Photos
Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” by Sarah McLachlan
Photo Credit: Kharen Hill
Back in February 1994, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, was released here in the United States. Sarah was already an established star to our neighbors to the North at that time, but her fame was just on the rise here in the States.
That album became crucial to my then 26-year old self especially during the summer of that year and, even more so, on a very fateful day in August when my family lost the most important person to me: my father
At that point in my life, I had not lost anyone who meant as much to me as my “Pop.” He was known for being a discerning and humble man, with a bark that was much worse than his bite. But, he was a tough ole teddy bear in my eyes, and while he – and my mother – were strict in the upbringing of my older brothers and me, they were wonderful parents.
That summer we had to rush my father to the hospital for what we thought was a horrible case of the flu. During the weeks that followed while he lay in one of those horrible hospital beds surrounded by doctors attempting to determine what was causing his illness, I needed an outlet for my worry, grief and despair.
Enter “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” by Sarah McLachlan.
I discovered her music that year thanks to my love (or some would say obsession) with television. I heard some of her songs on TV and quickly tracked down the album (or cassette tape to be more exact, it was the 90’s after all) and listened to that tape over and over and over again.
Every song on that album moved me, touched a nerve and eventually helped me – to a small degree – to deal with my father’s untimely death.
Last December, Sarah announced that she would be going on tour to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the release of that album, starting with a concert in Seattle on May 25. During that announcement, Sarah said this: “I think this tour is going to be a real walk down memory lane for me, and I’m hoping that my audience, many of whom have been with me for 30 years, will also be able to go back in time with me.”
Those words are profound for me in more ways than one because that album and Sarah herself became an indelible mark on my life, capturing a time of immense pain and sorrow, but also a very small sliver of joy that filled me every time I listened to the songs on that album. And those songs still touch me to this day.
Sarah will be traveling all across the United States, with a couple stops in Canada, from May to July. You can find her tour schedule here.
If you don’t know, Sarah McLachlan is one of the most celebrated singer-songwriters with over 40 million albums sold worldwide. She has won three Grammy Awards and 12 Juno Awards. She was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and was the driving force behind the Lilith Fair tour, that ran from 1997 to 1999, which featured female musicians and brought more than two million people together. In 2002, she founded the non-profit Sarah McLachlan School of Music which provides high quality music education and mentorship free to children and youth facing various barriers to access.
Sarah will now and always be my personal favorite, and I thank her so much for providing me with the music that helped me heal!
0 comments