ETA: Looks like I fibbed yet again, this time about waiting to figure out how to get "Middle Of Nowhere." the new Mike Post/Alan Doyle collaboration, up on YouTube:
I was going to just rip the audio, but since the song plays during the show's opening sequence and is so integrally and crucially a necessary part of that larger story - which is, after all, the fundamental purpose of and reason for any film/television score, as well as the definitive measure of the composers' success in writing that score - I thought it fitting to leave the visuals intact.
And now I am heading off for my full 45 minutes of sleep. With a smile across my face.
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After realising there wasn't going to be any way to get the USA Network here in St. John's, I spent half the night fooling around with trying to download and then play torrents of tonight's Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode so I could hear that new Alan Doyle/Mike Post song for myself. Not a bit of luck with that, and then I had to spend more time getting rid of the Trojan virus I downloaded onto my laptop along with those balky torrents. Not happy, not one bit.
And then I remembered where all the Americans have been going to catch the Canada-only Republic Of Doyle episodes down in the States: CastTV. And suddenly I was very, very happy indeed.
(There's a note on the page about some sort of timed viewing limit, but that's easily gotten around by simply downloading the file.)
Middle Of Nowhere - written by Mike Post & Alan Doyle, performed by Alan Doyle
Some souls are lost forever
Some hearts won't e'er be found
When a sailor seeks a journey
Never knowin' where it's bound
The best things he can offer
Are a bowline and a mast
There's clouds on the horizon
And they're comin' awful fast
We're a long, long way from nowhere
With a long, long way to go
Where these black tides have carried me before
Delivered into darkness,
The centre of the sin
It's the middle of nowhere
And I'm goin' back again
We're a long, long way from nowhere
With a long, long way to go
Where these black tides have carried me before
They say a wise man falls for nothing
But I havent met one yet
Boatloads full of broken fools
And the stumbles they regret
Oh, we're all just cuts and bruises
Yeah we're only guts and bones
Busted hulls and gunnels
Tryin' to find our way back home
We're a long, long way from nowhere
With a long, long way to go
Where these black tides have carried me before
We're a long, long way from nowhere
With a long, long way to go
Delivered into darkness
The centre of the sin
It's the middle of nowhere
And I'm goin' back again
And I'm goin' back again
Alan's and Mike's song - be sure to notice the writing/performing mentions in the credits that run after an opening sequence that's set to the song they've written - is exactly what's to be expected of a collaboration between two such formidably talented artists: It's powerfully written and played, powerfully sung as well - a searing vocal from Alan, totally fitting with the equally searing lyrics. It's beautifully arranged too: Acoustic guitar, whistle, bodhran, a bit of a banjo, and then an electric guitar - you really need to watch the full episode and catch the reprise at the very end for full electric-guitar effect - that smoulders...as does Alan.
The song establishes tone and mood and context, and it both reveals and delineates the boundaries of the world in which the story takes place - introduction, epilogue and haunting foundation. It's yet another one of those examples of a moment that would have stopped me in my tracks and made me determined to discover who it was who had written and performed such a unique and striking song.
Mike Post gave Alan a grand opportunity to reach out and step up into the Big Time; Alan has shown beyond any doubt just how much he belongs in the dazzle of that brightest of spotlights. No matter how highly I think of Alan, no matter how much I know he'll excel at anything he sets his heart on and his hand to...still, he somehow manages to do it even better than I believed he would. Quite the feat to be able to so thoroughly impress someone who is already absolutely sure that you are wonderful.
Watch the clip, listen to the song, join in the respect for, admiration of, and pride in Alan's latest excellent accomplishment. And then hold on tight and look ahead with anticipation for the next thrilling stop on the Bold Sailor's journey.
Speaking of journey's next thrilling stop, one more lovely, charming, and revealingly characteristic photo from the Walk Of Fame:
I'm going to fool around with this video file and see if I can split it up and rip the audio off as a mp3. Maybe I'll YouTube that. But not till tomorrow. Or not till later today, that is. It's nearly 6 am now and houseguests are due in on the Halifax flight in a little more than two hours. Which means I get to nap for a little less than two hours. And then Juno Week begins in earnest. Busy times ahead.
Not that any of this will distract me for long from the sheer wonder of this Alan Doyle/Mike Post song. Holy frig, he hit it out of the park this time - every time I listen to this song, I can't help smiling so much that it's making my face hurt. I have a feeling I'll be smiling in my sleep, what little of that there's going to be.
Way to go, Alan. You have done wonderfully well, as true this time as it has been, as it will be, for so many others. This is one amazing journey you are on.
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