Happiness is the road

Happiness is the road is Marillion's 15 studio album. released as two separated albums. I bought “Essence” and “The hard shoulder” back in 2008. At first listen, it was just ok. By any chance, do you remember Guns and Roses “Use your illusion” Vol. I and Vol. II? To my ears, “Happiness is the road” was something similar, good sparse songs but not enough for a double album.

That first impression changed one Thursday afternoon two years later. I was having a hard time at the office, convoluted thoughts haunted me for days without quarter. That afternoon I decided to leave early and take the long way home just to listen to the sound of the sea in total solitude to clear my head and nourish my spirit.

There, under the shadow of a palm tree, with my button-up shirt still on I marveled once again at the sights and sounds of the Caribbean Sea. A clear blue sky above was the indicator of a high pressure system going all along the coast. The smell of the sea filled my lungs with pure vitality. The tangy smell of the sea engulfed me as I buried my toes in the warm sand. My peace and solitude got disrupted in a matter of minutes by someone listening to loud music on their car stereo. To counterstrike, I took my iPod out and “Happiness is the road” was the album I choose to masquerade all that obnoxious sound.

That Thursday afternoon I really understood “Essence.” In seamless-blend fashion, music and lyrics intertwined taking my breath away song after song. The band got inspire by the book "The power of now" by Eckhart Tolle. Steve Hogarth heard about the book from a doctor back in Holland, such doctor feeling his emotional state recommended him to read Eckhart's book. Most of the album was already being written, but what really stunned him is that such book resonates with the content and scope of the album he was writing at that time. Call it synchronicity, call it serendipity, he needed it and it came to him.

The album flows as a story being told by Hogarth. Textures and motifs come and go bringing the listener closer to whatever drives you. Words are particularly poignant and assertive. The message is clear, the only time to live is now.

I remember very vividly that during “Liquidity”( 5th song of the album) the squawks of a Blue Heron standing by the foreshore added another layer of musicality to that beautiful melody. What a pleasant feeling this album still brings, I simply can't help it, it speaks to me.

In not less than 4 or 5 minutes after “Liquidity,” a sailboat getting out of the harbor caught my eye. The boat moved gracefully with both sails hoisted and its bow cutting through waves with grim determination. I heard “Trap the spark” twice, I just couldn’t get enough of it. After that, I lay on the still hot sand with the lyrics of “State of mind” and “Happiness is the road” as mantras with my gaze looking up at the palm tree fronds dancing at full mercy of the prevailing Easterly wind.

Being a sailor myself, I can say that after this experience, "Essence" became one of my all time favorite albums. I can’t judge the aesthetic decisions the band took to create something like this, but I can describe how and why “Happiness is the road” left a lasting impression on me on that hot, lazy afternoon.

When my boat is moving at the right speed, on the right point of sail, you can sometimes hear me mumbling the melody of “Trap the spark” unapologetically.

Give it a shot, maybe it can have the same effect on you.