9-11, November 22, 1963, Warmth of the Sun, Beach Boys, hope for the future!

This week has flown by… the whole summer has actually.  Summer is exiting and sitting here in the dark tonight I have been remembering the past.  It is true that certain dates on a calendar seem to hint of past history and act as a reminder of times gone by… dates like today’s 9-11.  This date in our time takes us back to an awful tragedy in NYC and for me the death of a history friend.

On this day in time I always remember the death of Ken Morse, a great friend, and a major help in founding our little Old Town Museum.  Other dates that bring to mind history include for us “that are older”... November 22…the day Camelot died in Dallas, with the slaying of JFK.

Interestingly, this date comes to my mind each time I hear the Beach Boys song “Warmth of the Sun”… a song they wrote on November 21, 1963 and last night for some reason I began humming it.

Mike Love who co-wrote it with Brian Wilson said that on learning of JFK’s death the next morning they were saddened and finished this song they were working on… A song that was unlike their others for it was in a key that had never been used on their recordings before, a haunting melody. Love wrote in a blog…”Being the eternal optimist, as hard as that kind of loss is, the one good that comes from it is having had the experience of being in love in the first place. That experience became "The Warmth of the Sun".

Here is a link to the blog...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-love/jfk-warmth-of-the-sun_b_4318208.html

“Warmth of the Sun” has always been my favorite Beach Boy cut and the harmony and its tone reflect a certain sadness and yet a hope for a possible love after loosing someone you love. 

The words “the love of my life, left me one day”… still evokes a melancholy meaning to me. In this case they wrote it as a love that walked away… but now as we are older it denotes someone we loved that died... someone we fear can never be replaced.

Ironically…as sad as it sounded then, and as sad and dark as their feeling were that day, they decided they needed to give it something more uplifting … hope… that God given gift that allows us all to face the future. “But I have the Warmth of the Sun, within me tonight”… Yes they decided they needed to add a warmer feeling…and today to me it denotes a “hope for finding love in the future”.

I first heard this song in the War Memorial sitting in the front row in the middle of a concert they did early in their career, many years ago now… 50 to be exact.  I loved it then, went home and learned to play it on the guitar…it is still my favorite…and as Fall in its dazzling colors and warm days with chilly nights approaches… I guess I am reminded of “The Warmth of the Sun”.

*Listen to the song below… Enjoy! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!