Flush It Friday: You Must Believe In Spring
“Beneath the deepest snows, The secret of a rose, Is merely that it knows, You must believe in spring…”
Jazz pianist Bill Evans‘ final years are that of great sadness for one of the best players of all time. Years after working with all-time jazz legends like Miles Davis, Tony Bennett, Cannonball Adderley, and Stan Getz, Evan’s extensive drug abuse began to take a toll on his health while experiencing the deaths of loved ones and medical complications that eventually went untreated. During this period, where his heroin addiction had been traded for a cocaine habit, various people in his life saw Evans’ will to live fade (a friend of Evan’s, Gene Lees, infamously referred to this period in his life as “the longest suicide in history”). In September of 1980, Bill Evans was pronounced dead in Mount Sinai Hospital due to various medical complications.
It was during this last period of life for Bill that he, alongside jazz musicians such as Tom Harrell, Larry Schneider, Mark Johnson, Joe LaBarbera, Eddie Gómez, and Eliot Zigmund, recorded works like We Will Meet Again and I Will Say Goodbye. These records revolve around themes of loss and longing, with takes on existing jazz compositions and original works like “We Will Meet Again,” a tribute to his brother Harry, who had died from suicide. This period of time was also when Bill, with Zigmund and Gómez, recorded one of his most well-known and beloved LPs, You Must Believe In Spring.
Taking its name from the translated version of “Chanson de Maxence” (as rewritten by songwriting duo Alan and Marilyn Bergman) from French director Jacques Demy’s comedy musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, You Must Believe In Spring includes the title track, which had previously been recorded with vocalist Tony Bennett on the album Together Again, along with cool jazz takes on the previously mentioned “We Will Meet Again,” “Theme From M*A*S*H* (Suicide Is Painless),” “Freddie Freeloader,” and more. The sound of this album is that of a sparse three-piece effortlessly gliding and improvising through these tracks, eliciting the feeling of a dry, cold wind brushing against your face. Looking past the technicality and composure of the band, a clear and wistful sadness can be felt bone deep in these performances—particularly Evans’. Through his playing on “All Of You” and the M*A*S*H* theme (which had become a live staple for him at the time), you can hear the sound of a man losing everything throwing whatever he had left in him onto his ivory keys. You Must Believe In Spring is a listen that’s just as impactful and resonant as your last listen (and the one before that, ad infinitum).
Yet, Bill Evans did not live to see the release of this record. Despite being recorded in the ’70s and having approval from the pianist himself, You Must Believe In Spring was not released by Warner Bros. until 1981. As such, I hope my words here aren’t read as a celebration of the “tortured artist” trope, as I wish that Evans could have lived to see his hard work become actualized and adored. Rather, I see this album as a spirit of persistence and hope carrying through a cold, dead winter. The energy that the trio showcases brings life into pieces and performances that might otherwise be dour and depressing. This message exists both in the text and in the metatext, as Evans’ music carried him through the last years of life when the rest of his everything was crashing down around him. The beauty exists in spite of the suffering, not because of it.
All this is to say, in a time of great anxiety and pain for people like you and me, I have found this phrase to be somewhat of an internal mantra for myself. “You Must Believe In Spring,” the idea that better times may or may not come, and, yet, you have no choice to persist as if they are guaranteed. As the lyrics from the original go, “So in a world of snow, Of things that come and go, Where what you think you know, You can’t be certain of, You must believe in spring and love.” I had originally written a big long article about the dangers targeted groups are facing right now, with citations and statistics and everything, but it all felt sort of pointless. We all realize that shit is scary (and those who don’t realize or care most likely will not be swayed by a metal blog article), so I chose to instead write a bit about an album that’s been helpful to me in an increasingly cold metaphorical winter.
I must believe in spring. If I don’t, who else will?
Sources: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/bill-evans-1929-1980-bill-evans-by-aaj-staff, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Evans
Regardless, let’s spring into what the rest of the blog had cookin’:
TMP? TTT? You shouldn’t have! Thank you!
Apologies to Reliquary and Peter Helmis, but I had missed an article last week – Algernon Cadwallader fans, check this interview out:
Falxy gave a rush and a push to a not-so charming man:
A gooner classic episode of the Toilet Radio Programming Service has been released from the shackles of the Patreon:
Toilet Radio 519 – Might As Well Face It You’re Addicted to Porn (UNLOCKED)
When the Toilet ov Hell series comes back but less frequent and still as good:
Virginia is for haters, toilets are for you know what, and tags are for diving with Reliquary Tower:
I had the honor of talking to Toby Driver about the return of maudlin of the Well. I don’t have anything witty for this one, I’m just really fucking pumped about it:
As always, bless us with your GBUs below and stay safe this weekend and onward! <3
