‘a beautiful record with a
deep emotional core…’
The Beyondness Of Things (1999)
The Beyondness Of Things (1999)
by John Barry
 |
| Swingin' '60s JB with then wife Jane Birkin |
The Beyondness Of Things, recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra when Barry was in his mid-sixties, was, perhaps surprisingly, his first non-soundtrack album. An acoustic project, it has more in common with his later film scores such as Somewhere In Time (1981) and the Oscar-winning Out Of Africa (1985) and Dances With Wolves (1990) than with the electric and bass guitars that feature in his earlier work alongside exotic instruments such as the cimbalom.
The cover of TBOT, a monochrome shot of Barry gazing out to sea, reflects the dreamy, nostalgic atmosphere of the twelve very homogenous pieces on the album. The quotation from Nabokov about memory being the ‘long-drawn sunset of one’s personal truth’ which appears on the sleeve also catches the tone of the music perfectly. That most wistful of instruments, the harmonica (used to great effect thirty years earlier in Barry’s score for Midnight Cowboy), carries several of the melodies amidst subtle washes of brass and woodwind, whilst the strings, piano and an occasional wordless choir provide stirringly romantic backgrounds.
The opening title-track, though not an overture as such, does set the tone for the symphonic sweep of the music to come. Suggestive of the ineffable quality inherent in its title, the yearning strings and steady bass evoke the philosophical approach to the human condition that may only come with age. 'Kissably Close' features a harmonica that seems to shrug its shoulders with a smile which hints that the phrase 'and yet so far' might have been added in parenthesis to the title.
The opening title-track, though not an overture as such, does set the tone for the symphonic sweep of the music to come. Suggestive of the ineffable quality inherent in its title, the yearning strings and steady bass evoke the philosophical approach to the human condition that may only come with age. 'Kissably Close' features a harmonica that seems to shrug its shoulders with a smile which hints that the phrase 'and yet so far' might have been added in parenthesis to the title.
This romanticism is both formal - in the sense of it evoking the sublimity of nature and the mystery of life (as in 'Heartlands') – and informal in the sense of romantic love, nowhere more evident than in ‘Give Me A Smile’, which may bring to mind in the listener, the aching poignancy of tearjerker pictures like Brief Encounter or The Bridges Of Madison County. This piece is perhaps the only one which sounds like a song – not that it actually needs a lyric or vocal*1.
The nostalgic tone is most marked in ‘A Childhood Memory’ with its yearning coda echoing the nursery rhyme, ‘Nick Nack Paddy Wack’. Drums meanwhile make a rare appearance in ‘Meadow Of Delight And Sadness’, conjuring images for me drawn from Western films of riding through open plains and Monument Valley
An alto saxophone lends a jazz feel to 'Nocturnal New York' whilst a trumpet leads 'Gifts Of Nature'. A gradual sunrise is gently evoked on 'Dawn Chorus', which revolves around a five-note figure played on harp with a flute appearing half-way through to simulate the birds in flight. The curiously titled 'The Fictionist' and 'The Day The Earth Fell Silent' both open ominously before resolving into melodic mellowness.
The final track, ‘Dance With Reality’ opens with a splash of cymbals and again features drums along with saxophone and the sole appearance of electric guitar. A rolling piano leads the tune and by the time the guitar solo arrives, followed by the final flourishes from Tommy Morgan's harmonica reminiscent of Midnight Cowboy, the mood is the most upbeat on the album.Without abandoning the overall ambience of the album, this jazzy closer might, in days gone by, have provided the basis of another Bond theme and, given its title, may have been intended by Barry as a nod in the direction of the style which made his name.
An alto saxophone lends a jazz feel to 'Nocturnal New York' whilst a trumpet leads 'Gifts Of Nature'. A gradual sunrise is gently evoked on 'Dawn Chorus', which revolves around a five-note figure played on harp with a flute appearing half-way through to simulate the birds in flight. The curiously titled 'The Fictionist' and 'The Day The Earth Fell Silent' both open ominously before resolving into melodic mellowness.The final track, ‘Dance With Reality’ opens with a splash of cymbals and again features drums along with saxophone and the sole appearance of electric guitar. A rolling piano leads the tune and by the time the guitar solo arrives, followed by the final flourishes from Tommy Morgan's harmonica reminiscent of Midnight Cowboy, the mood is the most upbeat on the album.Without abandoning the overall ambience of the album, this jazzy closer might, in days gone by, have provided the basis of another Bond theme and, given its title, may have been intended by Barry as a nod in the direction of the style which made his name.
N. B.
TBOT is a beautiful record with a deep emotional core, but don’t make the mistake of assuming that Eternal Echoes (2001), his second non-soundtrack album, to be on a par with it. Certainly, it’s more of the same, but remember that Barry, who started out in the late 1950s with his instrumental pop group, The John Barry 7, whilst creating formula follow-up arrangements for Adam Faith on the side, knew a cash-in opportunity when he saw one. TBOT was well-received; EE, which sounds rather like a pale imitation, was not. Try instead Barry’s tributes to jazz trumpeter, Chet Baker on the OST album, Playing By Heart (1998) or the re-recordings of some of his earlier film successes in his later style on his 1992 album, Moviola.
Veteran sessioneer and virtuoso of the chromatic harmonica, Tommy Morgan can also be heard playing on 'Good Vibrations' by The Beach Boys, 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' by The Hollies and 'Rainy Days & Mondays' by The Carpenters, to name but three of his 7,000+ sessions...
*1 - Often when I played this album, I felt the stirrings of a lyric germinating in my mind, but could never move beyond a few scrappy notes. Early in 2013 though, I sat down and listened to 'Give Me A Kiss' over and over with the laptop in front of me, scratching that itch. Having never before attempted to write words to an actual piece of music, I realised just how difficult it is to do so when the piece is as formal as 'Give Me A Smile'. When every note counts, so must every syllable. It was an engrossing challenge and when I sang it to Lisa, it reduced her to tears. Result!
You can read it below, but it will be unlikely to add up to a hill of beans unless you actually combine it with listening to the actual track. I'd have liked to have sent the lyric to John Barry, but by the time I finished it, he'd died (in 2011).
(C. IGR 2013)
Veteran sessioneer and virtuoso of the chromatic harmonica, Tommy Morgan can also be heard playing on 'Good Vibrations' by The Beach Boys, 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' by The Hollies and 'Rainy Days & Mondays' by The Carpenters, to name but three of his 7,000+ sessions...
*1 - Often when I played this album, I felt the stirrings of a lyric germinating in my mind, but could never move beyond a few scrappy notes. Early in 2013 though, I sat down and listened to 'Give Me A Kiss' over and over with the laptop in front of me, scratching that itch. Having never before attempted to write words to an actual piece of music, I realised just how difficult it is to do so when the piece is as formal as 'Give Me A Smile'. When every note counts, so must every syllable. It was an engrossing challenge and when I sang it to Lisa, it reduced her to tears. Result!
You can read it below, but it will be unlikely to add up to a hill of beans unless you actually combine it with listening to the actual track. I'd have liked to have sent the lyric to John Barry, but by the time I finished it, he'd died (in 2011).
GIVE ME A SMILE
Intro (optional)
You loved me
once
I know you
loved me
I loved you
too
You know I loved
you
I love you
still
I love you
still
Verse 1
Give me a
smile
Show me the sunrise of your smile
In these dark declining years
When love turns into tears
And dies
Verse 2
Give me a
smile
Stay here for just a little while
Pretend everything’s alright
And please let us not fight
Again
1st Bridge
You loved me once
You know you loved me once
I love you still I always will
I always will
Verse 3
Give me a smile
In your inimitable style
Even Autumn leaves
burn bright
In grey and failing light
Sometimes
Give me a smile
2nd Bridge
You loved me once
I know you loved me
I loved you too
You know I loved you
I love you still
I love you still
Repeat 1st Bridge
You loved me once
You know you loved me once
I love you still I always will
I always will
Verse 5
Give me a smile
Even if it seems so futile
Just one last time to be kind
Before leaving me behind
For good
Give me a smile
(Alternate Verses)
Give me a smile
Come go with me back down the
aisle
I promise I’ll make it right
With all of my might
I swear
Give me a smile
Let me try once more to beguile
Because you still beguile me
So very easily
My love
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