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Albion

from Visitors by Howard Simon

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about

I’ve always loved “John Wesley Harding,” which in some ways I think is Dylan’s best album. The songs are odd – small, timeless parables and allegories, often Biblical in their imagery, with layers and layers of meaning. “Albion,” written in 2015, is an attempt to tell a story in that way – the tale of three lost souls and their would-be rescuers (who might or might not be the same), and about different kinds of earthly and heavenly power that can – and can’t – save us from ourselves. Charles, the imperious one, is kingly or political power (and hubris); Rockefeller, the secretive one who says nothing, is the silent and smug power of money; and Angel – well, you know. Charles and Rockefeller end up badly – the one buried in the muck of politics and other with blood on his hands. And Angel, aware of the futility of human institutions, simply gives up and ascends to heaven. Albion itself is a reference to William Blake’s primordial man before the Fall – the untarnished soul to which we seek to return, but never can.

lyrics

Albion

“You climb from the east side, I’ll climb from the west.
We’ll cover much more ground that way, I think it would be best.
The storm is coming quickly now, there’s no time left to lose,
So shoulder up your packs, my friends, and lace your climbin’ shoes.”

So said Charles to Angel, and to Rockefeller too
With three lost on the mountain, and them the rescue crew
Up in the Sangre de Christos, the aspen trees were bare
As the light was falling faster in the cold November air

Three friends, two trails, one mountainside
To find the lives they seek
They should make it back to Albion
With grace, by the end of the week

“No man should take that path alone,” Angel said right back.
“There’s too much ash, there’s too much stone – a fragile soul could crack.
We all should search as one,” he said, “Or is it just your pride
That makes you want to walk alone on the other side?”

“It’s neither pride nor wisdom,” said Charles with a grin,
“It’s just what we’re obliged to do when the night comes closing in.
You go your way and I’ll go mine. I’ll see you in a while.”
And Rockefeller said nothing, but his eyes betrayed a smile.

Three friends, two trails, one mountainside
The sky was wild and grey
They should make it back to Albion
With grace, by the end of the day

The storm hit hard and Charles was lost, buried in the mud
And Rockefeller cut his hands, and died from losing blood
When Angel reached the three lost souls, he found them too far gone
So he kept on climbing through the night until the day did dawn

Three friends, two trails, one mountainside
I cannot tell you how
They should make it back to Albion
With grace, right about now

Three friends, two trails, one mountainside
I cannot tell you how
But they made it back to Albion
Should be getting there right about now

credits

from Visitors, released June 27, 2016

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Howard Simon San Francisco, California

I am a San Francisco-based singer-songwriter. My songs are about love (romantic and otherwise), family, morality and mortality. If there is a common thread to my songs, it is the people we love, the desire to do right, and the hope and fear, the peace and the struggle that constitute life bring wonder in addition to its joy and sadness, and sometimes loss. ... more

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