chris simpson
I can't believe it. I recently adjusted a song I've been singing since the eightees, from E-key to G to comfort my lowered voice, and thought I might as well adjust it in my web album. I couldn't find it. For more than 25 years, I've never needed it, because it's glued to my brain. It was the only song my late darling companion Inger and I ever sang together. She called me a stone crusher and I called her a sawmill, but we both enjoyed it. My parents, too. My pa taped it some Xmas we were visiting. Inheriting it, I accidentally "lost" that BASF cassette ...
But here it is, finally, and with an Epitaph. The song is from Magna Carta’s fifth album "Lord of the Ages", first released in 1973 by Vertigo, and one of the six Magna Carta albums that went gold. The album cover is designed by the Hipgnosis guru Roger Dean; I found it in a HORRIBLE expensive collection of his works I've never regretted to buy, and I also - in a seldom visited drawer - found the MC copy of my friend Roy Bakkeng's legal one. It's later been remastered and reissued by Repertoire Records.
For the issue "Lord of the Ages", the group of members were the trio Chris Simpson, Glen Stuart and Stan Gordon. Gordon had a short step-in, as a five octaves' vocalist. Simpson was the main founder, and wrote most everything for all releases from "Magna Carta". Simpson is still active, now writing 2026, as far as I know. His lyrics from "Seasons" and "Lord of the Ages" have been frequently used as examples of English songwriting, both in Europe and the rest of the world.
pastel shades the hour
when evening climbs the sky
and burns a golden highway to the west
and the distant city sounds
caress the trembling leaves
to die among the far horizon shores
then the song of evening comes in gentle harmony
lingers till the closing of the day
just a song of evening flows on like some tumbling river
and like a river flows away
I look beyond the windows
where twisted shadows play
and trees are bare below the frozen stars
a stranger hurries through the cold
his collar round his ears
dreaming words of comfort and a fire
Inger Scott; née Herrmannsfeldt, had her first and only visit to Egypt in the autumn 1996. The plan was to settle down here, when the children had grown old enough to stand on their own. The pictures are from a damper on the river Nile and a visit to the Cheops pyramide, taken by our host Aboubakr Ashour. Note the gizmo hanging with her chest; she had just underwent the surgeon called "laryngectomy" to finally cure her throat cancer. That gizmo we called "The Wasp": it amplified vibrations holding the wasp to the chin, forming the words, giving a flat, metallic buzzing. This surgeon normally gives 98% chance for survival, but she belonged to the 2 percents. The cancer returned with metastases, and she passed away autumn 1998, going on 43 years. I still carry her ring in my wallet; it's to tight for an old, arthritic finger.
Roy Bakkeng (1953-2011) wasn't only the man introducing me to Magna Carta, but also the one that brought me and Inger together. We were close friends ever since 1974, and himself being an autodidact, he led me into the world of cameras. I don't know what happened really, but for some reason he vapored for me around 2006. He fled the country and died in the Caribbeans, leaving no information. I don't even have his photograph, so here is my '79 caricature of him for a comic strip ...
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
G D Pastel shades the hour G Cadd9 when evening climbs the sky Am Cm G ...Bm...D7 and burns a golden highway to the west G D and the distant city sounds G Cadd9 Am Cm D7 G caress the trembling leaves to die among the far horizon shores Am [Am/G] D [D6] D7 G [Bm] Em then the song of evening comes in gentle harmony Am Cm G and lingers 'til the closing of the day Am [Am/G] D [D6] D7 G [Bm] Em just a song of evening flows on like some tumbling river Am Cm G and like a river flows away
