NATURE BOY

There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he

Inspired by the Wandervogel student groups who first appeared in Europe in the 1890s through to the 1930's, Eden often found he faced the opposite way to the oncoming tide of progress much like they did. As everything around him accelerated to the beat of industry's drum, he made himself still, like a rock and felt powerful because he so confidently and steadfastly refused to change.

Ever since he met the Richters at their vegetarian cafe in Laurel Canyon he had found himself greatly sympathetic to the philosophy of lebensreform (life reform) which they applied so dutifully to their simple, yet poetic way of living.

Hesse, Steiner and Jung were just a few of the more famous advocates of lebensreform and as Eden Ahbez had often felt anxiety at the rapid pace of change in modern society, he found great comfort knowing that others of more considerable reputation than he had actively rebelled against it. Not that he didn't trust his own instincts. Quite the opposite. Having survived the dustbowl years like some sort of human tumbleweed, he felt determinedly resolute in the face of economic and social pressure. As much as he could make himself like a rock, he could also make himself like water, malleable and fluid so he could break against the granite-like boulders of reality approaching him. In this way, he'd found a sense of immortality in his ability to survive at any cost.

It didn't occur to him until many years later just how influential his and a few others' assertion of non-conformity would result in an entire generation's raison d'etre. The fundamental difference was that it wasn't just a zeitgeist flash in the pan for him. He was the real deal. He had seen enough suffering in America to know why he needed to choose an alternative life path and find a way out, not just from conventional living but also from conventional existence.

After all, seeking enlightenment was a full time job.

Eden was, of course, flattered that he played some part in the exotica lounge boom of the 1950's although he was wary of becoming a pastiche but he was far more honoured to become a subtle influence on the next generation's musical soundtrack and spiritual inspiration.

They say if you live long enough, eventually everything in your external environment will align with your interior one. Such was the case with Eden who found with both The Beach Boys and The Beatles that his influence had reached as near and far as those Californian kids with their near castrato vocal range and the four mop tops from Liverpool who flirted with eastern mysticism.

Sure, Les Baxter had made an entire career out of exoticising the East but there was something different about the youth of the 1960s who seemed as determined as he was to break free from the schackles of duality.

But one thing Eden knew above all else is that you can't hide from Mister Death who had stolen the love of his life, Anna. She died from leukemia in '63. Abhez now found himself more vulnerable than ever to the all pervasive reality of human mortality and greatly desired to become ethereal, like the wind and sky.

The one eternal thing he found gave him some degree of pleasure was hearing his most famous song Nature Boy sung all over the world by artists in every language. Somehow, in his crazy path of life, he'd found a way to strike upon the universal chords that resonate with each generation through time.

Perhaps it was because he was the Nature Boy he wrote about so succinctly.

When life and art align the way it did for Eden with his timeless song, it creates an energy as powerful as love.

His body would perish. That was certain. But his spirit would live on.

Forever.

And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me
The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return