Michael Hedges - I Carry Your Heart

[MiaFeigelson]

I love the music Michael set to the poem as much as his intepretation ! and I obviously adore Cummings' verses !

Thanks for sharing this video !!!!!!!

[designing4good]

Check out the "heart of the heart" medallion by Sandra Lewis Design. And if so inclined, please post your thoughts about this poem and what it means to you.

[designing4good]

Wow! Just discovered this beautiful performance this morning. One of my all time favorite poems and poets. My latest labor of love as a jewelry designer, " the heart of the heart" medallion has been in the works for almost 5 years and launched this week. Love the serendipity! Michael Hedges was one lovely and soulful performer.

[designing4good]

Wow!

[jimidee33]

An ex girlfriend is a fan of Michael. I get it. And so did she. Beverly treated me badly, but at least she had good taste in music.

[tiretrackable]

From the Peabody, Green Earth, S.F to Buckhorn... your spirit shines onto all of us who have shared the poetry of humanity with you.

KC

[dramaticcarmen]

It's so hard to find a single tour recording here that isn't amazing. Every time I saw him play, I saw him 6 times, he gave me shivers and puts me in a strange intense state of being... miss you Michael.

[gb5k]

I saw him live about 15 years ago.....and this is STILL so GODAMN BADASSS!!!!!

[xbornstubbornx]

NY-based guitar genious Dominic Frasca friends anybody on myspace who saw Jimmy Hendrix live. In the same manner I'd love to get to know people who ever saw Michael on stage and in real life in general.

[HeadGirl]

I carry your Heart My Love, Always. x

[shikibuton]

It's a shame such a fantastic musician had to pass. He is, and will be for ever, an inspiration and an influence. The poem is beautiful.

We carry your heart Michael.

[barrjays]

I had the privilege of seeing him in a small venue concert twice before he died, and there is no way of describing the way his music could well up emotions inside you that you never knew you had. He was the epitome of man = music and a big reason why I love music to this day.

[SolitaireG]

@barrjays I too saw him just before he died - in a small art gallery in Jacksonville, Florida. I wasn't 15 feet away from him and it was an amazing show. His playing inspired my bass playing, back when I first started in the late 80's.

[lionshead52]

The beginning of the song sounds very familiar to me, but i cant place the name of the song it sounds like, does anyone else notice this, and if so, do you know the name of the song it sounds like?

[methodinsane]

I was just looking at the ratings box above. What idiots gave this a thumbs down??? You just cannot thumbs down anything that this man has ever done. He's a frickin' higher level genius that had something very very very special inside him.

[druidia9]

Like a comet so blazing, but too soon gone...yet we carry him in OUR hearts.

[notashamed220]

This is simply one of the best songs ever written. The recorded version on "Taproot" has David Crosby & Graham Nash singing vocals as well. Everytime . . . everytime I hear that song, it makes the hair on my arms stand up. Not many songs do that. I wish I had one tenth the talent he had.

[tipeA92]

i simply adore the poem and just loved the music

congratulations

[leftyjcw]

Players with a "heavy hand". Michael was a very strong player. Stevie Ray Vaughn, and older guys like John Lee Hooker, all have a heavy, "fat-finger" approach. I am the same way. I like guitars that fight me back when I play them. Notice that even the music like "Two Days Old", which is my second favorite piece by Hedges, is played with a firm, stadium filling sound. Most players that I have heard just don't dive into the guitar like M.H. does. Rootwitch, OMG. So GOOD! Kottke, Fahey, STRONG.

[leftyjcw]

My ideas of what "primitive music" is, is a "mental concept" of music. I agree, labeling music is rediculous. Having said that, people still feel the need to attach "labels". I have been a student, and performer of acoustic guitar instrumentals for over 40 years, and I stand by my statements about the style of Hedges. The 200 plus instrumentals I have written, and the hundreds of instrumental written by others, I play, all require the same kind of "perspective" to perform. Aggressive.

[YakkaFoobMog]

So would you say that this aggressive perspective is what you mean by American Primitive? What do you mean by aggressive?

[leftyjcw]

I believe his music to be "American Primitive", although he is listed under "New Age" a lot.

[YakkaFoobMog]

Actually Hedges's music resists being fit into categories other than "acoustic guitar," and Hedges continually joked about this, calling his genre of music "heavy mental" and "upper primate spike collar guitar," for example. John Fahey and, more recently, John Hasbrouck are prime examples of American Primitive, and these are quite different from Hedges, right?

[kkdpp789]

excelent performance

great playing

great voice

631276391389615 stars

[SolitaireG]

Thanks for this upload. I saw one of his last performances and was only a few short feet away from him....He's influenced my playing in many ways and he is dearly missed. TC

[type3secretion]

Michael in many ways defined genre. That's why my page dedicated to him is called something like "heavy mental thrash acoustic deep tissue gladiator guitar"! Seriously, go to some of my playlists - vocal, instrumental, covers, and get to know his music. The man reinvented the acoustic guitar 30 years ago, and wasn't a bad vocalist either!

[mikekarena]

@saimusicmandy Michael was hugely popular with guitarists and people who liked instrumental "new" age music. I hesitate to use that term because it implies some things that don't apply to Michael. You haven't heard of him because, well, you are in University. Michael sadly passed away a number of years ago in a car accident. This is my favorite, it was my choice in my wedding.

[xXTiberiusXx]

@saimusicmandy

he is a genre

[closetome]

@saimusicmandy Fingerstyle acoustic, folk , classical dumbasssss

[closetome]

@saimusicmandy Fingerstyle acoustic, folk , classical dumbasssss lol just kidding

[raeannt]

Thank you so much for sharing this. He was a beautiful soul who is missed here.

[NONAMEWTF]

beautiful song but i prefer the studio version

[sleepingTitania]

Beautiful... thankyou to my friend Wally for this superb share.

Thanks for the post :)

[1nessism]

thank you for posting this...i saw michael perform twice in the '90's...his presence is vast...the studio track of this tune, with crosby and nash harmonies, gets me everytime...this solo performance is just as powerful...michael's music is water from a deeper well...peace...namaste'...wall­y

[Johnny6666]

It's great to hear him hit those high notes. I can't understand the (supposed) attitude to his singing: it's perfectly attuned to his music.

[Sweetmuve]

horrible! ruined the peom omg..sounds like a country song now... yech!

[INDIFERENDRUMMER]

uhh nice! but my profile has better stuff! chck it out! z

[MattG68]

The album version with Graham Nash (and even David Crosby, I think) doing harmonies borders on the sublime. Absolutely gorgeous.

[KarynB2]

I love this song-it was sent to me by a friend.

[ArcaneMind]

totally ruined the poem for me. i should not have searched for a cumming's song put to music.

man...

[Sweetmuve]

I completelyyyy agree with uu!!! omggg!!! :S

awful!!!

[Sweetmuve]

and who ever gave u a thumb down honestly know nothing about poems...:S

[pinkypinkstery]

That's the old one, i sang the new one today and yesterday and a church and disneyland

[pbanders]

I lived in Palo Alto in the mid '80's. Hedges and other WH players were all over the town, playing in various bars and venues. He used to regularly be the "dinner enterntainment" at the outdoor dining area at the New Varsity (sadly, long gone). A really great artist, best appreciated live, a great performer. He also used to be seen at Gryphon Stringed Instruments, playing their fine guitars while we'd watch.

[beatlegretsch]

I'm amazed at how well he could sing on top of the best guitar player around.

[meanic112]

nice song meaby little sad i think, but! still very good song.

[TheKidChameleon]

Yeah, it was waaaaayyyyyyyy cool. I actually had another awesome experience at The Bottom Line, at a Robert Fripp & The League of Crafty Guitarists show during a snowstorm. There were like 10 people, tops, in the audience (the band outnumbered the fans!), and after the set they formed a circle around us and proceeded to sonically kick the shit out of us with 3 beautifully brutal songs. Another WOW experience, for sure. Hey, thanks for the "India" vid. For YEARS I've needed to hear that again.

[TheKidChameleon]

Back in (I think) '91, I saw Hedges at The Bottom Line in NYC. I was sitting really close to the stage and just before Michael came out, who sits RIGHT behind me, but David Crosby and Graham Nash! Like, David's knee was in my back! Anyway, thinking they'd sing back-up during "i carry your heart" (as they do on the album version), I was surprised when they stayed in their seats. Then, near the end of the song, they sang their parts quietly between themselves, just loud enough for me to hear!!!

[TheKidChameleon]

Needless to say I was COMPLETELY and UTTERLY blown the fuck away!!!!!!! Maybe 2 or 3 other people could hear it too (my friend being one of them, so I know I didn't hallucinate it!). I was afraid to turn around for fear they might stop. Afterwards, for Michael's encore, Crosby and Nash went up and they all did "Ohio" by CSN&Y. I think I remember them doing another Young tune also, but I can't recall what it was. But I will NEVER forget what it sounded like w/Mike in front of me and them behind.

[type3secretion]

wow; bit speechless

[gtar101]

I second that emotion.

[AlwaysAbiggerFish]

Helpless?

[ZOMBIELANDakaUSA]

@TheKidChameleon

are you serious? if so, damn...lucky you, this is a glorious song

what a beautiful human

[Devonone]

i'm sorry, but to be absolutely frank with you, ee was a fantastic person, poet, and mind. you really did Not do him the immense justice he deserves in memory, everlasting. only one opinion, but really, don't steal the light of another.

[kowalsky111]

it is a HONOR for cunnings that so many people try to make music out of his poems, it always was. in our times whenever you take something beautiful and make it your owns it's called stealing but it is just appreciating beautiful things and taking them to even more people. so it's even GOOD for cunnings that so many people use it

[tjazmin]

Type3, thanks so much for keeping Michael spirit alive. My soul renews in his music, always!

[9macrina9]

for catherine and heathcliff!!!

[9macrina9]

happy valentine's day!

[WD1V]

This guy is the best I have ever heard.

[gene101101]

I saw Michael Hedges live several times. I was always amazed by his performance. I never saw such a diversified audience for music and never saw so many exstatic faces following a concert.

[roberto1988]

e e

[simpsonmusic]

I was lucky enough 2 c him live. Luv this song, especially on the CD with the harmonies !!

[Fairlight60]

This version is great but I prefer the CD one. I remember reading somewhere that Michael absolutely didn't like David Crosby and Graham Nash's back vocals... Incredible!? I think they're just perfect for the song.

[Pattyoday]

Michael Hedges singing this song.......takes my breath away.....:-)

[mikemoseley]

Keep it on haha. Gona be hard. Got a shovel?

[ndschrock]

He was such a genius. Thank you so much for posting!

[meanic112]

nice work keep it on

[mikemoseley]

I can't find the words

[zyryab1967]

Great song, I like it. Thanks Michael

[markydare]

From my favorite of his records.

[Wingmaster05]

Oh my, when i saw Michael's version of e.e. cumming's poem in music i was in pure ectasy. Incredible!

[LotusInTheSnow]

This is one of my favorite songs of all times. I played it to my poetry class in 1993. Still love it as much as the day I first heard it. Soul-deep muisc and poem. Thank you so much for sharing it!!!

[irpacynot]

One of my favorite tunes he does. Robert Frost poem, right?

[edythlogan]

ee cummings

[eguy777]

thanks for posting, this is truly golden. Michael was the most significant guitarist of our entire generation..Let us all listen and remember him. from TAPROOT, background vocs with David Crosby and Graham Nash on studio track.

[wyldman2964]

Great performance.Thank you Michael for sharing your music with the world.Rest in Peace.