Simplicity

"Someday I'll wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops thats where you'll find me
Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly
And the dream that you dare to,why, oh why can't I?"
(Over the Rainbow)


"The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people passing by
I see friends shaking hands
Saying, "How do you do?" They're really saying, I love you
I hear babies cry and I watch them grow,
They'll learn much more than we'll know
And I think to myself, What a wonderful world"
(What a Wonderful World)

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We all have our favorite music. In fact there is so much music available today it is hard to choose. But over the years one characteristic increasingly applies to almost all music. It is produced to a level of sophisticatian never before seen. Some of the sophistication actually makes it easier to produce a good sound. Like the use of computer, for example. Now, maybe I can't use a computer to produce a song but that doesn't mean an average 20 year old kid can't.

And while I like slickly produced and clean sounding music, including all the great new sounds, it can sound repetitious and lack feeling. I think there's something to be said about simplicity in music. I like a sound where I can imagine the artist sitting in a chair in my living room just strumming and humming.

And that's what you get when you listen to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole sing the medlee below of Over the Rainbow/ What a wonderful World. It's one of my favorites. I can close my eyes and listen to words and let my imaginationdo the rest. The images that these two great old songs evoke are hard to come by in contemporary music. And Israel Kamkawiwo'ole's simple presentation with just his voice and a ukulele sweep away all the distracting aspects of a production piece and just presents the essence of the songs.

Enjoy.