Riding Rhythm– At the West End Gallery
These things you keep
You’d better throw them away
You wanna turn your back
On your soulless days
Once you were tethered
And now you are free
Once you were tethered
Well now you are free
That was the river
This is the sea!
–This Is the Sea, The Waterboys, 1985
Don’t have much to say this morning but thought I would share a song that I came across this morning. It’s from the ageless Tom Jones and his version of a song from a Scottish band that I have featured here in the past, The Waterboys. This is a song from what is called their Big Music period in the early 1980’s, which is when I first began listening to their music. An interesting and influential group though not many folks here are aware of them now.
This song, This Is the Sea, is masterfully performed by Tom Jones here in a performance from 2021 when he was a mere 81 years of age. I am always fascinated by how he maintains that powerful voice, as well as how he manages to say relevant with his choice of material and his always interesting interpretations of these songs. This is different than the the Waterboys’ original but holds true to the integrity of the song while still making it his own.
As an artist who has went from being a younger artist to a now aging one, I find inspiration in his work from recent years even though I work in a much different medium. It reminds me that I always want to be pushing forward, to not be stagnant and relying on and restricted by those things I have done in the past. You got to push past the boundaries you put up for yourself. Set new challenges.
Because as the song says: that was the river, this is the sea.
Redtree Times 