"Days of Future Passed". 45 years & still a classic.

November 2012 marks the 45th anniversary of the landmark album by The Moody Blues...Days of Future Passed. If you're not familiar with the album, you may recollect two songs - "Nights in White Satin" and "Tuesday Afternoon". "Satin" has reached #1 on Billboard on three separate occasions and most "Moody" fans consider it their greatest song.

My father, who played lead guitar and sang lead vocals in the Glen Lemar Trio from the late 1950's to the early 1960's, loved this album. When Brother Jason and I were very young, my dad used to make us listen to it WITH the stereo headphones on. "Listen to the album from start to finish," he'd say. "But we don't wanna listen to the whole album," we'd counter. "It's a concept album (like we knew what he was talking about!) You have to listen from start to finish! Now listen to it!".

Haha...I'm glad we did. Days of Future Passed is indeed a concept album. From the very first song, "The Day Begins" to the the last song, "Satin", the album depicts the day in the life of one man. And the album is peppered with drummer Graeme Edge's poetry, like "Late Lament":

Breathe deep the gathering gloom

Watch lights fade from every room

Bedsitter people look back and lament

Another day's useless energy spent.

Impassioned lovers wrestle as one,

Lonely man cries for love and has none.

New mother picks up and suckles her son,

Senior citizens wish they were young.

Cold hearted orb that rules the night,

Removes the colors from our sight.

Red is grey and yellow white,

But we decide which is right.

And which is an illusion?

 

Left to right:  Mike Pinder, Justin Hayward, Ray Thomas, Graeme Edge, John Lodge. Pinder left the band around 1978 and Thomas retired in 2002.

 

Catch up on the Moodies in this recent article. I'm now 48 and my brother is 46. The Moody Blues continue to be one of my favorite bands (Hayward, Edge and Lodge continue to perform), having seen them many times in concert (most recently at Summerfest in Milwaukee in 2011). I cherish the band love and their music. If you haven't heard the album (or want to refresh your memory), you can listen on Spotify here. Or just look for it on YouTube. And of course, you'll wanna listen from beginning to end, straight through.