion runs deeper.
Pastoral is about a certain longing, but not necessarily for the country. It’s about a longing for space – maybe internal, maybe external, maybe both – a patch of sky among the bricks and mortar. The space of quiet to form our thoughts, to articulate our own imaginations. The space to be unfettered, free of our projected selves, our images. The notion of pastoral is as much a yearning for weightlessness as it is about clear, cool streams in the meadow. It’s a yearning for the clear, cool streams of our internal sensibilities. It’s about truth and honesty and what endures. It’s pre-war not pre-fab. It’s as much about a lack of grittiness among much grit as it is about anything else. We all want to see the stars, even on a dark night of the soul or a light polluted evening among the urban thicket. Tilt your head, close your eyes. The stars are there, forming the great constellations. These songs might help you find them:
-1-
“Where We Go”
Seapony
Go With Me
-2-
“Waitin’ for a Train”
Jimmie Rodgers
Waitin’ for a Train
-3-
“Astral Weeks”
Van Morrison
Astral Weeks
-4-
“On This Side”
Tiny Vipers
Hands Across the Void
-5-
“Lay My Love” (Live)
Poi Dog Pondering
Liquid White Light (Live)
-6-
“America”
Simon & Garfunkel
The Best of Simon & Garfunkel
-7-
“No Nostalgia”
AgesandAges
Alright You Restless
-8-
“England”
The National
High Violet
-9-
“Westbound”
Melissa Ferrick
The Other Side
-10-
“Stars Fell on Alabama” (1957 Stereo Version)
Billie Holiday
Songs for Distingué Lovers
-11-
“Open Air”
Robert Deeble
Earthside Down
-12-
“Wildwood Flower”
The Carter Family
RCA Country Legends: The Carter Family
-13-
“Lost Coastlines”
Okkervil River
The Stand Ins
-14-
“I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town”
Ruth Brown
Ms. B’s Blues: Essential Recordings
-15-
“sparrow” (outro)
safe words
hollow leg
