Dutch documentary about Alan Lomax and his quest to record (poor man's) folk music from all over the world.
Impressive how he simply did all the recording, travelled around the world. Simply did it.
Painful how such a man, described by everybody as larger than life, full of energy, in the final years of his life was unable to answer questions because of a brain tumor. He understood them well enough, but could not phrase his answers. Locked inside his head. Where there any answers? Could he simply not phrase them? Or could he not even think of the answers anyway, only understand the question, the grasping feeling we all know when we "just can't think of the answer", the proverbial tip of the tongue, but eternally, continuously...
"He could get a song out of a stone if only he told it how beautiful it was."
Many of the songs were amazing, but the Sicilian miner's song grabbed my heart and mind.
A version of "All the pretty little horses" that sounds much more Scottish.
