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Topic: Conscience To Understand Mike Oldfield's Music?, Are We Conscious?

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_ShiNe_

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Posted: Jan. 27 2006, 14:23

What do you think? Do we need conscience to understand Mr Oldfield's music?
In my opinion, there's always been messages throughout his discography which most of the fans weren't able to decipher. We are next to discover elements which weren't taken into account, but if we are guided into Light and consciousness we'll realize that Mike is not only great because of his music but because he is The Master/Maestro.
His first album was titled Tubular Bells. As you all know, instruments such as "bells" and "glockenspiels" were key in many of his compositions. What do bells mean? Why is it that in churches we find bells in a high position? Could it be that the sound symbolizes God?
If you think, my idea is not so crazy. We also know that Oldfield has once expressed that he's a very spiritual man. He even remarks that in Light + Shade DVD interview. It is not about his virtuosity, it's about the spirituality transmitted though music.
Light + Shade is a good start to understand symbolism and Mike's music. The title is quite descriptive as well. Light and shade, right and wrong, good and evil or as George Lucas would say...The Force and the dark side of the Force.

More next time, meanwhile I'd like your opinions.

Following the Sun, the Golden One...

Piltdownboy on horseback 22 Offline

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Posted: Jan. 27 2006, 15:47

Interesting read, this!
Hmmm... (that means I'm thinking

)
I think that churchbells do not symbolise god. And I certainly don't think Mike thought about it that way, how interesting it may sound.
Mike used them, I have read, because they were there in the studio, ready for use. It just came in handy and seemed like a nice idea (that's what I think).
But about the church... I think they only used the bell, because this specific audiable sign that the church needed was the best thing they could find. Remember that they had no electricity back then, so they though: Well, what would make the loudest noise, so that people would get the message? A bell does... Anyway, that's my opinion.

Another aspect, which is worth mentioning, is the 'messages in Mikes music, which many people weren't able to decipher'.
Certainly a thing that makes it hard to understand the spiritual messages, is that they are often sung in a strange foreign language. (for instance Distant Earth and Amarok)

Another kind of symbolic messages, might be not in words, but just in feeling. Light and Shade might be a very good example of that. There are not many words, but the overall feeling of it is that of calmness and spiritual awareness.
The Shade record, obviously, symbolising the problems we have to deal with, that may damage our spiritual peace.

As a third option, about what could be said about the spirituality in his music, can be found in the lyrics of songs that are being sung in English. (the Islands and Earth Moving Lp being examples of that). Are those (spiritual) messages easier to understand than the other two kinds mentioned above? I think not, because a lot of them seem to be very cryptic and hard to understand. Now why would he do that? It has a good and bad side to it. The good thing is that it makes them no too obviously religious (the kind of Hallelujah lyrics, which I'm very uncomfortable with). The other side of it is that it's hard to actually trace what he means with some of those songs. That can be good and bad, depending on your personal taste.

For now, I'll leave this up to others, but I do enjoy thinking about these aspects of his music.
btw. Welcome, Shine

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"And now we're going to play Platinum!"

The Bell(end) Offline

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Posted: Jan. 27 2006, 15:58

Mike is God's musical representative on Earth, a position (arguably) less powerful than the Pope's

He looked like Jesus, wow, this is all coming together nicely

Very good post Stefan :cool:

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maria

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Posted: Jan. 27 2006, 17:02

i don't know if it's conscience what made me feel so attached to mike's music.. i've never been really able to explain why his music is so special to me, why it touches that place so deep and hidden. all i know is no one else has been able to take me to the places he's shown me through his sounds.

u know, when i met his music in the eighties, being around 12, i did feel how it was coming from someone who could understand the pain. i swear that when i listened to ommadawn, knowing nothing about him further than his name and nationality, i knew that music was coming from someone who knew what suffering is and i felt it so close to me.. actually, back then it was like his music was the only place to heal, the only place where my own suffering had some sense. later, when i read about his life, i loved to understand how he was able to describe his feelings using the musical language and build wonderful landscapes with them.

well, i'll stop now cause i'm not really sure this is about what u have wondered, but your post pushed a button.
welcome ShiNe

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Ugo

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Posted: Jan. 27 2006, 18:49

To put it quite honestly, I don't think that there's any symbolic meaning in the use of tubular bells (the instrument) by Mike. To me they simply sound powerful. They seem to be the culmination, the top, the apex of that huge, huge, huge build-up, layering-up of instruments upon instruments. You got everything going together and bang, here come the bells - the icing on the cake.

This is what pretty much happens in Tubular Bells (the album), Tubular Bells II and Amarok.

...BUT...

...the finale to TB III, that one is definitely something that seems to me to have a symbolic layer of meaning. I've always seen the end of "Far above the clouds" as a great battle between Mike (represented by the thunderous bells) and his inner demons (represented by the screaming guitars - I don't think it's casual that the guitar in here sounds exactly like the main guitar in "Outcast"). Mike acts as his own exorcist [NOT the one from the movie!!

] and, at the very end, he wins, because the very last note we hear is a bell, and after that, birds and (yes) church bells, representing (as I see it) new-found happiness.

Of course all of the above is my own interpretation, the way I feel about all of it. To sum it up, I'm really not inclined to think that we need a special awareness of anything at all to really enjoy Mike's music, because even in his most complex music and his most enigmatic lyrics there isn't anything, IMHO, that we need to be aware of, either on a conscious or sub-conscious level. Why should there necessarily be 'messages to decipher' in Mike's music? To me it's just music, albeit some of the best around.

And because of the very fact that it's just music, I think that it doesn't need 'conscience' or 'consciousness' to be understood. Rather, it needs heart, feeling, emotions.

Gosh, this is a SERIOUS post.

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Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian

_ShiNe_

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Posted: Jan. 27 2006, 19:38

Many thanks Maria and the rest...It's very nice reading you all people.
That's right Maria, you felt that Mike could understand your pain, love, sorrow, etc. because in a word, he could understand "you", your feelings, the most inner part of you. And in some way, his music is a kind of shelter, yes. If you feel that...and I feel that too, how can he possibly understand the feelings of the rest of the world (ie his fans)? I mean, that's something!!! I think that there must be a great connection between "us" and the music's vibes.

Piltdownboy (poor he was doomed): let's begin with the spiritual messages...take a look at this: there was an album titled Platinum.
Platinum is a word in Latin which means silver. Moreover, Platinum is a synonym of Argentum or Argento. Perhaps Mike associated the name with Argentina, where I live.
Many peolple say that this album was dedicated to the great minimalist composer Philp Glass, but actually Mike played a version of North Star (like "Arrival" Abba's song. I will later come back to Abba). So if you listen Philip Glass North Star you'll find it very similar to Mike's. And...this is very interesting. There is a choir repeating over and over again a word: I-A-O
Have you ever wondered what that means?

Find it...you'll be surprised!!
I previously mentioned Abba (the Swedish group) because Mike played a version of Arrival and I realized that Abba in Aramaic means "Father".

Resolution (Revolution)- Evolution.

_ShiNe_

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Posted: Jan. 27 2006, 20:00

Quote (Ugo @ Jan. 27 2006, 18:49)

I know you're serius but I'm sirius

. Dear, if you don't want to find something "extra" in Mike's discography, just don't. You're not obliged to "see" what you're shown in front of your very own eyes. Perhaps you're not an open-minded person. And as you mentioned, it needs heart, feeling, emotion to enjoy his music. Good for you that you discovered that!!! Congrats...it is called INTUITION. And when we understand it, we have conscience and we become conscious (aware).

|o|

_ShiNe_

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Posted: Jan. 27 2006, 20:18

For the ones who can speak Spanish, here is the meaning of I-A-O

http://www.sebastiansalado.com/esp/glosi.htm

Tati The Sentinel Offline

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Posted: Jan. 27 2006, 21:13

Since I first got in touch with Mike's music 'til the moment I've become a fan,it took me 10 years and growing up a lot to finally understand his message.

Mike's music touched me in a very special way,and no other artist's music has done before to me. If you read carefully the lyrics for Heaven's Open,that's a ab fab example for each one of us to find out our inner power and use it for good...it's one of my fav lyrics of his,gives me power when I need to face up life and its challenges.

An example I'd say happened with L+S when it came out. After the passing of my uncle who was doing his postgraduate course in Argentina past July,and it was a hard moment in my life,where I needed to grow up very fast to face everything. Exausted of all the events after my beloved uncle's passing,L+S appeared and I remember me listening to Angelique...that music cheered me up a lot,made me more happy and self-confident. And each track I was listening from L+S healed me in a such way that all the stress from my life dissapeared and things in my university went quite well,as well as my work.

Mike's music,since I got into chemistry university in 2001(and also the year I've become a fan),is my best mate when I want to escape a bit from real life.I can't describe it in words what happens,I just feel another person after listening to his ab fab works.

There is a very strong spiritual power on his tunes.And that's the amin difference from other music out there.I was looking for something like this and I've found it.Can't get enough of it.

...and yes,he's a very spiritual person...and a very special one,at least for me...

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"But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014

"I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011

0+1(I1)

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Posted: Oct. 01 2011, 05:28

Quote (_ShiNe_ @ Jan. 28 2006, 02:38)

I am not sure the sound is "I.A.O" to me it sounds more like "WE ARE HOME", what do others hear? from 2':42".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gXk8va-STo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRm0UrbGP2A&feature=related

I found the version by Philip Glass & I am not sure if it has I.A.O in the lyrics what do others think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1errNYAhUfc&feature=related

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Philippe Tavares Offline

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Posted: Oct. 01 2011, 07:18

I agree with Tati and Shine's first post ! I think we should listen to his music in this spiritual way !

0+1(I1)

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Posted: Oct. 01 2011, 16:45

TT as far as I can tell I.A.O is all about the spiritual this is the English version of the link ShIne put in the above post:-

http://www.contactoglobal.net/eng/glosi.htm

I.A.O would appear to be about very high spirits, yet this is not what I was wondering about, what I was asking is can anyone hear the letters I. A. O that ShIne thought were being sung in this song, as to me it sounds more like E. R. O. or EEEEE AAAAA OOOO then maybe EEEE I, EEEE I but I could be wrong, or was ShIne right? therefore I just wondered what others hear now the link is available to what I am assuming is the piece of music the member was writing about.

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Jesse

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Posted: Oct. 01 2011, 16:54

I think in his later years Mike started to come to grip with himself. TB was therapy to him and after that his inner demons seem to have gone a bit. Ok, with the exception of TB3 ofcourse but his later works from the 90's and 2000-2010 he seems to have moved to more spiritual works.

Now his music does not seem to be about him and his own life but rather about the big picture of life itself.

I guess that's why I really like his later works. With the exception of some later compositions which did tend to lazyness. I cannot really like milenium bells, tr3s lunas and light and shade for most of it.

0+1(I1)

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Posted: Oct. 01 2011, 17:14

Sorry everyone if this is a bit off topic but Jesse have you played the games? as I get the feeling that the music is very good but not really made for an album as if the album was a by product mainly to advertise the game with the Tr3s Luna's DEmo.

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Jesse

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Posted: Oct. 01 2011, 18:23

No I did not play them. I actually like the album but I don't find it as good as The Songs Of Distant Earth and other albums

nightspore Offline

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Posted: Oct. 01 2011, 18:38

Quote (Jesse @ Oct. 01 2011, 18:23)

No I did not play them. I actually like the album but I don't find it as good as The Songs Of Distant Earth and other albums

Does anyone know why the cover art was changed? Although both still feature Mobula mobular.

Ugo

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Posted: Oct. 01 2011, 18:49

@ nightspore: the first cover was the first edition of TSoDE, which had the enhanced portion as track 0. As not all Macs proved to be capable to read it, a second edition was prepared, which had the enhanced portion as a separate track after the proper album. It was still readable only on Macs and not on PCs. What a shame.

@ I1: I always understood the "words" in Mike's version of North Star as "We are home". But they're not like that in the Philip Glass original, where they're just ee-ah-oh.

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Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian

0+1(I1)

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Posted: Oct. 01 2011, 19:36

Quote (Ugo @ Oct. 02 2011, 01:49)

@ I1: I always understood the "words" in Mike's version of North Star as "We are home". But they're not like that in the Philip Glass original, where they're just ee-ah-oh.

That is pretty much what I hear, I wonder how ShiNe heard I.A.O unless this is not the piece they listened to.

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0+1(I1)

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Posted: Oct. 02 2011, 06:10

Quote (nightspore @ Oct. 02 2011, 01:38)

Quote (Jesse @ Oct. 01 2011, 18:23)

No I did not play them. I actually like the album but I don't find it as good as The Songs Of Distant Earth and other albums

Does anyone know why the cover art was changed? Although both still feature Mobula mobular.

Nightspore I had always looked upon them to be Manta rays not Devil rays but you may be right, how can you tell the difference? or are they the same?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_fish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manta_ray

Links to other topics by ShiNe
http://tubular.net/forums....;t=5914

http://tubular.net/forums....;t=5913

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18 replies since Jan. 27 2006, 14:23

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Mike Oldfield Forums » Tubular Talk » General discussion » Conscience To Understand Mike Oldfield's Music?