Michael Hedges was a conservatory composition major who applied his classically trained musical background in combination with radical innovation to “reinvent” the steel string acoustic guitar. He combined many unusual techniques on the acoustic guitar with a wide range of musical styles, and was also considered a dynamic performer in concert - in short, a “Paganini” of the guitar.
He is known for extensive use in several pieces of two handed tapping techniques (nearly a contrapuntal style of multiple voices). He used the fingers of his right (typically picking) hand to slap harmonic "chords" at the 12th, 7th or 5th fret (or elsewhere). He made use of right hand hammer-ons, particularly on bass notes, and often used the left hand for melodic or rhythmic hammer-ons and pull offs, as well as unusual strummings, that played, as mentioned, independent voices to the right hand. These techniques tended to convert the guitar into a quasi-keyboard like instrument for certain musical purposes. He also made extensive use of string dampening as employed in classical guitar, and was known to insist strongly on the precise duration of sounds and silences in his pieces. Other facets to his playing were percussive slapping on the guitar body and extensive use of artificial harmonics. He also played guitar-variants like the Harp Guitar (an instrument with additional bass strings that Hedges used to play Bach's Prelude to Cello Suite #1 in G Major in its intended key), and the Trans-Trem Guitar.
Michael Hedges was discovered by William Ackerman who heard him performing in a Palo Alto cafe (the former Varsity Theater) and immediately signed him to a recording contract (1980). For several years Hedges toured and performed in concert with Ackerman. He also appeared on several of Ackerman's albums. In turn William Ackerman produced Hedge's first two albums.
The first two records Michael Hedges made - Breakfast in the Field and Aerial Boundaries - were milestones for the acoustic guitar. He then branched out into singing and performing more popular forms of music, although he would periodically make a return to more guitar-centred music. His record Oracle won the 1998 Grammy for Best New Age Album. Hedges was in fact quite a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, percussion, tin whistle, harmonica, and flute, among others on his albums. Bassist Michael Manring contributed to many of Michael's records.
Many acoustic guitarists claim a very broad range of influences and will not fit into any genre, but this was truer of Hedges than of any other. His musical education was largely in modern 20th century composition. He listened to Leo Kottke, Bruce Cockburn, Martin Carthy, John Martyn, John Fahey, and the Beatles, but his approach to composition owed much to Stravinsky, Varèse, Webern, and experimental composers such as Morton Feldman. He saw himself as a composer who played guitar, rather than a guitarist who composed music. He was often categorized as New Age due to his association with the Windham Hill record label. Somewhat in reaction to this, he would describe his music as "Heavy Mental", "New Edge", ""Thrash Acoustic", "Deep Tissue Gladiator Guitar" or "Savage Myth Guitar," amongst other terms.
Hedges was killed in a car accident in 1997 at the age of 43. His unfinished last recordings were brought to completion in the album Torched, with the help of his friends David Crosby and Graham Nash.
Promised Land
Michael Hedges Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On this mountain I stand
Read the stone on demand
It's like a burning brand
From his fiery hand
Ten things they command
To every woman, child and man
We were the Pharaoh's slaves
'Til god Jehovah forgave
He rose up a pillar of fire
Our freedom his desire
He rose up the Red Sea waves
Our ocean road to pave
To these shores of sand
In this Promised Land
The song Promised Land by Michael Hedges is a powerful commentary on the idea of freedom and the struggle that goes with it. The opening lines, "This is the promised land, on this mountain I stand," suggest the pride and joy that comes with achieving long-awaited freedom. The "stone on demand" represents the commandments given to the people in this new land, which they take as seriously as a burning brand - a symbol for something unbreakable and eternal. The "fiery hand" from which these commandments are given, can be interpreted as a reference to the "pillar of fire" mentioned later in the song.
The second verse of the song expands on the idea of liberation from slavery. The author mentions the story of ancient Egypt, when the Jews were enslaved under the Pharaoh. However, their God Jehovah "forgave" them and set them free. The "pillar of fire" here takes on a more metaphorical meaning, representing the power and passion of God's desire to help his people achieve freedom. The line "He rose up the Red Sea waves" describes the well-known biblical event where the waters parted so that the Israelites could cross on dry land. This was seen as a miracle that signified the beginning of their journey to the promised land. The "ocean road to pave" symbolizes the many obstacles they had to overcome to reach their final destination, the sandy shores of the promised land.
Line by Line Meaning
This is the promised land
This land is the one that was promised and desired.
On this mountain I stand
I stay on this mountain and look around the landscape.
Read the stone on demand
Interpretation is based on the position of the rock.
It's like a burning brand
It's like a hot and glowing emblem.
From his fiery hand
From the hands of the one who owns a passionate and powerful temperament.
Ten things they command
They demand ten different things.
To every woman, child and man
For each individual including women, children and men.
In this Promised Land
In this land that was promised and desired.
We were the Pharaoh's slaves
We were the captives of the Egyptian king.
'Til god Jehovah forgave
Until the God Jehovah excused us.
He rose up a pillar of fire
He brought into existence a pillar of flame.
Our freedom his desire
Being free was his wish.
He rose up the Red Sea waves
He lifted up the waves of the Red Sea.
Our ocean road to pave
To create the path across the sea for us.
To these shores of sand
To this land with sandy beaches.
In this Promised Land
In this land that was promised and desired.
Contributed by William N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.