John Fahey
Fare Forward Voyagers (Soldier's Choice)

A few days ago, I was walking under the lazy trees of a park, where years ago, as a child, I would spend entire days. And I realized that the smell of time is sniffed with the mind, not with the nose. I revisited many old afternoons, perhaps a bit hazy, but clear enough: the core always resurfaces. Bright afternoons, now lost in the seasons that have chased each other. And it’s incredible to see how the cycle still continues, mysterious and fascinating. And all of us, absolutely all of us, still try in one way or another to make sense of all this, to bake a translation for this cryptic wonder we call life.

Musically speaking, many artists have dipped their heads into these fountains of infinite waters, sitting quietly and letting the music come on its own. The good John Fahey let his splendid guitar navigate these dormant routes, lapping up shores of the mind lost who knows where. This work is a tribute to all “travelers,” whether using the head or the legs doesn't matter. The music contained in “Fare Forward Voyagers” (1973) is a fresco of lives and journeys, where gently portrayed are all those who have lived, live, and will live, all travelers of the past, present, and future, all the men who have eyes wide open with curiosity, the dreamers-thinkers-walkers, the draggers of themselves now tired, the brave hunters of clouds, the breathing-magical oxygen...

In a splendid “mystical-folk” reinterpretation, John Fahey transforms into instrumental music the splendid verses of T.S. Eliot, also following the philosophical teachings of the Far East. The result is a sonic journey within man, a sort of mystical contemplation in music, with the guitar strings gushing, running, and relaxing, creating sweet, mysterious, unstable melodies, tending, however, towards a general harmony. The album is composed of three long tracks:

“When The Fire And The Rose Are One” (13' 54''); meaning “when the fire and the rose are one.” Fahey picks up a verse by Eliot, according to which when this union occurs, everything in the world will float in a blessed balance. All expressed through brushstrokes of notes and chords, constantly balancing between calm and storm, as if seeking that famous balance to which everything ultimately aspires;

“Thus Krishna On The Battlefield” (6' 36''); concerns the importance of acting and performing deeds disinterestedly, to ensure greater harmony in the world. The echoes of Indian and Eastern philosophies are very strong here, as can be noted, moreover, from the title. In this track, the guitar favors free harmonies, which often mingle with sound sparks of a resolute, low, and somber tone;

“Fare Forward Voyagers” (23' 38''); the long end of the search. It is the fresco of the journey and above all the wish to the travelers, where they are headed, who knows. It is the track in which Fahey's “impressionistic” guitar work is completely revealed, in an alternation of unstable musical paths, sudden flights, continuous searches for something elusive, until reaching the placid final chords, perhaps depicting the balance reached; it wasn't the first of our life, and it won’t be the last. Quoting once again the verses of the English poet Eliot: “Not fare well / But fare forward voyagers”.

In short, compadres, an album to listen to in silence and to sniff very slowly, coming to discover that ultimately music, and that other thing we call life, are in reality an inseparable whole. And let’s admit it, just thinking about how many stories intertwine and breathe in the world makes one dizzy.

This review is dedicated to all those who live, for better or for worse. Bon voyage on your journey, from the heart...