Songs About Stillness
Stillness: the absence of movement or sound.
In our current fast-paced "productive-oriented" culture, staying still may seem like a counter-productive waste of time. "Keep busy... don't slow down... do things... be useful and productive..."—that's the ticket for happiness and being successful so they say...
Yes, these days, stillness can be hard to come by. There’s just so much going on, so many tasks on our to-do lists, everyone and everything competing for our attention - sensory overload is sadly the new norm for many.
Stillness is the best antidote for present day hyperstimulation. As Mother Teresa expressed it:
"We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence..."
Elaine Hagenberg – Music of Stillness
Drawn from lyrics by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sara Teasdale's 'There Will Be Rest', Sara's lyric poem looked to the stars for serenity and promise. Elaine Hagenberg's Music of Stillness is a masterpiece - gracefully-intertwined choral phrases conjure up images of 'stars shining, rooftops covered with snow, crystal peace... finding the music of stillness'.
Tragically, Sara Teasdale wrote this lyric poem only a few months before she committed suicide, In 1933, in frail health after a recent bout of pneumonia, she took her own life in her New York apartment with an overdose of barbiturates. She wrote this poem to calm herself and basically remind herself that no matter how bad her life was she will receive peace in her next life
Eagles – Learn to be Still
What a beautiful and thought-provoking song written by Don Henley and Stan Lynch. "We are like sheep without a shepherd - we don't know how to be alone.... Maybe you've forgotten the heaven lying at your feet" are perfect lyrics about achieving personal happiness not by constantly seeking others but by finding your own inner peace alone, calm reflective and still...
This song is one of four studio tracks on the live album Hell Freezes Over, which was the first album to be released after the band had reunited following a fourteen-year-long break up. "Learn to Be Still" was played live during their Hell Freezes Over tour in 1994 and came out as a single in 1995. It peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart in the same year.
Rich Coffey - Still Waters
"Still waters run deep" is often meant to mean a calm exterior may mask a fascinating and complex interior. Who hasn't been mesmerized by the stillness of a lake on a windless day yet wondering what strange mysteries may lurk below?
Still Waters is an original composition of mine, part of my Nature Suite. The music is extremely languid and smooth. Like the glass-like silent surface of the lake, a simple melody masks the complex lush harmonies beneath it. The pseudo-echo heard in the coda could be analogous to seeing your reflection on the lake or hearing your voice echoing off in the distance from the other side of the lake.