Nature Boy, eden ahbez
I’d like to get into a little obscure musical thing today. I’m sure you’ve all heard the song below, but maybe you’ve never pondered just how cool this song is. Better yet, just how weird/cool/strange the composer was.
eden ahbez, yes, all lower case letters (born George Alexander Aberle in 1908) was an inspiration to the modern Hippy movement In the 1940s he had shoulder length hair and a long beard. He always wore sandals and dressed in white robes. He camped out below the first L in the Hollywood sign in the hills above Los Angeles. He studied Oriental mysticism, and claimed to live on three dollars a week, sleeping outdoors with his family, and eating only raw vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
ahbez continued composing songs for Nat King Cole, Doris Day, The Ink Spots, Ertha Kitt, Frankie Laine and Sam Cooke.
ahbez died at age 87 in 1995 due to injuries from a car accident. Please enjoy Nat King Cole’s version of this song and ponder the beauty of the lyrics.
Nat King Cole-Nature Boy
Nature Boy
There was a boy...
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wondered very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he
And then one day
One magic day, passed my way
And as we spoke of many things,
Fools and kings,
This he said to me
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
is just to love and be loved in return"
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
is just to love and be loved in return"
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 4:00 AM
4 Comments:
Another one of those unknown eccentric geniuses whose name should be everywhere. At least you can't say he's an "unsung" hero. I'll have to go look him up now and satisfy my curiosity.
Whew! Just went and listened to a few sound clips from "edens Island". I can see how his style would have been very popular with the beatnik/coffeehouse crowd. I'm sure later on it was referred to as "transcendental".
I learned something today. Thanks Guy.
Darev, He was an interesting fellow. You can catch some of his interviews and recorded phone conversations on youtube.
Anon, It's good when we learn something every day.
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