Sometimes you plan to write something, and then you find someone who already said it better than you ever could have. That’s the case with Bob Dylan’s newest album, Christmas in the Heart.

You need to read this review of it. Fantastic.

And then go buy the album.

I’ve not successfully found really great Advent music (please let me know if you’re aware of any!). So I’ve decided to start working on some of my own. To begin, I’m finding old Advent hymns to which I’ve never heard the music, and just writing my own.

“The Advent of Our King” is an 18th century hymn. I found the words years ago and recently decided to create some music for it. Interestingly, after writing the music, I finally looked up the original tune and found that I close the last few words of each stanza much like the original.

1. The advent of our King
Our prayers must now employ,
And we must hymns of welcome sing
In strains of holy joy.

2. The everlasting Son
Incarnate deigns to be;
Himself a servant’s form puts on
To set His servants free.

3. O Zion’s Daughter, rise
To meet thy lowly King,
Nor let thy faithless heart despise
The peace He comes to bring.

4. As Judge, on clouds of light,
He soon will come again
And His true members all unite
With Him in heaven to reign.

5. Before the dawning day
Let sin’s dark deeds be gone,
The old man all be put away,
The new man all put on.

6. All glory to the Son,
Who comes to set us free,
With Father, Spirit, ever One,
Through all eternity.

Here’s a quick, “open up Garageband and hit record,” no bells and whistles or even second takes recording of my version.

From Bob Dylan’s recent interview about his new album:

BF: Who are some of your favorite songwriters?

Bob Dylan: Buffett I guess. Lightfoot. Warren Zevon. Randy. John Prine. Guy Clark. Those kinds of writers.

BF: You and Lightfoot go way back.

Bob Dylan: Oh yeah. Gordo’s been around as long as me.

BF: What are your favorite songs of his?

Bob Dylan: “Shadows,” “Sundown,” “If You Could Read My Mind.” I can’t think of any I don’t like.

I got tickets for four different concerts before I ran out of money.  I had hoped to add Better Than Ezra to the list, but the bathroom remodel is already over budget!

Here are our plans:

• The Dead – Buffalo, NY, April 21 – My second Dead show; sad I never got to see them before Jerry died.
• Gordon Lightfoot – Chautauqua, NY, July 24: It’s our anniversary.  It’s also the first venue I ever saw a concert at (1993), and that concert was Gordon Lightfoot.
• Peter, Paul and Mary – Bethel, NY, July 31: I grew up listening to this trio, but never saw a show.
• Phish – Darien Lake, NY, April 13: My wife’s a huge fan. I like their music, but this will be my first Phish show.

Should be a fun concert season.

“Every time I hear a Gordon Lightfoot song, I wish it would never end.”  ~ Bob Dylan

Had my dad not popped in an old “Gord’s Gold” tape when I was 11 years old, I would have continued ignoring the whole subject of music for who knows how long.  Gord rocks, despite the fact that he’s a folk musician, and that he’s almost 70, and that he can’t sing like he used to.  

Lightfoot is coming to Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, NY on September 21st, and there’s a pre-sale, um, sale starting tomorrow morning at 10am.  My dad’s buying the tickets.  We will see the Gord.  Oh, yes, we will see the Gord.

This will be my 6th Lightfoot concert.  Can’t wait.  He’s finally decided that he can’t do “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” anymore, as evidenced by recent setlists, but there will still be the regular list of classic folk tunes (“If You Could Read My Mind,” “The Wreck,” “Early Morning Rain”), a few songs from Waiting for You (my favorite), and hopefully an odd addition here or there – some non-single that he hasn’t played in a long time.  It will definitely be a good night; probably just me, my dad, and my brothers.

You don’t hear about this part of John Lennon’s life very often:

Next came one of the most extraordinary turnabouts in John’s life. A television addict for many years (it was his way of looking at the world since he could no longer walk around anonymously), he enjoyed watching some of America’s best-known evangelists—Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, Jim Bakker, and Oral Roberts. In 1972 he had written a desperate letter to Roberts confessing his dependence on drugs and his fear of facing up to “the problems of life.” He expressed regret that he had said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and enclosed a gift for the Oral Roberts University. After quoting the line “money can’t buy me love” from “Can’t Buy Me Love” he said, “It’s true. The point is this, I want happiness. I don’t want to keep on with drugs. Paul told me once, ‘You made fun of me for taking drugs, but you will regret it in the end.’ Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phoney? Can He love me? I want out of hell.” (Steve Turner, “John Lennon’s Born Again Phase – An excerpt from The Gospel According to the Beatles. in Christianity Today. 1.2.2007.)

One of my favorite musicians, and the greatest songwriter of the last 100 years (or more), Bob Dylan has been awarded an honorary Pultitzer Prize.

I’m a few albums behind on Dylan – I missed “Love and Theft” and “Time Out of Mind” and went straight to “Modern Times.” “Modern Times” is brilliant, and I’ve finally gone back and started to listen to “Time Out of Mind,” and I’m just stunned at what a good writer the man still is.

I saw him a few months ago with Elvis Costello as the opener. Easily one of the best 5 shows I’ve ever seen.