In 1970 Roger Searle Payne released an album featuring some of the biggest singers of all time — and I don’t mean Elvis, The Beatles or Frank Sinatra. Payne recorded whales. Humpback whales.
According to WIKI, Payne is “an American biologist and environmentalist famous for the 1967 discovery (with Scott McVay) of whale songs.” Also noted: Payne was the first to suggest fin whales and blue whales can communicate with sound across whole oceans, a theory since confirmed.
Payne’s recordings were packaged and labeled as “Songs of the Humpback Whale.” I got a copy shortly after it was released. (I also had the Judy Collins album “Whales & Nightingales,” which featured some of Payne’s work on the track “Farewell to Tarwathie.”)
My experience is that Payne’s album is best listened to late at night, with candles lit and incense burning. Here are the tracks:
“Solo Whale” — 9:32 (recording: Frank Watlington)
“Slowed-Down Solo Whale” — 1:05 (recording: Frank Watlington)
“Tower Whales” — 3:23 (recording: Roger and Katharine Payne)
“Distant Whale” — 3:55 (recording: Frank Watlington)
“Three Whale Trip” — 16:31 (recording: Roger & Katharine Payne)
“Songs of the Humpback Whale” may not be music in the classic sense, but it’s clear that it isn’t just random moans and groans, guttural rumblings and throat shudders. With the light right and the mind clear, the songs are haunting. Longing. Yearning. Other-worldly.
Why bother?
Those of you who’ve read my short piece titled “Arrogance!” may know how I feel about mankind’s failings. Suffice to say, God gave us brains to use and hearts to follow. I think we’re obligated to plug into both.
Roger Searle Payne certainly did.
“Songs of the Humpback Whale” not only sold well, it was enormously influential: winning awards, inspiring artists and motivating environmentalists. Payne’s recordings were even featured in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986), the plot of which centered on the rescuing of humpback whales from extinction.
Some day this week, shut down the distractions around you. Set low the lights. Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=savCAd6RyPI and listen. Just listen. Let new-to-you yet ancient sounds spread through your mind and over your heart like bubbly lace-surf on moon-lit sand. Burgling-gurgling. Swissssssh-swasssssh. Drift-dream of deeps waters and quiet seas; glitter-kissed waves and midnight skies. Get lost. Lost in the songs — of the humpback whale.
Jim Lamb is a retired journalist and author of “Orange Socks & Other Colorful Tales,” the story of how he survived Vietnam and kept his sense of humor. Sometimes he over-thinks things. For more about Jim and his writing, visit www.jslstories.com.
