Dawn’s Return— Included in Passages at Principle Gallery
I met a young man on the skeleton coast
He was out of his feet and pale as a ghost
I asked him his name – he said Lazarus, man
I’ve come to your country from a faraway land
I can’t quite remember the last time I was on shore
Coulda been twelve years – it coulda been more
But I’ve seen tribulation and it staggered my mind
And I just don’t remember what I came here to find
It’s wind on the ocean, rain on the land
Three drops of water and one grain of sand
I’ll tell you the story as quick as I can
I’ve got nothing but time, I’m Lazarus Man
— Terry Callier, Lazarus Man
I was looking for a song to accompany the new smaller painting at the top, Dawn’s Return, which is part of my current show at the Principle Gallery and came across a song and an artist with which I was not acquainted.
The song was Lazarus Man and the artist was Terry Callier.
I first heard the song as performed by Tom Jones in a recent video and he, of course, blasted it with his voice’s big sound. Good stuff, good enough to make me want to see where the song originated. That’s where I first came across Terry Callier.
Callier had an interesting career that didn’t follow the usual arc. In the short time it took to look him up this morning, I have seen him described as a jazz guitarist, a folk singer, a psychedelic jazz artist, soul singer, and a mystic. He had a small degree of recognition in the 60’s and 70’s then dropped out of sight for nearly 20 years.
Like the Lazarus Man of his song, his career was resurrected after several musical groups discovered his early work and integrated it in their works. The spotlight found him once more and he took advantage, releasing a new album, Timepeace, in 1998. It garnered some attention and was given the United Nations’ Time For Peace award for outstanding artistic achievement contributing to world peace.
He spent the rest of life, until his death from cancer at the age of 67 in 2012, recording and touring around the globe. He was the Lazarus Man.
I have liked everything of his I have heard this morning and regret not having taken notice of him earlier. Below is a performance of Lazarus Man from Terry Callier as well as the Tom Jones version. Though sonically different, the song’s power remains the same.
Good stuff. Worth a listen.
Redtree Times 