Healing

Todd Rundgren: Healing

Healing is a concept album of a type, where Todd puts his religious beliefs on the line. These seem to me to be a cross between:

• Mysticism
• a well meaning Evangelical something & ultimately
• unintentional Narcissism

I guess it was designed as a New Age concept album when listened to sequentially, with Todd receiving a "visitation" from a Saint / Master / Angel, the ramifications of which he then had to share with the world, for its er..."healing".

There are lots of analog synths and the-then new drum machines in the soup breaking subtle, new ground but as far as the songs are concerned, I "see" Healing as a theatrical piece, rather than an album and present it as such: 

Act 1:   The experience of a mystical "visitation", its ramifications & results
Act 2:   Teaching: the capacity to share the mystical experience with others
Act 3:   Encore

...corresponding exactly with the pre-CD presentation of Side 1, Side 2 & bonus single. O.K., so with that format established, I'm going to deal with Healing upside down, as I feel that it's the easiest way to approach this project.

So, let's start with Act 3, the encore, the bonus single (now the CD's final 2 tracks) which were originally requested by Bearsville, Todd's record company, because they felt that the album had no natural single...and was therefore, unsellable. 

Unfortunately for Todd, both songs that he produced in a huff are the best, by far, on the whole album. Though little known, they are absolute gems, amongst his very best work, Time Heals:

"...If you're bleeding
Then everyone can see you're bleeding
You can call for the doctor
He'll prescribe what the...
...Diagnosis
Says you're needing
And he'll
...T-a-k-e away your pain
 
But if your heart
Your heart has been broken
And you don't wear it...
...On your sleeve
No-one can tell
Your hell goes unspoken
But there's one thing
You must believe

Time Heals the wounds that no-one can see..."

                                      Time Heals

Though it was one of the first few songs played on MTV, Time Heals didn't chart and it remains a mystery why. A perfect, uptempo piece of singalong white-boy, intelligent R'n'B. Exquisite!

Tiny Demons, on the other hand, is a slice of esoteric psychology generalised enough to be understandable by your Grand Aunt Hilda:

"...One of them plays a picolo in my ear
Another one makes me smell things that aren't there
And they know where to hide
And they know everything inside of my head

Tiny Demons
Inside me...

One of them ties a lasso around my heart
Another one makes me nod when I drive the car
And they won't ever leave
But they won't show their faces to me...

Tiny Demons
Inside me..."

                      Tiny Demons

Slow, creepy and with an insanely tasteful, anguished guitar solo, Tiny Demons is a perfect piece of adult pop music which still takes my breath away. It's exquisite!

Moving backwards, we get to Act 2, Healing 1,2 & 3.

Now, this is a piece of music (with lyrics) which you'll probably either love or hate! Me, I love it and recommend it to any counterculture people who want a meditational experience represented as a suite of music. It's soothing, dramatic and will, I'm sure, be inspirational to many.

Send this page to a hippy, they are an endangered species and need all the help that they can get!

"...Healing...is...an extended piece in 3 parts...which overlays vocals, key motifs and, for some reason, bossa nova rhythms into a near mantra-like state. He ain't kidding with the title, kids but one man's pomposity is another man's beauty and after a few listenings it's amazing how lovely the suite becomes in one sitting...For a guy who's a production genius, a pop dilettante and a so-so experimentalist, to hear that much heart put into a single side is a bigger breath of fresh air than most cynics will admit..." Amazon reviewer Paul Pearson

However, if dabbling in metaphysics isn't your thing, you'll probably dismiss Healing 1,2 & 3 as pathetic, mystical muzak and that will be that!

And so, to Act 1. O.K., the whole premise of Healing is that Todd had some sort of mystical experience and took it upon himself to communicate the experience:

"...I had a visitation in my sleep last night
Something was calling to me from a blinding light
And told me not to fear it
Hear it

It said 'It's time to make the world a little wiser
There are enough destroyers and criticizers
The world needs a healer
...A Healer'..."

                       Healer 

So far, so good, I'm with Todd and I have to admit, the first track is impressive, theatrical and "believable" but, unfortunately the album starts to go downhill for me from there.

Pulse, Todd's reaction to the mystical experience is a little bit dull, a songlet rather than a song. In a musical theatre setting it would be one of those narrative songs that push the plot forward, I guess. 

"...Feel that pulse that pulse that pulse
That pulse go stronger
Like a breath-line coming from another world

Don't want to leave my old world but I can't deny
What it is that draws me on
Like a magnet pulling from another world..."

                            Pulse

Despite some impressive and sensitive use of the then-new synthesizers, ultimately the song's construction doesn't really make me interested in what's pulling Todd towards this new, mystical bent. Why? Because as a songlet, a qualifier, it's dependant upon the next track...and that one, I hate!

Flesh is basic cause and effect metaphysics but is delivered as fire & brimstone preaching, which I find intimidatory, shrill and puts my nerves on edge. Yuk!

"...Whoa your life is your life
No one else can live your life
And the debts of your life
You must pay them
If a man knows the Law
He gets help from the Law
Only fools fear the law that can save them

You are thy flesh and flesh will obey
You are thy flesh and flesh must obey..."

                        Flesh

Golden Goose is a welcome piece of zany uptempo Rundgren social observation, that's sadly out of place on Healing, although I consider it the best track on the side:

"...The paparazzi's at the door
He says he's here from People Magazine
And there's some lady on the phone
Wants me to advertise designer jeans

Oh, I don't know
How long can this go on?
Oh, I don't know
How did it last so long?

Everybody wants an egg
From the golden goose
But no-one cares if they're the one
Who kills the golden goose..."
 
              Golden Goose 

Compassion is well meaning but about as interesting to me as occasional tinea. It's the kind of soft soul tune that Todd could write in his sleep but frankly, the lyrics strikes me as a terrible misunderstanding of what real Compassion is. I should note that the song is something of a favorite with many Todd fans...

"...Compassion is...one of Todd's greatest ballads. Gorgeous sounding, introspective, meaningful, and it has a great hook too..." Amazon reviewer B

...but not me!

Shine, tries to be inspirational but is really just Rundgren at his bombastic worst. While attempting to bring the suite to a conclusion, he actually just makes an awful noise! Double Blah!

So that's Healing, a 3-act mixed bag with:

• one great encore
• 1 possibly great act &
• 1 act that's mostly a stinker!

Trust me, though, the two tracks on the bonus single are sublime and easily worth the price of admission and if you are the type to enjoy the mystical suite, that, too, is priceless.

Todd Rundgren: Healing

"...Healing is an aural delight, in the same way Pet Sounds was for the Beach Boys..." Amazon reviewer Cordell Jeffries

"...Todd is once again way ahead of his time..(though) Healing is the precursor to all that bad New Age music that sucks these days...Todd will heal your soul with this one..." Amazon reviewer Noname

"...In 1981...I was 15, and Healing was one of the very first albums I bought with my own money...I liked it then, just as I like it now. No matter how many times I hear it, I am still taken by surprise due to its uniqueness and originality. There is no other album quite like it..." Amazon reviewer vidar 

For more info, see:

• wikipedia Healing
• FUTURE LIVE interview about Todd's video experiments, 1980
• Todd LIVE Tiny Demons & Time Heals music video  on The Old Grey Whistle Test, 1980