Different and the Same, Out of the Loop, All That Matters, The Truth Is
by Mark Weigle
www.MarkWeigle.com

When I was still in the closet but slowly creeping towards the door, I listened to the music of Joni Mitchell all the time. I jumped into her catalogue with her early 1970s output: Blue, Ladies of the Canyon and Court and Spark, quickly moving towards the jazzier lyrically complex work of Hejira, and Hissing of Summer Lawns. Along the way I turned other friends on to the sage woman's work.

What was it about her music that so caught the attention of a gay boy slowly entering his erotic relational life? I think the complexity of her lyrics provided a sort of verbal architecture for the temple of loving I was entering. Of course this borrowing of symbolism occurred in the absence of openly gay artists writing and singing their lives. How would the lyrics of a gay artist have changed my advancing towards wholeness? I found myself thinking a lot about this as I listened to Mark Weigle's beautiful music pouring from my speakers.

Here is an openly gay artist speaking vital truths about the lives we live as gay men and the relationships we find ourselves in. Weigle is a musical craftsman whose work rewards the discerning listener with great surprises along the way. I found myself rewinding each track to catch a phrase or word that had carefully been pieced together by this consummate singer-songwriter. I found myself going out of my way to play his music to friends of mine. They were all stunned and gladdened to hear tracks like "Green" (which reveals an influence of Eagles-era California rock) and the poignant "All That Matters." It's a song about loss and longing and remembering what matters in memory. "Blue Eyes To Brown Eyes" was a revelation for this reviewer. Has anyone ever written as lovely a song about the hardships and promise in interracial relationships? For that matter has anyone written a song about interracial same-sex relationships? It is a stunningly honest piece of musicianship.

Weigle's most recent CD Different and the Same is a sterling selection of covers but I'd suggest starting out with Weigle's original work on his three earlier CDs. They have a simple strength that demand to be heard. If I had one wish to transform the spiritual lives of contemporary Gay men it would to insist Weigle's dance song "Love Your Body Like It Is" be played in every gay dance club. Imagine Walt Whitman's I Sing the Body Electric revised for the club crowd with a great dance beat and you'll begin to understand this track that inspires the listener's sense of worth and beauty.

And from his early CD, "If It Wasn't Love" is one of the fiercest declarations of our right to be and love and blossom in the world. Hyperbole? Visit his website, give his music a listen and delight for yourself. We now have a gay troubadour of the heart who will delight with every listening. His name is Mark Weigle.