Got ?'s about the unborn baby? If you get confused, listen (you & baby) to the music play...

Updated: Jan 22

I offer these reflections without judging my fellow human beings who see this important matter from other perspectives. That said, let's sit back, open mind and heart...and

"Listen to the music play..."

Music to be Born by...heartbeats to drumbeats...

Mickey Hart is my inspiration for this post. Those that know my affinity for the Grateful Dead are probably amused and not surprised.

Michael Hartman (his given name) is a modern day "Michaelangelo." Mickey uses his talents in so many ways to help his fellow passengers on Spaceship Earth. While working on another post, I came across an article that mentioned a project he did called "Music to be Born by."

Music to be Born by - Mickey Hart (00:48)

"This soothing, 70-minute soundscape, originally created for the birth of Mickey Hart’s son Taro in 1983, was intended to transform the coldness of a hospital birthing room into a warm, rhythmic environment for the process of labor and birthing. However, after requests by several friends to use the album for their own birthing processes, Hart decided to release the recording for the general public. The music consists of Taro's heartbeat (recorded in utero) overdubbed with bass harmonics (provided by Bobby Vega), drums, and wooden shakuhachi flute (played by Steve Douglas). Music to be Born By was issued in 1988 as part of “THE WORLD” series (now part of the Mickey Hart Collection made available by Smithsonian Folkways)."

Source: from the Smithsonian Folkways page

Note: 1988 is the same year Eileen brought our musical son, John, into this big concert hall of life...

Music in the Womb...BabyPod

Amazing video shows babies 'SINGING' in the womb: Foetus can 'hear music as early as 16 weeks - and moves their mouth and tongue in response'

First study to show foetuses can hear sounds as young as 16 weeks
Pregnant women between 14 and 39 weeks took part in the study
Music played via an intravaginal device, and via speakers on the bump
Found 87% of foetuses responded directly to intravaginal sounds
Moved their mouths and tongues 'as if they were trying to sing'

Do Babies Hear in their Mom's belly?

DJ shocked after ultrasound showed his baby ‘wearing tiny headphones’

Ultrasound scan appears to show an unborn baby wearing HEADPHONES in the womb (and her father is a DJ)

Can Babies Hear Sounds Inside The Womb? II Ultrasound Ireland (00:41)

Babypod Website

As a result of what I'm learning from this post, I added some musical touches to this rally sign and will bring it with me today as we stand in solidarity for an endangered group: our pre-born children...

For this afternoon's rally, I also modified this favorite tee that my friend Ray gave to me...

Our World Needs Musicians More Than Ever to Help Heal Our Divisions...

August Rush - Original Theatrical Trailer (02:24)

**The Grateful DEAD in a Pro-LIFE Post???**

Sure! And I'll let the band tell us how...AND, amazing but not surprising...a cover that features a female lead singer AND female drummer...Cool, huh?

Scarlet Begonias (Grateful Dead) :: Savannah & The Kings :: DeadCoversProject (05:03)

...and a post about sobriety...Sober Deadheads, Huh???

Yup...Here's a Wharf Rats Facebook page as "furthur" evidence...

Grateful Dead - Wharf Rat (Orchard Park, NY 7/16/90) (10:50)

Greatest Stories Ever Told: Wharf Rats - David Dodd

(from this post) Hunter and Garcia both had a certain amount of experience to draw on in writing and singing about being homeless, on at least semi-indigent, living in cars in their early years of first acquaintance, crashing where they could.

This post is still Furthur proof of something my friend Steve often intones:

"There's a Grateful Dead song for every occasion..."

Babies are what YOU eat...

I was watching a video that said babies in the womb can learn tastes from what their mothers frequently eat...and may want those after they are born...

...So, choose wisely...

"In another time's forgotten space Your eyes looked from your mother's face..."

The lyrics in this Grateful Dead classic seemed appropriate for this post.

Franklin's Tower

Lyrics By: Robert Hunter

Music By: Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann

In another time's forgotten space Your eyes looked from your mother's face (note a) Wildflower seed on the sand and stone May the four winds blow you safely home

Roll away the dew Roll away the dew Roll away the dew Roll away the dew

I'll tell you where the four winds dwell (note b) In Franklin's tower there hangs a bell It can ring, turn night to day It can ring like fire when you lose your way

[tOM here: See "Dead Ringer" link at end of this post)

God save the child who rings that bell (note c) It may have one good ring, baby, you can't tell (note d) One watch by night, one watch by day If you get confused, listen to the music play

Some come to laugh their past away Some come to make it just one more day Whichever way your pleasure tends If you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind

In Franklin's tower the four winds sleep (note e) Like four lean hounds the lighthouse keep Wildflower seed in the sand and wind May the four winds blow you home again

(a) Robert Hunter's lyrics in "Box Of Rain" are "Your eyes looked through your mother's face" (b) the lyrics in "Box Of Rain" are "You ask me where the four winds dwell" (c) the lyrics in "Box Of Rain" are "God help the child ..." (d) the lyrics in "Box of Rain" are "It may have one good ring left ..." (e) this is the lyrics in "Box Of Rain" and the studio recording, but Jerry mostly sang "I'll tell you where the four winds sleep." Thanks to Dan Franzen for pointing this out.

The Annotated "Franklin's Tower" - David Dodd

Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Franklin's Tower" - David Dodd

All Are Welcome Here...

Deva Premal & Miten: All is Welcome Here - LIVE- Lausanne 2018 (06:16)

Post-Partum Post...

Music to be Born By - Mickey Hart & others (1:10:10)

--complete project offered by Smithsonian Folkways (click here for info)

Life's Rhythms Reimagined w/ Mickey Hart & Dr. Adam Gazzaley (04:54)

--A few years ago, I got to enjoy this demonstration and more as part of an event sponsored by the combined efforts of NYC's Hayden Planetarium and the American Museum of Natural History...

Rhythm & The Brain: Superorganism - Mickey Hart & Dr. Adam Gazzaley (04:56)

Dead Ringer is Saved by the Bell on Graveyard Shift

10 of the Most Beautiful Things the World Can Learn from the Grateful Dead

Finding insight – another lesson learned from the Grateful Dead - Todd Baird