THIS IS GOD CALLING...

At a midweek church service last week, the pianist and her accompanying flautist kept playing a tune that was haunting me. I kept thinking This is Satie. I am certain that this is Satie. I know this song.

There were three different versions of the song, or, perhaps, three different yet similar songs that were played throughout the worship service. I know this song. Is it really appropriate for church? I like it, but is it religious music? If it isn't necessarily religious music, does it matter?

The music was lightly melancholy, at times bordering on maudlin, yet I found it to be soothing and comforting. It didn't distract me from the service, even though its melody kept my mind actively searching for some answers, an answer. I am pretty sure this is Satie. If this isn't Satie, then it sure sounds like him.

After the service was over, I walked up to the piano and glanced at the sheet music. "Gymnopédie No. 1 - Erik Satie" it read. Beneath it were its siblings—Gymnopédie No. 2, Gymnopédie No. 3.

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I drove home, listening to two of the final tracks on Hüsker Dü's swan song album Warehouse: Songs and Stories on the car's CD player. What did I hear deep in the mix of "Turn It Around"? I heard what sounded to me like echoes of the Gymnopédies. I also thought I heard faint echoes of them in "You Can Live at Home." Maybe you're going mad.

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I checked out copies of Satie CDs from the library. The child and I listened to them in the car.

TWT: Do you know where you've heard this song before?

CHILD: Yes.

TWT: Where?

CHILD: In the part of Up where the old lady dies and the music slows down.

TWT: What?

CHILD: You know, where the old lady dies and her husband is real sad. The music slows down and this is the song.

TWT: Do you know where you may have heard it more recently?

CHILD: At church on Wednesday.

TWT: Indeed.

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When we arrive home, I put the DVD of Up in the player and forward to the scene the child described. It's not Satie, but that section of Michael Giacchino's song is definitely another echo of the Gymnopédies.