Theater of the Imagination
Join award winning composer Peter Link as he presents his life's work in 'Theater of the Imagination.'
Theater of the Imagination
Series 1, Episode 8 Part 1: A Matter of Life and Death
We'd love to hear from you! Please send us a Text Message!
A Matter Of Life and Death -- And The Probability of Life Eternal was written and assembled for all who, in one way or another, have been touched by the Pandemic of 2020. That’s an audience of billions.
Through the grace of music, moving on is looked at through a myriad of lenses as an eventual door that we all will pass through at one time or another.
It is my hope that for those questioning life, in mourning, fearing for their own life or even wondering why we have all come to this, will find some solace from the enlightenment of these songs and the gentle nature of the content of this episode. Episode 8 is presented in two parts. Listeners should always start with Part 1, knowing that Part two brings us to a greater clarity on the subject of Life Eternal.
Scattershot Symphony is presented by Watchfire Music. Learn more about this episode at their website watchfiremusic.com
Join our email list and tell us what you think!
Updated header about Theater of the Imagination
Updated Watchfire Music Commercial
To access all of the episodes in our podcast, please subscribe to Watchfire Music’s Theater Of The Imagination Subscription Series. Unlock all of the episodes and experience so much more!
- Learn More here: https://bit.ly/theater-of-the-imagination-info
- Or, if you’re ready to subscribe, subscribe here: https://bit.ly/subscribe-to-theater-of-the-imagination
- We'd love to hear from you! Please send us a Text Message!
Welcome to:
Scattershot Symphony
The Music of Peter Link
(That’s me.)
People ask me, “Why “Symphony? You’re not a classical composer.” Well, Wikipedia defines “Symphony” as: an extended musical composition most often written by composers for orchestra – often presented in several movements.
And so, I bring you the music of a lifetime of composition – often presented in several movements. That’s the nature of these podcasts – a scattershot look at a lifetime of music …
So, strap on them headphones.
We’re 90% music with just a smattering of commentary.
And for god sakes,
(Crowd)
Turn it up!
This week being the eighth episode of this podcast, I prefer to let the music do the talkin’. However, if you need to know more about me, please visit Wikipedia.com – Peter Link.
This episode is entitled “A Matter Of Life And Death”
And the probability of Life Eternal
Parts 1&2
Phlutterphase Hang Music Cue
Well, the good thing is that life is an amazing experience full of energy, joy, love, triumph, drama, heartbreak, disappointments, laughs and tears ... The not so good thing is that we all know that at some point, it’s all gonna end. Perhaps ...
Well, at least life as we know it on Planet Earth will someday come to a grinding halt. The body certainly will not go on. The consciousness? I certainly hope so.
Goin' Home
Words by William Arms Fisher
Music by Antonin Dvorak & Victor Labenske
Goin' home
Goin' home
I'm a goin' home
Quiet like
Some still day
I'm jes' goin' home
It's not far
Jes' close by
Through an open door
Work all done
Care laid by
Gon' to fear no more
Mother's there
'spectin' me
Father's waitin' too
Lots o' folk
Gathered there
All the friends i knew
I'm goin'
I'm goin' home
I'm a goin' home
Mornin' star
Lights the way
Res'less dream all done
Shadow's gone
Break o' day
Real life just begun
There's no break
There's no end
Jes' a livin' on
Wide awake
With a smile
Goin' on and on
Goin' home
Goin' home
I'm jes' goin' home
It's not far
Jes' close by
Through an open door
Goin' home
[Spoken]
Goin' home
I'm jes' goin' home
I don’t know if I’ll be reconnected with all my loved ones who have gone before me. Somehow, I rather doubt it. It would be nice, but it’s not something that I sit around and expect.
Several years ago I recorded a whole album of songs about life and death. That music you just heard was the opening song of the album. Goin’ Home. I woke up one morning and realized that I had probably lived more years than the years ahead of me. Here in the western world we tend to ignore death like the plague ... like it will never happen. Ha! Life is full of surprises. Is it not? So, I decided to honor the eventual event, by really dealing with it and thinking about it ... and ended up writing about it. In song, no less. It was good for me. I’m not afraid of it. I’m actually curious about the transition. I’m not in any hurry towards it, but when the time comes, I very much want to be totally conscious and aware. I would never want to die in my sleep. I’d miss all the fun!
I always loved Steven Jobs’ last words: “Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!” Now that’s the way I wanna go out.
So today we’re gonna face it. There are, of course, many aspects, many issues to deal with. There’s the consideration of those left behind, for me there’s the consideration that I might have to then stop writing music -- a thing that I passionately live for. For me ... I once wrote these next three lines down as a beginning of a future song that I might yet write ...
If I may be so bold
I'm not afraid of dyin'
I'm afraid a gettin' old
There’s also the consideration of suddenly being taken without first giving permission. This would not be fun. As per example:
How Are We Raising Our Sons?
Music and Lyrics by Peter Link
Walking home
From streetlight to streetlight
Heartbeat to heartbeat
Watching the shadows
Holding God's hand
And knowing I walk not alone
Yet anxious
These butterflies here in the pit of my stomach
Are turning my heart to stone
And the fear that comes over me
On the window, tapping
Chilling me down to the bone
Should never have breathed
Its cold breath on my shoulder
Following...
Following me home
Breathless I wonder
Why is this happening?
What have I done to deserve...?
No! The fault is not mine
They are the ones
Mothers and fathers
People of earth
How are we raising our sons?
How are we raising our sons?
[Interlude]
Passing by
The boys on their lunch break
Whistling and taunting
Courage in numbers
Having "their fun"
With me as I stare straight ahead
Such cowardice
Though I wonder which one of them
Might have presumption
To actu'lly follow me home
And the thought that burns into me
Is that how can any man
Take just whatever he wants?
And why be so spoiled
And so disrespectful
Casting stones
And following me home?
Sadly I ask you
Why must we bend to you?
What have we done to deserve...?
No! The fault is not ours
You are the ones
Mothers, and fathers
Look to yourselves
How are we raising our sons?
How are we raising our sons?
Look to yourselves
Look to your children
Look to the things that are taught
This attack on my innocence
Is the essence of avarice
So look to the things in your thought
Look to yourselves
Look to your children
Look to the things that are taught
This attack on my innocence
Is the essence of avarice
So look to the things in your thought
Look to yourselves
Look to your children
Look to the things that are taught
This attack on my innocence
Is the essence of avarice
So look to the things in your thought
Before all that we live for comes undone
Look upon these
And ask yourselves, please
"How am I raising my son?"
Strongest, for me, and for all of us, I suspect, is the notion that the transition might come before we’re really ready to go. Here are my most sincere thoughts on this topic:
What Could Have Been
Music and Lyrics by Peter Link
I'll always miss what could have been
And all the things that might have been
When I am gone from here
If looking back upon this life
Is possible beyond this life
The one thing that I fear
Is missing you
And missing us
And all the joys gone up in smoke
Yes the one thing that I fear
Is missing all the years ahead
And all the things that could have been
When things come to an end
I've no regrets of days gone by
I've let live the life I've led
My one regret is missing you
And the things that lie ahead
Another night sleeping next to you
Your crooked smile and yes your tears
The primitive and complex of you
The cavity and convex of you
I've loved so all these years
When I am gone and brood upon
What few men comprehend
I'll question then what could have been
And just why it had to end
The aspect of leaving the ones we love has to be the hardest of all. Sometimes when I really think about it, I whine like a child, “it’s not fair! Why does it have to end? Who ever came up with this stupid idea that this is the way it should work? Bummer!
Mindy Jostyn, as talented a woman as I ever worked with, was taken early in life. What did she ever do to deserve that? A mother to two little boys, a musical talent that was a gift to the world, a sweet and beautifully creative person ... In her last moments I was still producing her last album. I didn’t know it at the time, but many of the songs on the album were written by her because she knew she was on her way out. Here’s one ... a prayer written for her children, a last wish, a divine will and testament ... when I was producing these songs I had no idea of the depth of this song, a song about her impending death. She had told very few of what she knew was coming. It was only later on that I finally realized what she was really saying.
Give Them Wings to Fly
Music and Lyrics by Mindy Jostyn
I do believe that heaven sends angels from above
Sheltering the children God has given me to love
For nothing is as sacred as the caring of their souls
How I long to keep them safe wherever they may go
If I could I'd hide them in the warmth of my embrace
And let their world be filled with only innocence and grace
But if I gave them all the riches underneath the moon
Still my only place of hope is giving them to You
[Chorus]
There will be broken dreams that I cannot repair
Silent tears my hands will never dry
Far beyond the reaches of my love I know You will be there
Father, hear their every cry
And give them wings to fly
Looking back I see the hand of God is always near
Angels weave their presence through a tapestry of years
The echoes of my mother's prayers
have now become my plea
Covering my children with the grace that covers me
[Chorus]
I have seen the way the world
can toss and turn a tender heart
So I'm trusting You to meet them where they are
[Chorus]
The fact is, that I really like it here and I simply do not want to leave this experience. I’ve got too much to do, too much to learn, and too much to give.
I enjoy things like breathing. I enjoy eating. I love to laugh. I love to love. To put it simple, I simply refuse to go.
Aw, I know, I know, life doesn’t exactly offer me the choice of when, where, and how, but when the time does come, I do hope to be ready. Here’s a few friends who agree with me and graciously helped me express my feelings on the subject.
Kevin Osborne, Margaret Dorn, Jenny Burton, Darryl Tookes
& Catherine Russell
There's a Mountain in My Way
Music and Lyrics by Peter Link
I got my eye on heaven
I'll be goin' some day
But every time I turn around
There's a mountain in my way
I'm tryin' to find my heaven
But much to my dismay
Ev'ry time I'm homeward bound
There's a mountain in my way
I can't go under
Can't go around
Got to climb up over
To the holy ground
An' I can't turn back
Can't go astray
And there's a mountain in my way
It's the age old story
Of how we overcome
Talkin' 'bout the quest
For fame and glory
An' how I gotta get me some
You see I love the things
Of this existence
Far too much
I've no resistence
An' the road it stretches
Such a distance
There's a mountain in my way
Oh!
Yes it's!
The age old story
Of how we overcome
Talkin' 'bout the quest
For fame and glory
I thought I hadda get me some
You see I love this world
I love the action
Much too much
To my distraction
That's right!
We talkin' 'bout satisfaction
An' the thirst won't go away
I got my eye on heaven
I'll be goin' some day
But every time I turn around
There's a mountain in my way
Well I can't see leavin' the life I've led
An' I can't see nothin' of the road ahead
An' I know there's a-comin'
The judgement day
But the thirst won't go away
So pardon all my palpitation
I can't stand such anticipation
Got a hundred pounds of frustration
There's a mountain in my way
Now by and by
When the morning comes
When the saints of God are gathered home we'll tell the
Story of how we've overcome
For we'll understand it better by and by
Yes, I do have my eye on Heaven, but I’m workin’ on gettin’ there BEFORE I leave the planet, not after. I know, that’s probably a weird thing to say, but when ya’ think about it, why wait till ya’ die to get to Heaven? That seems to me to be such an old-fashioned notion. Like Heaven is some sort of reward for the good guys and Hell is some sort of punishment for the bad guys. I’ve already experienced both ends of the pendulum right here on little ol’ Planet Earth.
No, by the time I get there, I’d like to feel immediately right at home so that the whole experience would be just like walkin’ through a door into another room. After all, leaving here’s gonna be hard enough. Why not just be comfortable about it. This just isn’t my idea alone, either. Why, my old friend, Jenny Burton, agrees with me to the nth degree. Ain’t that right, Jenny?
Heaven
Music and Lyrics by Peter Link
I don't believe in heaven
As a place up in the sky
A place where all the angels sit
As the clouds go passin' by
I don't believe in heaven
Dressed in white and gold
A city in a world up stairs
Where all of our wings unfold
And a God sits upon His throne
I see it more as a state of mind
Since my body gets left behind
I see it more
As an open door
To a life of another kind
I don't believe in heaven
As a place this side of hell
A place where all the good folks go
A place where the spirits dwell
An' ol' Peter a-rings dem bells
I see it more as a holy space
A place to pause a spiritual base
I see it more as an open door
To a kind of a quiet grace
And when all is said and done
I think that heaven
Like earth
Is what we make of it
It's a moment in the sun
It's a cleansing time
In a state of grace
It's a place where laughter reigns
Oh it's heaven
Heaven
It's heaven
Oh it's heaven
Now I believe in heaven
As a place where I belong
A state of grace a joyful space
A place I can sing my song
I'll be livin' high in this state of mind
Free from the earth
And the ties that bind
I'll walk right through
That old open door
To a life of another kind
And when all is said and done
I think that heaven
Like earth
Is what we make of it
It's a moment in the sun
It's a cleansing time
In a state of grace
It's a place where laughter reigns
Oh it's heaven
Heaven
It's heaven
Oh it's heaven
Heaven
It's heaven
Oh it's heaven
It's heaven
Yeah it's heaven
Oooooohh
It's heaven!
So, just where is it that we’re gonna end up? I haven’t got a clue. At this point, for most all of us, at best, it’s a matter of speculation. I do know this, however. Some part of me, not my body, but some part ... is gonna continue, is gonna move on. The best part that I can come up with can be defined with one word: Consciousness. Some part of me is still going to be conscious of me, of life. At the root of me, at the essence of me, is a kind of energy. Forget the material part. I don’t expect that to last, but even science knows that energy never dies, it simply transforms, evolves, changes its nature. That’s what I’m plannin’ to do. Transform, evolve and change my nature.
When it’s time, I suppose I’ll have to go, but there are clearly some things that I want to take with me and clearly some things that are going to get left behind. For instance: Here’s a song that, if you joined us from the start, you already heard several episodes ago, but it fits right in, perfectly ... and besides, who ever said that ya’ can’t listen to a song more than once?
Yours Truly,
I Can't Remember My Name
Music and Lyrics by Peter Link
Yesterday I found myself at heaven's gate
Looking back I must have up and died
I just can't remember
What it was I did
As my last act upon the earth
Before I died
Well I probably turned the corner
At the wrong time
Or I might have stuck my finger
Through the fan
Well I hope I learned my lesson
But I guess I'll never know
But oh I remember my face
I looked back but it seemed out of place
I just laughed as I slipped into space
And the walls were so white
And the light was so bright
Well I've tried goin' back to the day I died
But I'm already over on the other side
And I can't go back cuz
I can't remember my name
[Interlude]
People that I knew and loved are fading fast
The mem'ries of my past are nearly gone
Ol' what's her name was with me
When I kicked the bucket
She said fuck it
He ain't breathin' anymore
So I might as well get on
With this new chapter
I should turn the page
And put the past away
But I keep on getting flashes
Of the way it used to be
And oh I remember the kid
Somethin' about somethin' he did
One thin thought but the rest of it slid
Down the back of my mind
And I left it behind
So I tried goin' back to the day I died
But I'm already over on the other side
And I can't go back cuz
I can't remember my name
Was it Jimmy
Was it Georgie
Was it Johnny
Was it Jerry
Was it maybe even Mary Lou
Well a hunka my mind is a-slippin' away
And I don't know what to do
Yesterday I found myself still in a jam
I don't know no longer who I am
I guess I'm like a baby
Wondering if maybe
I could take another form and try again
Well I wish I could go back
Into my family
If I only could remember
Who they are
I would smile up at my mother
As I listened for my name
But oh I'm losin' touch with the past
It all went just a little too fast
And no one told me that nothin' would last
I left my body behind
And now there goes my mind
So I tried goin' back to the day I died
But I'm already over on the other side
And I can't go back cause
I can't remember my name
No, as difficult as this ol’ world is, with its politics and its pandemics, and its recessions and its climate problems and its polarization struggles etc., etc., etc., I’m stayin’ ... because I like being me, whatever my name is. We also have something here, and that’s Love, that I’m sure exists in other places, with other states of being, but right now it’s here, it’s present in my life — in my love for music, for people, for creativity, for beauty and intelligence, and for family. And for me, Love is just a huge plus when it comes to life on Planet Earth.
Love Is the Reason for Living
Music and Lyrics by Peter Link
We dwell in the arena
Of immense conflicting forces
Our lives are swayed by counsel
From a million diff'rent sources
As we near each troubled crossroad
With a rising tide of fear
And wonder what becomes of us
When the tidal waves appear
We cannot help but turn to God
To summon His defense
To stir instead the floodtides of love
His sustenance
His deliverance
And so we strip away the falsehood
From the truth of who we are
And commit our lives
To innocence once again
Love is the answer
Love is every answer
Love is God forgiving
Love is the reason for living
Yes love is the reason
For living
We long to stand the summit
In the pinnacles of Spirit
Where death no longer finds us
No and we no longer fear it
And the light of life surrounds us
With its infinite embrace
And Love pervades our consciousness
And evokes its change of base
Love is the answer
Love is every answer
Love is God life-giving
Love is the reason for living
Yes love is the reason
For living
Thus completes Part 1 of A Matter Of Life And Death. Please tune in to part 2 as we begin to explore the Probability of Life Eternal.
End of Part 1