I want to share with you...A mysterious song! A most mysterious song!

I offer you a song that has haunted me for years and given me hours of sheer wonder considering the meaning of the lyrics. Here is the link to Youtube so that you can hear this masterpiece of dramatic choreography. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9LJkyZU-QM Al Stewart- One Stage Before  1975

It seems to me as though I've been upon this stage before And juggled away the night for the same old crowd These harlequins you see with me, they too have held the floor As here once again they strut and they fret their hour I see those half-familiar faces in the second row Ghost-like with the footlights in their eyes But where or when we met like this last time I just don't know It's like a chord that rings and never dies For infinity And now these figures in the wings with all their restless tunes Are waiting around for someone to call their names They walk the backstage corridors and prowl the dressing-rooms And vanish to specks of light in the picture-frames But did they move upon the stage a thousand years ago In some play in Paris or Madrid? And was I there among them then, in some travelling show And is it all still locked inside my head For infinity And some of you are harmonies to all the notes I play Although we may not meet still you know me well While others talk in secret keys and transpose all I say And nothing I do or try can get through the spell So one more time we'll dim the lights and ring the curtain up And play again like all the times before But far behind the music you can almost hear the sounds Of laughter like the waves upon the shores Of infinity Guitar solo played by Tim Renwick: Drums: Stuart Elliot Produced by Alan Parsons Recorded at Abbey Road Studio Now my commentary: It seems to me as though I've been upon this stage before self-referential, especially if one is performing the song on stage And juggled away the night for the same old crowd  Which gives a clue to the song's title---one stage before. These harlequins you see with me, they too have held the floor Harlequins-fellow players. As here once again they strut and they fret their hour they too have been here before (deja vu) I see those half-familiar faces in the second row Ghost-like with the footlights in their eyes what a masterful poetic perception! And note its realism, he even desfcribes the lighting. But where or when we met like this last time I just don't know Here is a deep mystery It's like a chord that rings and never dies tying in the song itself and noting its endless temporality For infinity And now these figures in the wings with all their restless tunes verse two introduces a new cast of characters---not players. Are waiting around for someone to call their names spirits of music itself or the tunes which enliven this stage They walk the backstage corridors and prowl the dressing-rooms And vanish to specks of light in the picture-frames these characters are transported on specks of light and vanish in paintings But did they move upon the stage a thousand years ago In some play in Paris or Madrid? And was I there among them then, in some travelling show Was I there?---the singer reveals himself And is it all still locked inside my head Is this all in his head--i.e., hallucination For infinity And some of you are harmonies to all the notes I play Now he addresses those who are listening---calls them 'harmonies' to his notes. Although we may not meet still you know me well When I first met Al Stewart in Seattle, I shook his hand and quoted this line.  But many others who never meet Al "still [may] know him well."While others talk in secret keys and transpose all I say There are others who talk in secret key (signatures) and transpose these lyrics And nothing I do or try can get through the spell This causes a 'spell' through which the singer cannot penetrate. So one more time we'll dim the lights and ring the curtain up So one more time-fulfilling the title:One More Stage. Also, "So" as in therefore...And play again like all the times before To play again like all the times before. Are all stages one four dimensional outpouring? But far behind the music you can almost hear the sounds But----behind this song you might hear something else that is almost audible--- it is laughter like wavesOf laughter like the waves upon the shores Of infinity Upon the shores of infinity.  This is merely my "take" on the song, each one may come to his own interpretation. However, remember that the interpretation that is 'optimal' accounts for the meaning of the verses without importing ideas and images that are not literally there. The Music The song begins with an eery and hypnotic 12 string guitar strumming in a basic triple meter between Em and C. The beat is a complex meter when you listen to the syncopated hi-hat rhythm. When I met the drummer who played this song for Al Stewart in Seattle the night I met the entire band and partied with them (the same drummer that played for  the Spencer Davis Group), he showed me how to play the hi-hat figure. The bass is prominent in the first verse. "For INFINITY" ends verse one-and here the producer adds more reverb to Al's voice which renders an eery feel. And for the next verse a low fuzzy synthesized tone adds an obsessive backdrop to verse 2. "For INFINITY" is sung with yet more reverb, sounding very eery. The cumulative energy keeps building as verse 3 opens. Now the synthesized voice is in a treble register. What an amazing choice. "OF INFINITY" adds a twinkling bell phrase that ushers in the guitar solo. THe guitar solo is truly one of my favorites. It is well known that Al stewart has a reputation of hiring many fine guitarists, moreover in the choice of Tim Renwick, who played on Al's previous two albums the familiarity seems to grow until he plays this masterful piece. Alan Parsons also produced the two albums leading up to Year of The Cat, the album from which this song is pulled. The solo is played on a stratocaster, if I am not mistaken. The solo plays over the chord changes: Em/C/Em/C  [Capo at the 3rd fret---sounds in Gm]

The alternating phrase in the verses is G---D/F#--C--Am  Em/C

The bridge begins in G

G--D--C--G/B--Am

D--Am--Bm

C--G/B--Am--G--D/F#--Em

Am--D--B--Em ("for INFINITY") Notice how the B chord sets up the key phrase: FOR INFINITY

Notice what the drummer plays behind the solo---it is as good as it gets in studio drumming---Stuart Elliot.

The final note of the solo seems to fade into the wind sounding synth production, like "a speck of light into a picture frame."

There is more that I could say about this eery and wonderful song but I prefer listening to music rather than talking about it.