Good
evening, friends!
It’s that time again, when the Dial locks onto a
signal from decades past, fine tunes it to crystal clarity, and
presents to you for your listening pleasure. Sit back and enjoy The
Moody Blues and “Gemini Dream”!
“Long
time, no see… short time for you and me… so fine… so good…
we’re on the road, like you knew we would.”
A
Billboard US #12 single extracted from their 1981 Long
Distance Voyager
LP, (which also produced the US #15 hit “The
Voice”),
“Gemini Dream” is a curious and infectious melding of prog rock,
new wave, and post-disco dance music. Consisting at the time of
four-fifths of their classic late '60s line-up, the Moody Blues in
'81 were, Justin Hayward (electric guitar, vocals), John Lodge (bass
guitar, vocals), Ray Thomas (backing vocals), Graeme Edge (drums,
percussion), and newcomer Patrick Moraz on keyboards, whom replaced
original member Mike Pinder before the recording of this LP.
The
Moodies were among a special class of 1960s “survivors” including
The Rolling Stones, The Who, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Steve
Winwood, and Paul McCartney, whom all enjoyed continued chart and
radio success with contemporary hits into the MTV era.
“First
night, so long… state of mind, what can go wrong? We’re here, the
time is right, to rock n roll, right through the n-n-n-n-night”
I
never understood what exactly the lyrics meant as a kid, but looking
back on it now, I believe the tune can be taken in two different
ways. My first conclusion is that “Gemini Dream” is a story of
two lovers reconciling after a period of time,
and the resulting anxiety over reclaiming the love that was lost. The
interesting thing here is how this romantic reunification is told
using musical terminology as a clever metaphor. There's “stage
fright” (anxiety of starting the relationship again), “lights go
up” (the moment of truth when the couple reconciles), and the
rather obvious “rock n roll”, which means just what you think it
means!
But
then I started thinking that maybe the tune is more literal, and it
REALLY IS about musicians. Perhaps it's about a band or a musical duo
re-uniting after years apart in order to play another show. But what
about the frequent references to love in the lyrics? Maybe that's not
love in the romantic sense, but instead is the love felt from the
audience when a musician plays to an appreciative crowd.
You
could even make the argument that it's a little of both – reuniting
musicians that were lovers as well, reigniting their passion for each
other as they play to the audience one last time.
And
what of the title... the “Gemini Dream”
itself? Whether you agree with the lovers, or musicians angle, the
Gemini Dream is clearly a mutually shared goal between two people.
“Turned
round, to see… where we’ve been and what we believe… in life…
love… take a chance, see it through, you’ll be glad that you came
too.”
This
was the first Moody Blues song I was aware of, no doubt because it
was current in 1981, after I had already fallen in love with
everything about top 40 radio. I remember being quite surprised later
on, when I discovered that “Gemini” came from the same guys that
did the brooding “Nights
in White Satin”,
and sophisticated “Tuesday
Afternoon”,
songs I knew and loved from listening to my parents’ favorite
oldies station. Those late 60s hits didn't sound to my ears like they
could have been recorded by the same group that did “Gemini”,
which is clearly a testament to how creative and versatile these
English gentlemen really are.
Give
it a spin, why don't ya?
“There’s
a place… a gemini dream… there’s no escaping from the love we
have seen… so come with me, turn night into day… you’re gonna
wake up, you know you’re gonna wake up in a Gemini Dream”
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