Marilyn Duncan - Departures

by Nancy Montgomery

There are certain things that happen in life that are unavoidable, age being one of them.  We can’t help it - we grow old.  What we can help, however, is to walk thru the journey of life with dignity and hope.  This is the beautiful, simplistic, yet dignified message that Marilyn Duncan - a grandmother - sends to us in her CD Departures.  Each song is prefaced with what the inspiration is behind the lyric.  From 31 YEARS TO GO, a song dedicated to her partner of 31 years with the hope that they will have another 31 years together, to the wistful starkness of DARKENING SKY, Departures is all about the passage of time, dreams and youth. 

If its true that the sign of aging is that we look backwards, no longer towards our life, than Ms.  Duncan’s songs are a yardstick of what its like to remain poised in the loss of those we love who didn’t get there with us.  She reminds that even if our loved ones don’t make the journey with us in spirit, they most certainly do in our hearts. 

Wisely, the production is sparse enough not to drown out Ms. Duncan's rather fragile and timid vocals, allowing her own soul to shine through.  Although her singing and songwriting isn’t for the commercial market, it could find a home on the folk circuit, which she is already playing in Washington.

DEPARTURES is not for the young who haven’t acquired the wisdom yet to know that they, too, will one day be where Marilyn Duncan is.  It's more for those of us who can emphasize with the knowledge that life indeed takes us down many roads, most often those we didn’t anticipate.  Indeed, as this tenacious songwriter points out, that may be the beauty of the whole journey.
 

CLICK HERE to learn more about Marilyn or to buy this CD