Parachutes
Episode #194: Parachutes\xa0 \xa0 (Song starts at 4:40)\nBack in 1993, I had a residency as a pianist at a resort in Wairakei, near Taupo, in New Zealand. To rejuvenate myself - and lift my spirits - while I know I was very lucky to have this sort of gig, being a pianoman has it\u2019s ups and downs. During the daytime, I\u2019d often get out into nature. I\u2019d play golf or go trout fishing.\nI wrote the words for song #303, Parachutes, as I sat in my old van Hercules one late morning. I\u2019d taken a drive to a vantage point where I knew there was a fantastic view of Lake Taupo, with the volcanic plateau as a back drop. It was a pristine early winter\u2019s morning of blue sky and water.\nIt had a been a big night, the night before. After some persuasion (a conversation in a bar after the gig), I\u2019d finally been convinced to go parachuting the next day. I woke in the morning with a bad hangover and a sinking feeling of doom - which was quickly alleviated by a phone call \u201c It\u2019s too breezy, we\u2019ll have to skip it this morning\u201d.\nI got away with it.\nAs I wrote the lyrics, the winter breeze had chosen to be kind - kind to me, by blowing early, then calming down for some other parachutists, who were now hanging against the distant storm clouds in the distance. Although I wouldn\u2019t have minded their view, I certainly wasn\u2019t wishing I was up there.\nComfortable in my van, I imagined their view. It reminded me how free I was. Young, single, on the road - the future was wide open.\nI was missing my co-songwriter buddy, Paul Dredge. He\u2019d recently left - onto other things -\xa0 so I was licking my wounds a bit, determined to carry on.\nSo when it came to writing the music, back in the incredibly peaceful Kuratau, where I was based at the time, I had a go at writing an \u2018up\u2019 sort of song that Paul and I might have written together, with Paul on guitar.\nFast forward to 2023, I found my self recording a demo midway through this episode. Something was missing, and then it hit me. Another voice!\nSo I went back and recorded another vocal part (in the style of Finn brothers, Every brothers, etc) and I think Parachutes finally came together. Paul and I still enjoy singing together like this.\nAnother year is coming to close. It\u2019s been a goodie for me: I\u2019ve chosen to spend lots of time creating music and art. It\u2019s a timeless time. I\u2019m in another world. I leave all my worries, all the \u2018goings on\u2019 behind and I\u2019m completely in the zone when I write words, music and paint pictures.\nPaul and I are close to finishing our 6th Folk Rock album . The rock band PP and the Patient Hum are closing in on another one. You can find my music here: www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com\xa0 (also streaming on the usual platforms).\nLooking forward producing to a stack more music and ain 2024.\nOk join me in Hercules the van, over looking the lake, back in 1993:\nChurch bells are ringing from somewhere afar\nTimes gliding by, day by day, \nI\u2019m biding time and I gaze\nAt the parachutes in the sky\u2026\nEnjoy.\nLyrics and more art and music here on my blog www.petepascoe.Wordpress.com