I totally get the connection you make, for me it's the piano and equally a string quartet and yes, poetry connects to an internal vibration as music. That's often why I love listening to poetry read.
I love, love your son has this connection too and that he knows you so well. Our boys can be highly intuitive. I have 2.
Beautiful Gill , I am going to attempt to find your Spotify …( I don’t have a subscription to it , & I think my phone offloaded it 🙃) , but I am intrigued. Music often makes me cry .
There’s something about the cello isn’t there? Elgar’s cello concerto is one of my eternal favourites. This is a great little playlist too - I shall work my way through it 💜
The way you connect cello and poetry is beautiful, it really captures how certain art forms awaken parts of us we don’t fully know. The bond you and your son share over music is absolutely beautiful. Loving your suggestions ♥️
What a wonderful idea for a concert, Gill. A recumbent Cello recital....
As a Poet, the comparison with Cello music strikes perfectly with me. Some 16 years ago my incredible partner, Meg, arranged for us, and my extended family, to attend a cello recital deep in a limestone cavern. It is a treasured memory... I cried throughout. I am again as I write this.
Thank you for the music links. Kate Bush is an old love of mine. Sara Bareilles is new to me, and wonderful.
Thank you again, also, for restacking my picture note of the rainforest, which is how I found your own Substack.
Oh Dave, now I’m the one who’s crying! Thank you for sharing such a treasured memory of Meg - to have listened to cello music in a limestone cavern with her, which she’d arranged for you. That’s priceless. Cello music strikes at my heart when I listen. Hauntingly beautiful but this is next level! I would have been crying too! My husband would be smiling at you liking Kate Bush! I love how a simple restack can ripple out and remind us of precious times. Really delighted to have found your page.
Ah that’s nice Dave, Substack is indeed a weird and wonderful marquee of creativity! You literally never know who’s round the next corner and how they might inform your art, your words, your philosophy or your life. It’s been a revelation. Anyway, enjoy your slumber! 😴
So weird that you said that because I was having a similar thought about words, music and my son who was also into rap. And pondering an article about it because music has been a dominant theme in my week.
Such a sad but poignant story about the young racing driver. We never know when last moments will be so it’s good to be present as much as we can.
Oh please ask your son about the lyrics! I feel sure he’ll know! And whilst it’s in the past nostalgia and reminiscence has a place here I would hope! I would love to know what the last song was if you care to share (and assuming he remembers) 🫶
Thank you! It really does. It’s a match made in heaven, (or hell if you are a dark poet maybe?) or somewhere in between! Believe me as your kids grow you’ll see more and more resonance and shared understanding as they head to adulthood. But it happens so fast. Enjoy every minute! Thanks for reading and commenting. It means a lot! How funny is life? Last week I commented on your baby’s tiny toes, this week you’re reading my music post and I’m reading your dark poetry and writing! The light and shade of life! Perfect!
I cherish the connections we are making here on Substack and I really appreciate and identify with that feeling of the frequency hitting me sometimes square in my chest, sometimes low in my gut and sometimes high in my head … it all resonates.
I would also share that when my youngest son was a teen and still at home, he was exploring rap music and especially the lyrics. I came to appreciate a lot of it as well because I am a word girl. But we would listen together for our favorite line and rap it together although my tongue got lost before him … so thank you for your article, your comments and for the trip down memory lane.
Sorry, have to say one more thing … just finished reading a Substack post about not knowing when the last time will be that we do something … article mentioned that race car driver that died young and the author of the article struggling to get up and go to an event he had previously purchased tickets for preferring to stay home, but in the end goin with his son and it turned out to being such a special day … anyway putting all these thoughts together right now, I wonder what the last song lyrics my son and I rapped together were? I didn’t know it at the time that it was the last time.
Or maybe I will revive the game as he is here visiting now … wonder if it will be the same or if that belongs to that space and time we shared in the past 🐝
"...my eyes will well up with tears – I’ll look at him and he’ll be doing the same and we’ll both laugh at the fact that this note hits us both. I love that about him. It shows me he is moved by music or films and one day it will be other things like art, literature, poetry or maybe even love.."
I enjoyed this so much and can't wait to go listen to these songs 💕 And that exchange especially ...it got me. 😭🫶
Thanks so much for your lovely comments Rebecca. The bit you highlighted is the part I love most. That my boy (he’s 26!) feels things like I do. That’s a gift to me. I hope you enjoy the songs. I see from your bio that empathy is very much threaded through you so I reckon you might. Once again, thanks for reading or listening. Lovely to meet you here. 💜
💓💓 So good to meet you! And one hundred percent…what a beautiful gift to share and see in ones you love.😭😭🙌
There's certain songs I can't even play in the car like Pie Jesu for instance, cause I'm like, “Nope, I have to go to Walgreens I can't lose it right now.”
Aww, so very, very lovely. The moment I saw the word 'cello' I started to smile, because somehow I knew - just knew - it was going to be a magical recounting of the other-worldly effect of cello. What I didn't expect, was the beauty of this Lie Down and Listen idea! Wow!! I might pop across the Atlantic someday just for that. What a gorgeous idea!!! I can see you and your son both feeling the magic and it's spellbinding, Gill. Truly. "*It was a strangely collective yet solitary affair. I had gone alone, spoken to hardly anyone and been lost in myself throughout. When I walked back through town to the train station I felt like I was walking in a protective bubble of sorts. Like I was untouchable by the life around me.*" That is the essence of music and its effect *right there*. Love, love, love it. Will add a link to my very favourite chamber piece (enjoy!): https://youtu.be/VvQQc4nkl2I?si=xZ8RnyeIGSpP9WPX
Oh Nadia, thanks so so much for reading/listening. But more than that - for really getting it. I didn’t think anyone would buy into it but the words needed to be said so I could make sense of it. You are so right! The cello is other-worldly. And it was a magical experience that lingered. The Lie Down and Listen event was inspired and I will go again. I loved your view on the essence of music. To be lost within it when life is hard. To feel untouchable and protected! Perfect! Oooh something for my playlist! I shall add it and listen later. So pleased we are connected! ❤️❤️❤️
So agree. Music, like nature, heals most things and nourishes most things. ❤️🎵🎻And thank you for the playlist, too! Will dig into that later as well. I see one of my all-time faves on there, Yo-Yo Ma. ❤️💫🌟🌼🫖
This resonated 😉 with me so much, I love cello music so much a poetry is the language of my heart. 🥰 I was so enamoured with cello that I even attempted to learn it a couple of year ago. Sadly time constraints kept from continuing but it is still there as a wish. Your story telling was beautiful. 🙌🏻
Hi Esmari. Wow! What a wonderful thing to have done! To have actually played the cello! To have felt the vibration of the sound and been so up close and personal to those haunting notes! That’s incredible! I’m sorry you weren’t able to continue but you’ve had the experience and that will never leave you. I am so happy that my words touched you and brought together your love of the cello and poetry both of which speak to your heart. I really wasn’t sure this piece would land with anyone. The fact that it has for you has made my day! Thank you. 💜
Gill, I know I keep doing this to multiple people, but I wrote a piece titled exactly this last week. It’s about music too, in a way, I suppose. :-)
Sigh. This IS magic, no? Are we all just in some giant mind-meld together?
So interesting @Wet Ink by Rithu we must be mind melded!! 💜
What a stunningly beautiful read, Gill.
I totally get the connection you make, for me it's the piano and equally a string quartet and yes, poetry connects to an internal vibration as music. That's often why I love listening to poetry read.
I love, love your son has this connection too and that he knows you so well. Our boys can be highly intuitive. I have 2.
Going to check out your playlist 🎶💕
What a beautiful write! I’m on Spotify so I’ll look you up.
Thank you so much! Really appreciate that! 💜
Beautiful Gill , I am going to attempt to find your Spotify …( I don’t have a subscription to it , & I think my phone offloaded it 🙃) , but I am intrigued. Music often makes me cry .
Lovely work Gill. And also lovely to hear you!
There’s something about the cello isn’t there? Elgar’s cello concerto is one of my eternal favourites. This is a great little playlist too - I shall work my way through it 💜
You’ve got a great speaking voice! Love you spreading some love for the cello.
The way you connect cello and poetry is beautiful, it really captures how certain art forms awaken parts of us we don’t fully know. The bond you and your son share over music is absolutely beautiful. Loving your suggestions ♥️
What a wonderful idea for a concert, Gill. A recumbent Cello recital....
As a Poet, the comparison with Cello music strikes perfectly with me. Some 16 years ago my incredible partner, Meg, arranged for us, and my extended family, to attend a cello recital deep in a limestone cavern. It is a treasured memory... I cried throughout. I am again as I write this.
Thank you for the music links. Kate Bush is an old love of mine. Sara Bareilles is new to me, and wonderful.
Thank you again, also, for restacking my picture note of the rainforest, which is how I found your own Substack.
Best Wishes - Dave
Oh Dave, now I’m the one who’s crying! Thank you for sharing such a treasured memory of Meg - to have listened to cello music in a limestone cavern with her, which she’d arranged for you. That’s priceless. Cello music strikes at my heart when I listen. Hauntingly beautiful but this is next level! I would have been crying too! My husband would be smiling at you liking Kate Bush! I love how a simple restack can ripple out and remind us of precious times. Really delighted to have found your page.
Hi Jill
That is such a kind thing to say.
Yes! The strange weaving of ideas and people and creation within Substack... I have met some wonderful writers here, and now have some new friends.
I was about to fall into bed - but I saw your reply, and I could not rest without saying thank you.
Best Wishes - Dave
Ah that’s nice Dave, Substack is indeed a weird and wonderful marquee of creativity! You literally never know who’s round the next corner and how they might inform your art, your words, your philosophy or your life. It’s been a revelation. Anyway, enjoy your slumber! 😴
A great article. I’ve just saved Freya Ridings to my Spotify 🫶
Music combines with any type of writing so naturally.
I hope one day my kids would affect me the way your son does (at the same time I kind of wish they stopped growing up - it's happening too fast! 😭).
So weird that you said that because I was having a similar thought about words, music and my son who was also into rap. And pondering an article about it because music has been a dominant theme in my week.
Such a sad but poignant story about the young racing driver. We never know when last moments will be so it’s good to be present as much as we can.
Oh please ask your son about the lyrics! I feel sure he’ll know! And whilst it’s in the past nostalgia and reminiscence has a place here I would hope! I would love to know what the last song was if you care to share (and assuming he remembers) 🫶
Thank you! It really does. It’s a match made in heaven, (or hell if you are a dark poet maybe?) or somewhere in between! Believe me as your kids grow you’ll see more and more resonance and shared understanding as they head to adulthood. But it happens so fast. Enjoy every minute! Thanks for reading and commenting. It means a lot! How funny is life? Last week I commented on your baby’s tiny toes, this week you’re reading my music post and I’m reading your dark poetry and writing! The light and shade of life! Perfect!
That's exactly what life and this platform is all about 💚
It really is! 💚
I cherish the connections we are making here on Substack and I really appreciate and identify with that feeling of the frequency hitting me sometimes square in my chest, sometimes low in my gut and sometimes high in my head … it all resonates.
I would also share that when my youngest son was a teen and still at home, he was exploring rap music and especially the lyrics. I came to appreciate a lot of it as well because I am a word girl. But we would listen together for our favorite line and rap it together although my tongue got lost before him … so thank you for your article, your comments and for the trip down memory lane.
Sorry, have to say one more thing … just finished reading a Substack post about not knowing when the last time will be that we do something … article mentioned that race car driver that died young and the author of the article struggling to get up and go to an event he had previously purchased tickets for preferring to stay home, but in the end goin with his son and it turned out to being such a special day … anyway putting all these thoughts together right now, I wonder what the last song lyrics my son and I rapped together were? I didn’t know it at the time that it was the last time.
Or maybe I will revive the game as he is here visiting now … wonder if it will be the same or if that belongs to that space and time we shared in the past 🐝
That makes me really happy! Sons and music has been a theme for us both and I do love a synchronicity
🎵 ❤️
Will see if we can figure it out and thanks for all the love 🐝
🐝 🫶
Oh yes the most sweet
Plus that has been on my mind to figure out which song that was and now mystery solved so thank you 🐝
This is it 🐝
https://youtu.be/p4NvOKy7GOU?si=14k64tVCJ0164ns3
Yay!!! You had the chat! I used to love a bit of Kanye, my son did too! Thanks for sharing. I hope chatting about it brought back nice memories! ❤️
"...my eyes will well up with tears – I’ll look at him and he’ll be doing the same and we’ll both laugh at the fact that this note hits us both. I love that about him. It shows me he is moved by music or films and one day it will be other things like art, literature, poetry or maybe even love.."
I enjoyed this so much and can't wait to go listen to these songs 💕 And that exchange especially ...it got me. 😭🫶
Thanks so much for your lovely comments Rebecca. The bit you highlighted is the part I love most. That my boy (he’s 26!) feels things like I do. That’s a gift to me. I hope you enjoy the songs. I see from your bio that empathy is very much threaded through you so I reckon you might. Once again, thanks for reading or listening. Lovely to meet you here. 💜
💓💓 So good to meet you! And one hundred percent…what a beautiful gift to share and see in ones you love.😭😭🙌
There's certain songs I can't even play in the car like Pie Jesu for instance, cause I'm like, “Nope, I have to go to Walgreens I can't lose it right now.”
Oh I so get that! This woman’s work does that for me! Sometimes we need to button up to face the day.
Aww, so very, very lovely. The moment I saw the word 'cello' I started to smile, because somehow I knew - just knew - it was going to be a magical recounting of the other-worldly effect of cello. What I didn't expect, was the beauty of this Lie Down and Listen idea! Wow!! I might pop across the Atlantic someday just for that. What a gorgeous idea!!! I can see you and your son both feeling the magic and it's spellbinding, Gill. Truly. "*It was a strangely collective yet solitary affair. I had gone alone, spoken to hardly anyone and been lost in myself throughout. When I walked back through town to the train station I felt like I was walking in a protective bubble of sorts. Like I was untouchable by the life around me.*" That is the essence of music and its effect *right there*. Love, love, love it. Will add a link to my very favourite chamber piece (enjoy!): https://youtu.be/VvQQc4nkl2I?si=xZ8RnyeIGSpP9WPX
Oh Nadia, thanks so so much for reading/listening. But more than that - for really getting it. I didn’t think anyone would buy into it but the words needed to be said so I could make sense of it. You are so right! The cello is other-worldly. And it was a magical experience that lingered. The Lie Down and Listen event was inspired and I will go again. I loved your view on the essence of music. To be lost within it when life is hard. To feel untouchable and protected! Perfect! Oooh something for my playlist! I shall add it and listen later. So pleased we are connected! ❤️❤️❤️
So agree. Music, like nature, heals most things and nourishes most things. ❤️🎵🎻And thank you for the playlist, too! Will dig into that later as well. I see one of my all-time faves on there, Yo-Yo Ma. ❤️💫🌟🌼🫖
My pleasure! Enjoy playlist! 🩷🩷🩷
This resonated 😉 with me so much, I love cello music so much a poetry is the language of my heart. 🥰 I was so enamoured with cello that I even attempted to learn it a couple of year ago. Sadly time constraints kept from continuing but it is still there as a wish. Your story telling was beautiful. 🙌🏻
Hi Esmari. Wow! What a wonderful thing to have done! To have actually played the cello! To have felt the vibration of the sound and been so up close and personal to those haunting notes! That’s incredible! I’m sorry you weren’t able to continue but you’ve had the experience and that will never leave you. I am so happy that my words touched you and brought together your love of the cello and poetry both of which speak to your heart. I really wasn’t sure this piece would land with anyone. The fact that it has for you has made my day! Thank you. 💜
Thank you Gill 🥰it has actually stayed with me all day. Have on my play list for tonight a couple of cello pieces. 🥰🥰
Really enjoyed reading this. So beautifully written. Feel so relaxed and chilled now. Sounds divine ☺️☺️
Thanks so much lovely! Glad it’s made you chilled! 🤗💜