Here Comes the Sun

Richie Havens, bless his recently departed soul, is grating his way through his wonderful, acoustic version of the Beatles' classic, "Here Comes the Sun" on my office speakers. If you aren't familiar, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Up until this moment, today has been one for the rubbish bin. But, something about this wonderful, classic song, written by the self-actualized George Harrison just may give me a reason to adjust my brightness setting. Havens interprets this song brilliantly. To my ear, there is no better performance of this piece -  not even by the Fab Four themselves - than Mr. Havens'.

Richie Havens was the hero of Woodstock. As the festival's first act, he performed brilliantly. And when the acts to follow were delayed by the sea of humanity descending upon Yasgur's Farm, he continued to perform. And perform. And perform some more for over three hours and many encores - at least some of which were totally ad-libbed.

I wonder if any of today's music idols could do that? Actually, I don't wonder. But for a precious few the answer is a resounding "no."

Not that it should be considered easy. Ever tried to sing a song around the campfire that everyone knows? It seldom goes well. Now imagine that same group following only the direction "follow my lead". Cue train wreck. Performances such as these are art being created in front of the masses, for the masses. That we have the ability to record these, essentially capturing lightning in a bottle is no small miracle insofar as I am concerned.

I don't know where I would be without these magical minutes. On a day where the stress is high, the wind whips around my door and I hear the angry raindrops asserting themselves on my roof, "Here Comes the Sun" isn't just a song. It's a prayer of hope. A praise for salvation. An unrelentingly positive message of faith that cannot be misconstrued.

Today. Right now. You're down. Life is hard. Peace and love hard to come by. The phone will ring and people will darken your door bringing to you news you don't want to hear, tasks you don't what to do, challenges that make you feel impotent.

But, it will be over soon. See? Little Darlin' It's been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little Darlin', it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun. Here comes the sun and I say... it's alright.