This little song for my father
Does things that no other
Can do As I sing it to you
It has a rhythm and rhyme
That will fasten his memory
In time
As his beauty shines through
For through my mind and soul
My heart will always hold
A special place for him
It’s true
(Second Chorus)
We bow our heads and we pray
Every day’s Father’s Day
Let’s review
All that he means to you
Our mother’s love is real nice
But old Dad sacrificed
For us too
Let us give him his due
We’re very proud to be In his biography
We sing this song for him
And you
When my father, who had the only radio in the house, told my sister and I that we could use his radio, but if when he came home from work and it wasn't tuned to the jazz station (KCBA 105.1) he liked, we were in trouble. So since this was his way of getting us to enjoy jazz music instead of just R & B, we adopted this song as our favorite and we would call each other on the phone whenever we would hear the song played. Well my sister and my dad have passed away so it's just me now who thinks about them every time this song is played.
There is nothing quite like listening to this song on repeat while downtown in a major 1 million+ city delivering pizzas. What an incredible enhancement this song is to an already great experience.
I don't care if you were raised in New York, Chicago, L.A., Detroit or any major city with a large black population. If you're a black male who grew up in the 60's or 70's this song will remind you of Saturday afternoon, getting dropped off for your weekly haircut; sitting in the waiting area listening to the men ramble on about sports, women, politics...etc. You were just taking it all in, while hoping when your mom or pops picked you up...you would be stopping at KFC or for some BBQ or go to a movie. The simple pleasures of life were a thing of joy back then.
In the midst of the jazz wizardry and humanly untouchable fast notes of Coltrane and the virtuosity of the hydra like hands of Oscar Peterson, Horace Silver emerged as the funky antithesis. In fact, with his solo in the monumental "Song for my Father", he hails as the less is more champion.
Starting from 1:40 he builds a beautiful, thoughtful homage to the blues employing recurring motifs a la Wagner carried by notes each of them holding their own weight and identity. My exact thought when I first listened to it was: the courage it takes to go against the grain and present yourself as not only worthy but great.
His music was never so verbose or necessarily intricate as in to force admiration or inflict a scholarly lesson upon his listeners.
You won't be miss... you're encrusted in music's DNA.
Had the opportunity to interview Mr. Silver when I was a DJ on Temple University's radio station WRTI-FM 90.1 in the late 70's. Even though I was a young man in his 20s, and just getting into Jazz, he was very kind and gracious -- I'll never forget him!
My father was a jazz enthusiast. We listened to Motown in his '63 Impala. We listened to Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, John Coltrane, Monk, Mingus, Roach etc. in our house.
The song has had a noticeable impact in pop music. The opening bass piano notes were borrowed by Steely Dan for their song "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", while the opening horn riff was borrowed by Stevie Wonder for his song "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing". Earth Wind & Fire also borrowed the opening bass notes for their song "Clover". In the booklet of their box set, Paul Weller noted that he 'nicked 'the chords for The Style Council's 1984 song 'Me Ship Came In!'
Beautiful. Miles has mindfulness, Coltrane has chaos but Horace harnesses the happiness of a day in the sunshine with memories of loved ones and the feeling of being alive.
