Episode 24 The Curious Promise of Limited Time
The Growing Edge Podcast for August features a conversation about living with an awareness of our own horizon line, when we become more aware of "the curious promise of limited time. Also in this episode we release a new (and free) single, "The Music Will Play On,” words & music by Parker J. Palmer, music by Carrie Newcomer. Carrie and Parker talk about the collaborative process that led to this song, and how it addresses “the curious promise of limited time."
More About The Song From Parker
"The Music Will Play On”—A Debut
Fifteen years ago, when I began working with Carrie, I asked for her help in realizing a long-time dream: to get myself inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Frankly, that project has not been going very well, so I recently asked her to help me with something that felt a little more feasible!
I told her that I wanted to learn how to write a song, as part of staying on my own “growing edge" in old age. I have the deepest respect for Carrie's gifts as a singer-songwriter, so even that ask was a bit of a stretch for me. People who are masters of a craft inspire us, but it’s easy to feel intimated by them: “No, I don’t think I’ll tell Van Gogh that I want to take up painting.” But Carrie is as gifted at mentoring as she is at her art. She encouraged me and offered her help if and when I needed it.
At 81, I knew what I wanted to write about: aging and mortality. I mean, beginners should pick an easy topic, right?! I messed with metaphors, and began thinking about living and dying as part of what Thomas Merton called “the general dance.” I’ve always loved dancing, so the metaphor felt just right. One morning I woke up with a line running through my mind—“If I could, I’d dance this way forever”—and I knew I had the start of a song.
After months of working with the lyrics, off and on, I sent them to Carrie. She suggested a few key word changes, and then (as is her gift) she began “hearing” the music, asking at every step whether what she was hearing sounded right to me. She needed only two takes to get the feel I wanted—an uplifting song about the fact that the music to which we “dance” through life will play on, no matter what. Then she gathered some of her gifted and generous musician friends, recorded the song in a professional studio, and created a music video, taking my modest first try beyond anything I had imagined.
With deep gratitude to the Muse, to Carrie, and the musicians named in the video, and to 81 years of the gift called life, I'm happy to share “The Music Will Play On,” one more step I’m taking toward being On the Brink of Everything. Oh, I haven’t given up on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I’m sure that I can do this hard thing, with a little help from my friends! —Parker