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I came across an old newspaper cutting today. An article I wrote for the 'Yours Faithfully' column of The Milngavie and Bearsden Herald dated August 21, 2009. The 'old pal of mine' was Eddie McAlpine. We worked out that we had probably been baptised the same day. We definitely went through school together. Each of us was Best Man for the other. A friend who was more like a brother really. The experience in the article is an example of how music or art in general can mirror emotions and show that you are not completely alone. Anyway, here it is:
'I was wandering around the ‘Fopp’ store on Byres Road recently. This is always fatal for me, especially my bank balance, so I was trying hard not to see anything that I would want to buy. But it’s so difficult. All those CDs and DVDs and books – and at reasonable prices. I thought I was winning the battle but the music that was being played on the store sound system was beginning to get through to me. It had an early Dylan, country/folk feel to it. The lyrics were interesting. Eventually I gave in and asked the fellow behind the counter: ‘Who’s that you are playing?’ He said: ‘The Felice Brothers. Great aren’t they?’
Now I have to admit I had never heard of The Felice Brothers but ‘Fopp’ had won again. I handed over my £9.99p (don’t tell the wife!) and now I am a confirmed Felice Brothers fan.
The song that made such an impression on me is called ‘Rise And Shine’. It is the thoughts of someone who is visiting a friend who is desperately ill and though he is beyond response the visitor is trying to maintain a conversation with him. He speaks of odd things that just pop into his head:
‘I’ll sit on your windowsill and watch the snow.
I’ll tell you the things that pass below.
A girl in a coat of feathers
In a doorway stands
Holding a rabbit in her hands.’
And there is a deeply poignant refrain:
‘But we won’t be changed.
We’ll remain as one.
Please rise and shine
Old pal of mine,
Your day has come.’
I found myself in circumstances very like this just about a year ago. My oldest and closest friend suffered a cardiac arrest while exercising at the gym and lay unconscious in hospital for five days before he eventually died. There were times when I was visiting him that I felt this irresistible urge to say: ‘Hey, the joke is over. It’s time to get up!’ These are the kind of irrational things that pass through your mind at times like that. You just cannot cope with the reality that is being presented to you.
I think that’s what ‘Rise And Shine ‘ is all about and while I feel sad when I listen to it, it is also very comforting and encouraging to know that someone else has gone through a similar experience and is able to express it in words and music.
This is one of the most precious things about my faith. From a Christian point of view God is not just a concept or a principle to keep the chattering classes in hot topics for discussion. God has revealed Himself as a person in the life of Jesus Christ. A life which was subject to physical pain, emotional turmoil, mental anguish and spiritual dereliction. So whenever I go through any of these negative experiences I know that my God has gone there before me, He understands how I feel, and is able to give me the resources I need to be strong.
That was especially important to me when I spoke at my friend’s funeral. When as boys we played football together, supported the Rangers together and argued about music and politics and anything else we could think to disagree about – did we ever think that the day would come when one would be speaking at the other’s funeral? And, yes, it was the hardest thing I have ever done. But I remembered Jesus weeping at the loss of His friend Lazarus even after he had just spoken the greatest words ever: ‘I am the Resurrection and the life. If anyone has faith in me even though he dies he will come to life. And no one who is alive in me will ever die.’ I remembered this and while the pain was deep the hope still burned brightly.
‘But we won’t be changed.
We’ll remain as one.
Please rise and shine
Old pal of mine,
Your day has come.’ '
