Montagu, Janis Ian, and a Hymn

Monday, September 30, 2002

Today's text belongs to Ashley Montagu, who gave a talk at a conference the North Dakota Humanities Council had with its sister organization back in the early 1970s. I sat with him over dinner — the conference was on coal development, and I'm not exactly sure why we brought in Ashley Montagu, but he was great. He told me that the secret of successful speakng was to understand that the audience was rooting for you — that everyone wanted a speaker to succeed. That is neither here nor there — Montagu did once say, "The idea is to die young as late as possible." That, I'd say, is pretty hard to disagree with.

More about Montagu another time, perhaps — but on this last day of September 2002, I want to consider haunting melodies that make sense of words, which, alone, wouldn't offer much.

My nomination for the most haunting melody, one that tugs with tension and undergirds the words with gut-wrenching awareness of the fleeting nature of time, of youth, and of undaunted vigor, is one called simply "Hymn," the final cut on a 1975 album by Janis Ian, Aftertones. The other day, I noted an old Janis Ian Internet auction site — listing item 191:

BEGIN DESCRIPTION:
HYMN (AFTERTONES): Annotated session lyric from vocal date with Odetta & Phoebe Snow, with handwritten chart with old title "Time and the River" and handwritten bass part; 1975. With Aftertones CD. I wrote "Hymn" for others to sing, hoping audiences would sing back the harmonies to me. Unfortunately it came out a little too long, a little too slow for that. Still, this session was one of the thrills of my life, working with two great singers. The parts were hard, and the ladies did great.
END CITATION

Janis has her own extensive web site, of course — find it here. And, she's 50 and some. But I digress — the haunting tune. The voices, in order of appearance, are Janis Ian & Claire Bay, Odetta, V. Martin Fink, and Brooks Arthur. The obligator solo in the chorus is by Phoebe Snow.

And here are the words--

When we grow old
and love grows cold
and time runs down
like a river
that calls us home

The eyes grow dim
the light grown thin
and time will
end here forever
Long time gone

Then time and the river
must stop in their tracks
or roll on forever
There's no turning back
I've waited too long
to be left here like this
Long time gone

Then weep no more
The heart is pure
These hands are sure
like a river
that clings to shore

The love we learn
The love we burn
A love that burns
in the darkness
will weep no more

Dreams die young