Sites to “Pinder”…These are a few of my favorite links…
peterrussell.com
jcf.org
enterprisemission.com
hiddenmeanings.com
sitchin.com
nonationmusic.com
Now that we’re out here…Open your Heart…To the Universe…Of which we’re apart…….
Musical ideas, like other art forms, are unique only in their expression. I don’t think ideas are individual by any means. I think of it as a river of thought, a river of ideas that are there. And it’s up to us, really to become a participant. Late at night when everyone is asleep is a favorite time to ‘fish.’
I like to visualize that creative ideas are being poured out of an urn, almost like Aquarius pouring out the water. Instead of water coming out, there would be musical notes and lyrics and paintings. And then the wind would blow them, and they would be moving in a more horizontal pattern, like a river. Alongside the river would be people sitting, with pencil in hand, an empty notebook, and a guitar on their knee, which is really their fishing tackle. As these ideas come by, you try and grab one for you.
Quite often that is what happens and you would hook something, and you would struggle with it, but you could never get it to the boat. You have to cut your line. I remember buying a George Harrison album, and hearing a song, and thinking, “that’s the one that got away.” I didn’t get it, but further downstream–and George used to live about three miles away–George was up that night and he hooked the bugger.
I have been a fan of your words since 1969 when I bought In Search of the Lost Chord because I like the album cover. Your visualization in this article is beautiful.
Thank you for all the words of Love. They helped me attain it.
Hi Mike,
First of all, I’ll say that I have very much enjoyed your sharings with the world over the last 45 years. Just recently I went through The Moodie’s first eight albums and mastered a single compact disc containing 78 minutes & 42 seconds of your compositions, including the extended original “Om”. I am 58 years old and have spent my life in music. I have kept a low profile over the last 25 years, enjoying family, friends, and acquaintances; performing locally, producing, recording, and teaching. I had a taste of “music road life” back in the early 80’s and decided it really was not for me. When the “spirit” moves me I write & record songs. My wife Bonnie, does the same.
The reason I am writing you is that you come across to me as a “seeker”. This theme seems to shine in your songs. I remember hearing a rumour way back that you had left the Moodies due to a spiritual search. There definitely appear to be some clues in “Lost In A Lost World” and “When You’re A Free Man” from the “Seventh Sojurn” album.
I identify very strongly with your writing as I too have always been a seeker. I believe in and am very aware of the “river of thought” – the eternal flow of consciousness in the spinning, spiraling circle where the beginning and the end are as one. Like yourself, I have experienced Divine Inspiration many, many times. The upper part of my being seems to open and the river of thought flows through me, filling me with music, images, and feelings. Sometimes the feelings are so intense that I start to cry. I remember Lennon saying, “first you must learn your craft, then you are ready to be divinely inspired” – very true words indeed.
I am not of any particular religious denomination or following, but have always chosen to look inward. I see the dualism in existence – the Yin & the Yang – the dark & the light – and the infinite shades & colourings in between. Even the binary code of our computers expresses this dualism in its language of 1’s and 0’s. Everything “is” and “is not” simultaneously.
In my search, I have come to certain conclusions; What we call the “spirit” or “soul” of a man is really our “conscious will”. And, that it is our conscious will that creates the flesh; not the other way around as many scientists so blindly believe. We are all One, yet we are not. The fact that we appear to be separate from each other is a game we play in an attempt to bring about understanding as to who and what we really are. In a life time of seeking I seem to always end up where I started. The answer to the question is “yes & no”. Therefore, “there is no answer”. We just “are” and always shall be. Yet, our flesh is an expression of the opposite side of eternal life; death. I believe flesh is a tool we use in our search for understanding. Time is an illusion, but it’s not. There is only the “Eternal Now” forever being created instant by instant. If you knew for a fact that you lived forever, would it not make sense to place yourself in a position where you would truly believe that you didn’t? – don the apparel of flesh, fixing yourself with limited means of perception; “blinkers” or “blinds”, allowing you to only see the road in front of you. The preciousness of life is re-enforced; the preciousness of love is re-enforced – truly felt and understood only when that love is lost. We, as life in flesh all experience the loss of love when one dear to our hearts dies. What better way would there be to “not take love for granted?”
I would very much love to hear more of your thoughts Mike, on what I believe to be the most important subject in life.
As a fellow seeker, I just wanted to share a little of myself and touch you with my thought. I thank you for your life, Mike, as your existence has made a difference in mine. Below, I leave you with one of my (our) songs. I bless and thank you. – Mark.
“THE UNIVERSE”
8/8 time approx 192 bpm, with a shuffle (like the “clip-clop” of horse hooves)
– really 4/4 time but best described as 8/8 (1 & 2 & 3 & 4)
– 16 eighth notes in a 5 second interval
– numbers beside chords are beats in 1/8 notes.
INTRO
Am(7) Am6(addF#)(9) E(7) Esus2(addF#)(9)
Repeat above progression twice, accent, push & sustain the F#. On an acoustic guitar
the F# would enter on the up-stroke.
——————————————————————————————————
VERSE
Am (16) C (16)
I sit and stretch my thoughts here in wonder maze
G (16) Am (8) E (8)
I reach into my heart and touch so many ways
Am (16) C (16)
I grab at straws and sweetly sip the love divine
G (16) Am (8) E (8)
I feel the snake at home all along my spine
——————————————————————————————————
CHORUS
D (8) G (8) C (4) Em7(4) Am (6) Am7(2)
Ah Ha! I’m the last and first!
D (8) G (8) C (4) Em7(4) Am (7) from this Am the Intro repeats &
Ah Ha! I’m the universe! then on to verse 2 etc.
I feel the fountain flow high above my head
To the countless spiral books that I have bled
I see the endless spheres of living, spinning gold
Each one a part of me, a story to be told
Ah Ha! I’m the last and first!
Ah Ha! I’m the universe!
INSTRUMENTAL MIDDLE 9
F# (8) Bm (8) X 3 (6 bars of 1/8 notes) plus one more – F# (8) (7 bars in total)
E (struck once with force and held for 2 bars (16 eighth notes)
I sail the sea of stars and work the field of light
Indulge in the feast of love with all my might
I break the darkness with my loving will alone
Here in eternity I always am at home
Ah Ha! I’m the last and first!
Ah Ha! I’m the universe!
I’m the universe!
I’m the universe!
REPEAT CHORUS & FADE
by Mark Waind (Humantown Music)
Hi Mike,
I read that you’d once made the comment “Songs are in the air”. It came to mind when I wrote my book, “Quantum Action”, which explores what we call spontaneity.
I quoted you in the book, as you were one of the few musicians (in my experience) that had alluded to the possibility that songs are “received” rather than manufactured.
Here is the quote:
“Songwriters, for example, do not so much “think” of a new song so much as they “hear” the song in their heads before writing it down. Their creative impulses appear to come from a source beyond their physical brains.
Songwriter Mike Pinder, formerly of the Moody Blues, once stated that “songs were in the air”. On his website, he wrote:
‘Musical ideas, like other art forms, are unique only in their expression. I don’t think ideas are individual by any means.
I like to visualize that creative ideas are being poured out of an urn, almost like Aquarius pouring out the water.’
Thank you for your creative output over the years. I certainly appreciated it.
Regards,
Lee Jakeman