Transcendence
in 2000 A.D. Just
one year from the beginning of the Third Millennium, in a world gone mad, powerful
and optimistic voices still somehow rise out of the mass of hypnotized humanity,
forcing us to lift our eyes to see what we've become, and to lift our hearts to
feel where we might go from here. Our
own island troubadour, Derek Parrott, is one of these rare and encouraging voices,
speaking words of profound nourishment and honesty in creamy melodies that seem
to have the power to connect us through time and space. His new achievement –
2000 A.D. – speaks to the great decisions that confront us
– individually and collectively. Derek
is on a mission. The focus of this mission was already apparent in his last album,
My Backyard. Now, in 2000 A.D., he has honed it to
a clarity that befits these modern times. This man is out to save the world –
to push and prod and encourage each of us to live and relate in different and
better ways, because it is our only hope. In
2000 A.D., Derek sets the stage with a snapshot of the emotional
and physical terrorism that suddenly surrounds us. And then, as soon as he asks
Daddy, "Where did we go wrong?" he immediately knows the answer. "I'm
gonna walk forever in your way," he sings, "and say the words that you
would have me say. I promise." And this is exactly what 2000 A.D.
is about: the words are coming through him, not from him. While
man seems bent on doing his blind-sleeping-ignorant best to destroy the world,
the Garden, Derek adds his voice to the chorus of conscience crying out: "Walk
your talk then you'll receive it, let’s come together and spread the light,
like sun upon green land." Despite
these darkening days, he says, there is hope: "My gift is the child of grace,
to stay with you a while, stay and make you smile." But each of us has our
responsibilities in the cosmic equation: we have to find a better way to live,
we have to "get it right." To do that we've got live, we have to "get
it right." To do that we’ve got to remember that "faith is the
power and hope is the driving force." In
this music, Derek's revelation becomes our own. "Fear not, for the lonely
hearts are all forgiven." Meanwhile, we must stay awake and alert: "Behold,
I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."
(Revelation 3:11 ). Meanwhile, signs of the "end times" are all
around us, and "it’s time to tell the truth." Light
brings clarity: "Isn’t it right to believe in each other?" The
image evolves into a mystical embrace for his departed mother: "When you
feel their arms enfolding you, welcome home." In
the end, Derek's music is about real-life transformation – through love,
faith, grief, pain, hope, and friendship. Eventually we all return – again
and again perhaps – into the universal source of all, the purifying realm
of spirit. "I will return, hold you again, be with you evermore." Time
is breath. Life is fleeting, but fraught with opportunity, and Derek Parrott doesn't
want us to waste a moment of it. Not
when we’re this close to 2000 A.D. –
Drew Kampion | 
