Monday, December 06, 2010

Roy Orbison's Voice -- Hard Not to Believe in God When You Hear That Man Sing

George Solti once said that he was able to believe in God because Mozart once lived and composed.  How could one not believe in God, after all, after hearing Mozart?

I feel the same way about Roy Orbison.  He died of a heart attack twenty-two years ago tonight, but every time I hear him sing, I inevitably think, Yes, there must be a God, a very benevolent God.  The richness of his voice, the emotion that is constantly simmering an inch below the surface -- passion, or lonesomeness, or glorious admiration, or melancholy -- how can I listen to all that, coupled with what I've read about the tragedies the man endured as a husband and father, and not believe there was something sacred in his voice?

Here's a link to two songs from the album he recorded a month before his death in 1988:  "She's a Mystery to Me" and ""You Got It."  Say a prayer, if you will, for Roy's eternal peace, then go tell someone you love that you love them while you still can.

[I cribbed part of this post from the review I wrote last week on Amazon for Orbison's last album, Mystery Girl.  What a great listening experience that entire album is.]

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