Here’s a poem by Graeme Edge that has stuck with my most of my life.
Departure
by Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues
Be it sight, sound, smell, or touch
There's something inside that we need so much
The sight of a touch or the scent of a sound
Or the strength of an oak with roots deep in the ground
The wonder of flowers to be covered and then to burst up
Through tarmac, to the sun again
Or to fly to the sun without burning a wing
To lie in a meadow and hear the grass sing
To have all these things in our memories' hoard
And to use them, to help us, to find...
I find that I use this misquoted phrase all the time “And it shall burst forth,” usually in the context of household plumbing, volcanic eruptions and other various bodily functions, or waiting for the potatoes to sprout in the garden. But nonsense aside, this is a fascinating poem.
In the recording, the voice begins soft and calm, but ends in a manic energy.
“Departure” is such a fascinating choice. Written by the band’s drummer, Graeme Edge, for the 1968 album In Search of the Lost Chord, it isn’t just a poem; it’s the sonic ignition switch for the entire record. Between the frantic laughter and the mounting tension of the music, it really captures that “launching into the unknown” feeling.
Gemini
In Search of the Lost Chord opens with a poem by Graeme Edge, which was spoken by Edge himself (rather than Mike Pinder as in most cases). Its words describe how a sensory experience can serve as the impetus for the beginning of a journey.
Wikipedia
Let’s imagine the Moody Blues commissioning a forgotten Victorian painter (with a WLBOTT connection) to design their album cover. The result would feel like a mystical 19th-century painting that somehow wandered into a 1968 record shop.
A WLBOTT Twist
Or to fly to the sun without burning a wing
If Icarus had been a chicken, the Greek myths would have been very different. Much more clucking, fewer tragic endings, and possibly a cooperative agricultural society built around heroic hens.
Mission to the Dark Side of the Sun
