MICHAEL P. SMITH, SONGWRITER
April Enews

In Russian Eastertime
The congregation singing
Walks around the church outside three times
To signify the three days Christ was in the tomb
And when the priest and people
Knock at the door the third time
The sexton lets them back inside
To see how beautifully the risen spirit fills the room

 A Note from Michael.
Russian Eastertime is the kind of song I write in those felicitous moments when I’m free of expectation, of myself and of others. I wish I could live in those moments but don’t believe that’s under my control.  It’s as if my mind is saying: Here’s a little gift.  Don’t make too much of it.  Don’t ask for another. I’ve attempted to record Russian Eastertime but it doesn’t (so far) please me when I hear it. Isn’t that odd, that I could still believe in it that much, twenty years after writing it, while not being able to record it satisfactorily since? Mysteries aren’t all outside of us.
A song isn’t really a song unless you hear it. Maybe.

April with Anne Hills

Saturday, April 18 at 9 PM
Michael and Anne Hills
West Suburban Temple Har Zion
1040 N. Harlem
River Forest, Illinois 60305
http://wsthz.org/