1998. Noble Pursuit

This song was birthed in a turbulent time of my journey. I was living in a studio apartment in Union City, New Jersey, two years sober, nursing my wounds from a failed talent agency that I had to give up, when I decided to get sober in 1996. All around me, in New York City, were the distractions ... people, places and things ... that I knew I could no longer tempt myself with, so I left NYC for the solitude of that studio. I might have stayed there, had I not been evicted in 2000, which led me into another temporary shelter that was shattered during the aftermath of 911, in 2001. Watching the towers fall from that wall ledge in my backyard that overlooked the Hudson River into lower Manhattan, I knew then and there, I wasn't long for the East Coast. But I didn't know where to go and more importantly, that anyone cared to connect with me, again, after my self-imposed isolation. So when I transitioned into the desert of New Mexico, six years later, I came to my present home, still decompressing from the life that I thought was my destiny, back in NYC. What was missing that I stubbornly didn't want to accept, was exactly what this lyric, written solely by myself, revealed back in 1998. 

This song opened the CD, JUST LISTEN, and started the musical journey that took the listener into my very soul for answers to life's complexities. I really feel this song is my ultimate statement to the world. Hard lessons I've learned and unlearned, to finally stand confidently and say, that there is no nobler a pursuit than searching for God and His Love in everything that touches me and that I, in turn, get to touch. 

 

This trio, led by Reid Anderson on Bass, was my dream team! They interpreted this song, perfectly, and was recorded in just two takes. I had sang the song from my spirit into a cassette recorder while traveling to Reid's place in Brooklyn, NY, to witness him bring it to life. The open refrain was written last, a week later, and improvised in the studio. The scat came to me, also, in the studio, and was never rehearsed!! It was captured 'live' as if we were performing an old tune we all knew. That's the beauty of working with real gigging jazz musicians who are used to accompanying singers Although first on the CD, it was the final song recorded for the project and perfectly framed my past/present journey, then, and now when I re-listen, my expected future journey from here. 

 

I must remember, to never forget, and to build upon what I've already accomplished.

 

 

Lyrics

NOBLE PURSUIT (Brother EDEN Douglas/Reid Anderson) 

 

(Okay, I'm ready...) 

"I lived a lonely life..., filled with pain and regret. 

But, Love, picked up the pieces of my shattered past... 

Gave me a purpose to my Being and a Hope that lasts." 

 

While lying here, waiting for sleep to come. 

Knowing there's joy in the morning dawn. 

All of my life, I searched for wealth and fame, 

Pursuing that life only brought me pain. 

 But, lately, I've learned a whole new truth. 

That LOVE is, the only Noble Pursuit. 

 

When living only for yourself to please, 

Soon you'll find yourself, 

down on your knees. 

The life, I searched for in vain, 

Could not be found, in material gain... 

'Cause Love is the Only Noble Pursuit... 

 

(Musical Interlude) 

 

'Cause God never meant for you to do, 

What He planned to do for you... 

His Love is the Only Noble Pursuit, 

God's Love is the Only Noble Pursuit, 

His Love is the Only Noble Pursuit... 

 

 (Spirit Scat) 

 

(c) 1998 - EdenDust Publishing / Dirty Showtunes, BMI) 

Recorded by Danny Kadar at Hillside Sound Studio, Englewood, NJ Assisted by Dave Kowalski Produced by Brother Douglas and Reid Anderson