GROW – The Album

Life
(Forbes/Hudson/James/Pilt/Hancock/Valentyn)
Part 1 Life – we arrive

Part 2 – We see

The Spirit whirls through the cosmos. We are breathed forth when our time is right in the plan of evolution. Deep down, we stir; and try to respond with our hearts, with the innate instincts of wonder, and gratitude. Our head is evolving too, and we sometimes get ahead of our hearts to move into abstraction, and get tangled up; looking for a linear, shapely, map of meaning.

We never get to the edge. We never penetrate the mystery as the heart does.

All this takes place in a time and a place.

Cultures come and go; and religion holds us together for a while. The danger is the centre seeking nature of cultures and sub-cultures to harden and exclude the Spirit, ever new, in every human heart.

Deep in every current religious and non-religious conversation and ritual is the truly fresh searching of human hearts. Bubbling up from one source, the blowing, calming, disturbing, Wisdom. Her acquisition will be bought at a great price.

Part 3 – We grow

come with me
as we grow
come with me

as we go on our way
we grow our history
we get to know our history
as we grow
we see
we feel our history

come with me
as we grow
come with me

come with me
as we grow
come with me

Part 4 – We learn from West and East

first teacher
sixties child
the divine call
of western civilisation
as we knew it

music opened doors
to the second teacher
it was so close to the edge
that vision from the east

understand
accept
it’s karma
it’s karma
we can take birth again
we can take birth again

we can take birth again

hail holy princess
light of our life
sweetness and joy
with you we sing
every evening
with you
we send up our love
dancing,
singing
in this garden on earth
we turn then
our eyes of magic
and after this our light reveals
this lifetime
of love of our hearts
love of our hearts

Part 5 – And From Our Land

love of our hearts

long time
to understand
first people
on this land
waited for us
on sacred ground

love of our hearts
love

know this land
in a while
you understand

we lost contact with simple spirituality
The size of your temples
means nothing to me
in touch with this earth
live
with simplicity
with simplicity

sacred land
understand
believe in you
what you see
simplicity

sacred land
long time
understand
believe in you
what you see
simplicity

Part 6 – Life – we are here

this is life, we put it together
west was love; east – acceptance
then I met you
on the other side of this life
after all this time
we are here
all those parties, those dances,
those wonderful university balls
walk with me
you walk with me
through these halls
it seems to be
always seems to be you and me
your smile, your face
your grace, this place
all this time we are here
our friends are here
all this time we are here

Forbes: lyrics, keyboards; Hudson: guitar; James: drums; Pilt: keyboards. With special guests Peter Hancock: written and spoken word; and Franky Valentyn: bass.

This is the story of people who were educated in Catholic schools in Australia in the 1960s; and the series of teachers and learnings we were exposed to.
Part 1 Life – we arrive: the journey begins with an instrumental exploration of awakening.
Part 2 We see: Special guest Peter Hancock was my English teacher at school in 1969 and 1970. For Part 2 Peter has written and spoken words which provide an overview to the search for wisdom. Lyrics by Hancock.
Part 3 We grow: an invitation to walk together through life, creating and observing our own history. Lyrics by Forbes.
Part 4 We learn from West and East: now we remember the first teacher … the enlightened post-Vatican 2 era teaching the poetry and spiritual history of the West, illustrated in the classroom with Simon and Garfunkel music. Around that time, music became entranced with sounds from the East, and this helped lead us to the second teacher, the East. Concepts that we take for granted now were radical new ideas – karma, reincarnation.  Part 4 finishes with a re-work of a rather depressing prayer we used to say at school. But this version is uplifting. Lyrics by Forbes.
Part 5 And From Our Land: the third teacher is here on our land. It takes a long time to even partly understand the calming spirituality of the indigenous people of Australia. Lyrics by Forbes.
Part 6 Life – we are here: the fourth teacher is our own life. The lessons of our teachers can lead to contentment with our present and appreciation of our companions. Lyrics by Forbes.