The above is a quickly captured shot of what Im looking at right now. Because I’ve been fairly homebound for the last year I’ve taken to recording quite a few pieces in my home studio. These “songs” are intensely quiet and melodic, and also personal. I don’t know where they are coming from, to be honest.
So..the song Im working on this eve is about, if you believe Woody Allen, the only subject that matters: death. I know a few folks who have passed this year and the subject is on my mind and, as chance would have it, I just also stumbled across an old recording I have of Harry Houdini’s wife Bess, and her last attempt to reach Harry via seance. I’ve included the sound of her final words to Harry… So this one is coming together in a beautiful way…
It seems Harry had a pact with Bess that if he were to die (as he often cheated death in his performances) that he would try to contact her for a period of 10 years after his death, and that she, in turn, would try to reach him.
“My last hope is gone. I do not believe that Houdini can come back to me —- or to anyone. The Houdini shrine has burned for 10 years. I now, reverently… turn out the light. It is finished. Good night, Harry!”
I find this wildly heartbreaking and beautiful.
