#237 Walk Into The Sea

As soon as we arrived in Rimini and looked at the sea, I played what became the soundtrack from these few days and for a few years. This song starts with a delicate arpeggio which reminds me of a fragile ticking clock. Make of that what you will, but it’s beautiful and haunting.

The moon and the surf are rushing through my brain
Rolling in my heart, swirling in the wind
Blue is redemption, the tide that never change
Breaking in my heart, we are born again

This is the song “Walk Into The Sea” by Johnny Marr. He is one of my favorite musicians, but more than that, I have admired his attitude for several years now. He has adapted to any circumstances in his life. He has made connections in his world and has been supportive of other musicians. I used to tell that to Janne who started making fun of me every time that I would mention a reference about him.

His first band was The Smiths. Coincidentally, when Janne and I met, she was into a TV series called Charmed. The theme music was a cover of the song “How Soon Is Now?” by that band although I learned that much later. The tremolo effect in this song was added by Marr and their producer which makes it hard not to recognize. I had to tell her when I found this out, but she just pretended to be yawning (yeah, you were funny, Janne).

Johnny Marr left The Smiths after some disagreements, but he didn’t just sit there ruminating. Instead, he continued finding opportunities by himself on where he could play. For a time, he played with The Pretenders, The The, Talking Heads, Electronic, Pet Shop Boys and many other bands that you have probably heard. But he liked to be in the background, just enjoying his guitar. The list of his guest recordings is too long to mention here.

Later in life, he started a few groups until he decided to record a few solo albums starting in 2013. Many of those became instant favorites. He is from Manchester and many of his videos and music reflects that. “Walk Into The Sea” is a song from his third album. I heard it for the first time in June 2018, one of the most happy periods in our lives. This initial guitar arpeggio resembling a clock makes me think that we didn’t know then, but our clock was ticking. That changes into a strong, distorted and monotonous section, not unlike what happened in our lives too.

I’m climbing under a sky so blue, it yearns
Hand over hand, carrying all the memories
And don’t look down on fate or fame
I tumble and glide into the white, white tide
Whirling and whirling and let the slamming waves decide my fate
Because hope is all I need

If you haven’t listened to any of those bands, you probably have listened to him anyway. He collaborates actively with Hans Zimmer on soundtracks for many movies. Have you watched Inception, Christopher Nolan’s movie, for example? That movie where Cobb, the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is doing everything he can to bring back his wife from the dead. Johnny Marr played those experimental guitar sounds.

Hans Zimmer is big in the movie industry. Recently, he started also doing live concerts, but you can guess who encouraged to do it: Johnny Marr. After Marr insisted that he should try and helped him get over his stage fright, Zimmer said that, “you can’t not do something in life just because you are afraid of it. You cannot let fear rule your life; you just have to throw yourself at the mercy of humanity”.

So yes, Johnny Marr is a role model for me. I want to adapt, to continue, not letting anything stop me and still be kind and encouraging with others, particularly Trevor and Daniel. On top of that, he provides the soundtrack for my special moments when I remember Janne.

Hope breaks on me
Hope breaks on me
Hope breaks on me

(The moon and the surf, oh)
Take me down