Harmonious Wail’s Latest Single “Just Gone On Ahead” Inspired by Their Spirit Son, Henry
Our son Henry died in March of 2015. In our anguish and grief, we quickly learned how to trust the reality that Henry was just on the other side of the veil.
Allow me to introduce you to our family:
My husband, Sims, and I are professional musicians. We perform and record and tour with our band, Harmonious Wail. Henry was our oldest son. He was a fine musician. A multi-instrumentalist and composer. Henry had a sharp wit that moved from dry-sardonic, to clever and punny. These attributes are reflected in the lyrics of his songs.
“Youse the masseuse who seduced Medusah.
If a Cockatoo can rock it to a Toucan,
You can too!”
A title track for one of our recordings was written by Henry. A philosophical swing tune called, “The Vegan Zombie’s Lament.”
Our younger son, Emmett, is an excellent vocalist. He has a deeply rich and expressive voice that reflects his very old soul. Emmett graced one of our recordings by singing the lead on a track called “It’s Not My Fault.”
Henry and Emmett were best friends. They wrote and jammed together. Or sometimes, Emmett would just sit in awe as he watched and listened to his brother shred.
“Woah, how do you do that?” Emmett asked. “Ahhhhh…that’s a little somethin’ I call..…ain’t ##ckin’ around.” Henry smirked in his mock rockstar voice.
Henry and Emmett and Sims and I made music together with ease and whimsy.
Sims and Emmett and I are now a three legged dog. We rarely play music together since Henry’s death. We’ll have to work on that.
Henry, as a spirit son, has taken us on a wild ride. He crossed over five years ago, and the adventures continue. He’s learned very quickly how to move objects, offer scents, possess pets and wild birds. He leaves signs such as paper clips and hidden dog food, (again, that’s his humor), impossibly statistical rolls of the die, and telepathic messages. I am a conduit, and I can feel Henry’s energy. This makes he and I both very happy.
I am not finished crying. But I am finished wondering why. I am almost finished wanting to hold him one more time. Letting go is a process. It is a fact that when we are performing mundane tasks, we raise our energetic vibrations. When a spirit kindly lowers their vibrations at the same time, we can connect. Playing music is not a mundane task like sweeping, or doing the dishes. But when we play music, we raise our vibrations. That’s why it feels so good.
Sims and I learned very quickly after Henry’s death, that getting back to performing was very healing. We also began to realize that we were teaching others to be happy. We were now more empowered than ever to lift spirits through music. We know Henry had a hand in that.
Three months after Henry died, Father’s Day rolled in. Sims took himself up North to our camp and pitched a tent for a couple of nights and would be home on Sunday to have a backyard cook-out with Emmett. I was home alone. I was sweeping the back porch when I got a beep on my cell.
One solo message appeared:
I was born in Boston, in March of ’85.
Ponder over motion, every moment is alive.
I’ve always been a trav’ler, on the road, and in my head.
Now I’m not gone forever, I’ve just gone on ahead.
I’ve just gone on ahead, You know I had to go.
Always felt, and never said, we all can see the show.
I’m still your number one and will be waiting at the gate.
So saddle up, and do the do, and never complicate.
See me in the blue smoke.
Feel me in the breeze.
Hear me in the bird’s song.
I’ll help you find your keys.
Free in the wood smoke,
In the beating of your heart.
Here, right beside you,
We never are apart.
Like a road less traveled, I travel all alone.
We’re all on the same path, We’re all just going home.
Now there’s no going backwards, There’s no yearning for instead.
Now I’m not gone forever, I’ve just gone on ahead.
I stood frozen in time. I then swerved and sank into my green comfy chair. I wrapped my arms around my belly, dropped forward, and wept. These words struck a deep chord, and my broken heart pined for my beautiful first born.
“Call Sims” I commanded SIRI. I was taking a gamble because our WIFI is very spotty up North.
Sims answered. We had contact. I began to breathe with ease.
“That poem is so beautiful.” I said. “Yeah, it wrote itself, well, Henry wrote it. I made a fire last night and sat down to watch the blue smoke. Henry and I used to watch the smoke, ya know, and see different things in it. I picked up my writing book and put the pen to it and the song started coming through the pen. Just moving the pen across the page. Henry and I wrote it together.” Sims shared.
My body was still and I just listened. Slightly numb, I couldn’t find any words to say. I tried to imagine how that must have felt.
I can feel Henry in these lyrics. I see the word choices that would easily have come from behind the veil, his words, like “I’m still your number one…”
Sims came home Sunday with the entire song in tact. Chord structure, arrangement, and harmony lines. He went upstairs to Henry’s sunny old bedroom and dug out his distortion pedal. Harmonious Wail is an acoustic band and the distortion concept was a first.
“We never are apart.” sums up the song in the last line. As a mother, I easily pull this very soulful lyric from a very deep place.
Henry continues to influence our music with our soon to be released version of the Allman Brothers tune, “Jessica”. I have written a lullaby titled, “Sea of Dreams” that I know was co-written with Henry. Recording it is in progress. We continue to stay open, and look forward to more musical influences from our spirit son.
Listen to “Just Gone on Ahead” on Spotify below.