Soul Engines, "Ghosts on a Landscape"

photo:  Aimee Rivers, Flickr (CC by-SA 2.0)

OK, first a few admissions. This whole blog thing was pretty much just an excuse to express my feelings about this song in a public forum. When I first heard, "Ghosts on a Landscape", I declared it to be on my Top 10 list. For life.

A few decades later, I stand by my statement. It's the only song I've ever uploaded to YouTube. And it's the only lyrics video I've ever made. And probably ever will. (Thank god it was a short song!)

To me it's more than a song. It's a short story. It's an Edward Hopper painting (this one). It's beautiful. It's heartbreaking. It's got one of the best closing lyrics of all time. And it deserves to be heard by a hell of a lot more people.

I kept hoping "Ghosts on a Landscape" had been missing from YouTube for all these years because someone finally recognized its brilliance and bought the rights and were in the studio readying their mega smash country tinged remake. But no such luck. Yet.

The Soul Engines were a band from the Jersey shore in the '90s that almost made it big. I'm pretty sure the story was that they got signed after several years only to have the record label promptly go under. Damn.

Last I checked, they do finally have music available on iTunes, but not this song or this CD which was tremendous from start to close. The lead singer (Mark Nuzzi) has a solo album out there somewhere too (Steel Spiked Fence). And last year some of the guys reunited to record a few new tunes as the Jenny Pilots.

Not gone.  Not forgotten.

m-