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1. |
Imagine (Part 1)
02:39
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Imagine… imagine your life disrupted, interrupted, by a need decreed to retreat, safe, protected from being infected by the state of unknown. Confusion sown, a mournful tone; shown with semitones descending, lamenting [and] entrenching the feeling of being alone.
The obstinance of sorrow, no plan for tomorrow, trapped in a careless cycle of Thoughts and Prayers, illogical, psychological musical chairs. Your clouded mind impaired, scared, and so unaware of how to resolve your Internal Conflict.
Cue the minor key, start the multi-movement suite of sorrow, the impotent, insolent dissonant chords that hurt you, strive to subvert you, while you struggle to find a way through Grief and Despair. But where? Wait. Breathe. Seize your tenacity in the change of keys. An Uncertain Future lies ahead, lows and highs to come instead… Imagine.
Imagine your life. You will survive, and strive to rise out of your resignation; an invitation, no obligation to forge your path in determination for a journey to assert your soul, your goals, to live your creed, the values you bleed, by seeing your self-worth, seeking your rebirth, with the first steps of Reaching In… Reaching In.
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2. |
Thoughts and Prayers
04:16
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3. |
Internal Conflict
01:18
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4. |
Grief and Despair
07:00
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5. |
Uncertain Future
05:50
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6. |
Reaching In
06:35
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7. |
Imagine (Part 2)
02:25
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Imagine your life, in your inward journey, what do you see?…
How things should be, could be, would be if you didn’t isolate, in your survival state, your social anxiety, your neuropsychology fighting inside, disrupting your role in society. But you try to engage, turn the page; you do the work despite the effort; and it’s hard. You open your eyes to the world around you, and you see the lies. It’s Time to Rise to help those who grieve, who need, and those who can’t breathe. You’re deeply affected by communities subjected to unjust systems failing its victims. Social media amplifying discomforting views and horrifying news, you get empathy overload. Yet why this passiveness, why this paralysis?
You withdraw in distraction, lost in facts that leads to obsessive attraction to screens, your vices now routine. Excessive stimulation, your mind tripping with dopamine; your mentality and morality suspended in the tonality of augmented reality. Your seclusive self-harm is an adverse reaction to your inaction. You ask: What am I doing? The pain remains as you seek to escape the weight of self-critique that speaks loudly, and resonates deeply.
Imagine your life, adrift and distressed. You miss the grounding musicality, the simple reality of what feeds you, what it is that heals you; a recipe of remedy to reject the flawed fantasy, to reach in and grasp the authenticity of makes you unabashedly and genuinely true.
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8. |
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9. |
Tripping Triceratops
05:42
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10. |
Augmented Reality
05:28
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11. |
Simple Reality
01:07
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12. |
Imagine (Part 3)
03:17
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Imagine… Imagine your life, with all you’ve been through. You need time to recoup, regroup with a step backward for the next piece, the stress release… the elusive restorative inner peace.
In contemplation and self-guided meditation, a melodic motif of one step-descending and one skip ascending, questioning yet metaphorically representing your unique identity, fills your thoughts.
But upon reflection, your self-discovery and clarity anew is not a break-through, it is something you always knew. This cognizance fuels your confidence, and the rising third, the musical signal you already heard, brings consonance to embrace your mild inner child… As you reconcile your fears, through your tears, you smile… You can do this. You must do this. Look around: you’re not alone. You’re supported by those who ground you, surround you, on this precarious personal path that calls to you, emboldens and moves you… that spurs and inspires you.
Imagine… imagine your life, full of its shortcomings and setbacks, fixations and fears, though now you realize it’s also rich with connected communities of colleagues and companions, family and friends. You can accept their support, aspire to step out, to see what’s there, in full acceptance of your internal essence, your soul within… Yet at the end of the day… it’s the music we play.
The collective meaning we create from the beauty of our brokenness, the fruits of our failings, the harmony in our healing hearts, and hope, the hope distilled from our dreams, no longer imagined but now lived, once repressed and entirely unattained but today reclaimed and celebrated in our refrain, which fuels and sustains our journey of reaching in… and reaching out… Imagine.
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13. |
Inner Peace
05:51
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14. |
Inner Child
02:17
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15. |
Through My Tears I Smile
05:54
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16. |
Acceptance
03:54
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James McGowan Ensemble / Modasaurus Ottawa, Ontario
www.jamesmcgowan.ca
James McGowan is an active composer and pianist, having performed in Canada, the
US, and in Europe. Stylistically, he finds the hybrid space within jazz, classical, contemporary improvisation, art music, and world musics. Dr. McGowan is a multiple award-winning professor of music at Carleton University where he teaches music theory and composition.
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