Boyd Sings Songs of Love CD, which I had chosen to do in Toronto after clashes between my engineer and my co-producer friend, Joanne, in Connecticut, I became reacquainted with Peter Bond, the talented young man who, in 2001, had worked as the engineer and mixer on Camino Latino. Not only was Peter an engineer and mixer, he was also a guitarist, drummer, singer, composer, and producer. After twisting Peter’s arm to play me some of his original music, I discovered that he was exceptionally brilliant when it came to sonic design, and I suggested that while I awaited the release of the love songs album, we could perhaps record a New Age–style CD. I could compose a few simple and beautiful melodies, and my hope was that he could come up with some Vangelis-like orchestrations similar to some of his own instrumental pieces.
The writing and creation of this CD, which contains some of the most haunting melodies I have ever written, took the two of us on an unexpected journey, and Seven Journeys: Music for the Soul and the Imagination seemed the perfect title.
Peter had been teaching himself electronics, creating unusual compositions, and analyzing sound ever since he was a child. He had attended a private school and, in his twenties, had graduated from one of the top music engineering colleges in North America, Full Sail, in Orlando, Florida. The authentic sound effects of rain, waves, and thunder you hear on Seven Journeys are all taken from his own extensive sound library.
This album had a magic and mystery all of its own. My father was stunned when he first heard the rough mixes, and he listened to it over and over again on my iPod, mumbling approval — something he had rarely done with any of my previous recordings though I know he had appreciated them. The head of marketing at Universal, Laura van Leest, was so enchanted by the music that she and her son listened to it for months before they went to bed; apparently it put them both into a relaxed state of mind.
Co-creating this music had lifted Peter and me into another dimension, and I know that people unconsciously pick this up when they hear this record. I like to think that it takes the listener on a spiritual journey, where at every bend of the imaginary river a new vista opens up, new sounds emerge, new melodies build, and surprises greet the traveller.
The CD opens with “Memories of the Mekong,” a melody I had composed a few years before while in Vietnam with Jack and the World Presidents’ Organization. I came up with the idea of adding my vocals in a fantasy language, much as Enya had done for some of her songs. For me, this piece evokes the lovely scene in the film The Lover, narrated by Jeanne Moreau, in which a young actress crosses the Mekong, her pigtails dangling beneath her panama hat. My solo guitar melody, which opens and concludes this piece, and Peter’s use of Eastern chimes and lapping, watery effects create a transcendent mood.
“Reflections” uses a haunting, suspended chord progression that I stumbled upon one evening. It is somewhat reminiscent of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, but it progresses to a higher and mysterious darker minor theme, for which Peter contributed his own harmonized vocals.
In “Monasterium” I believe the listener can practically feel the cold monastery stones, hear the chants of medieval monks, imagine a storm followed by a rainbow, and experience a spring shower on the surrounding meadows where songbirds resume their pastoral gift to the landscape.
“Guided by Love” starts gently with a repeated ascending melodic fragment that builds up to a heart-wrenching melody followed by some delicate guitar improvisations. It is even instilled with a subtle Canadian flavour, thanks to Peter’s idea to add the sound of a distant loon calling across the lake. I hope one day this inspired piece might be used as the love theme to an epic movie.
“Vipassana” contributed an exotic Indian atmosphere to the album, and it is definitely not me singing the intro! Midway through the song, the scenery transforms and introduces a sweeping romantic theme before returning to its hypnotic Indian rhythm and melody. Interestingly, when Peter produced the rhythm track for Vipassana, he thought the downbeat of my melody occurred in a different place from where I had intended. This fortuitous mistake seemed to add to the piece’s mystery so we decided to keep it that way.
“Pearl River,” inspired by my boat trip with Jack along the languid Perfume River in Vietnam, lulls one into a contemplative state with its repeated and hypnotic guitar riffs. “Waltz Nostalgique,” the concluding “journey,” was somewhat influenced by Leonard Cohen’s “Take This Waltz.” It ends with a lyric in French that roughly translates, “Ah, it is love, love that makes us suffer … ah it is love, always love.” The piece conjures up imagery of archetypal landscapes, ancient temples, an abandoned ballroom, and a floating tropical market, all of which are described in the “Seven Journeys” poem I wrote for the CD booklet and that Peter orchestrated for an iTunes bonus track.
Seven Journeys
Come …
Come with me
Come with me on a journey
On a journey through time
Come with me on a journey that has no end
A journey guided only by love
From distant, mystic mountaintops
Down twisting pathways, step by step
Past half-forgotten memories
And half-forgotten lives
Past precipice and waterfall
Below the sacred rocks
We’ll find the fertile valleys
Where the pearly rivers flow
We’ll lie in meadows damp with dew
Feel golden sun and saffron light
’Til we remember long ago
So long, so very long ago …
Monastic stones and misty moors
Those muffled drums and marching feet
Those echoes only time can hear
Beyond the fading hills
Come dance with me in three-four time
Unlock the ballroom door
Where velvet shoes and silken skirts
Once swept across the floor
Now rain falls on these marbled halls
Their statues disposessed
Where only thunder claps alone
And lonely eagles nest
Let’s steer through floating markets
In a creaky wooden boat
Hear morning chants and temple bells
Beyond the jasmine fields
We’ll navigate these serpent shores
Pass through the tangled vines
Then rest our oars to dry beneath
The dark blood-orange sun
A cold north wind, a warm lake breeze
A
