AIO Songs #1: The Great Adventure (Neal Morse Band)

 

A pretty good song to start off this series, huh? I mean, it’s literally called “The Great Adventure.” Adventures in Odyssey, you know?

Why does it remind me of AIO?

First off, the title, like I said. But several other lines remind me of Odyssey, as well. “I can see the city standing there” makes me picture the singer heading for Odyssey.

“I’m going for the simple way/Like Huck and old Tom Sawyer” reminds me of some of those older characters, like Tom especially. “The path of the peaceful warrior” is a bit like Jack. And these lines could apply to Whit as well.

“I am striving for a better life and/I feel like I can make it here” could fit a lot of characters (Richard Maxwell and Buck Oliver are two I can think of, though there’s probably plenty of others). Several of the lines of the second verse apply here as well.

I love this next one: “I’m on the path my father trod/And the answer to me lies/Maybe somewhere in his eyes”. Beautiful line. And it reminds me of Jason, in a way. His relationship with his father, especially when he first comes to Odyssey. But honestly… it could apply to so many of the other characters, who think of Whit as a father.

Then the bridge. “All the voices” connects to radio, because they’re all voices. Right now, I’m honestly just thinking about the people who don’t get into it because it’s just radio. They got trapped in all they see, or can’t see.

“Lunatics and politics,” yeah, there are those in some of the sagas. Novacom made a few lunatics, and Blackgaard had several counterplots going in politics.

To wrap it up, the last line of the chorus “Anything can happen here” is Odyssey to a T. That’s why I always loved that one exchange in Ties That Bind so much:

“It feels like anything could happen in a place like this!”
“Oh, give it time. It will.”

It’s just so Odyssey. Literally ANYTHING can happen here.

 

Lyrics:

I'm headed out to who knows where

My path is treading lightly

I can see the city standing there

The morning clouds behind me

 

And where I go I will be found

As the valley mystifies

And the world turns on its side

 

I'm going for the simple way

Like Huck and old Tom Sawyer

I'm seeking for the light of day

The path of the peaceful warrior

 

The sky is red under the sun

As the earth begins to rise

Like a love that never dies

 

It's the great adventure of my life and

I feel the motion everywhere

It's the great adventure of my life and

There's revolution in the air

I am striving for a better life and

I feel like I can make it here

It's the great adventure of my life and

Anything can happen here…

 

I leave behind my apprenticeship

A fancy word for nothin'

I was an intern for the mothership

A flunky for destruction

 

I'm on the path my father trod

And the answer to me lies

Maybe somewhere in his eyes

 

It's the great adventure of my life and

I feel the motion everywhere

It's the great adventure of my life and

There's revolution in the air

I am striving for a better life and

I feel like I can make it here

It's the great adventure of my life and

Anything can happen here

 

***

 

All the voices made their choices, trapped in all they see

The lunatics and politics all binding up in me

Breaking out, I'm leaving doubt and darkness far behind

I’m pushing through to something new

That's glowing in my mind

Glowing in my mind

 

***

 

It's the great adventure of my life and

I feel the motion everywhere

It's the great adventure of my life and

There's revolution in the air

It’s the great adventure of my life

It's the great adventure of my life and

Anything can happen here…

 

Okay, so just a quick note, I’m gonna be starting a series of blogposts that feature songs that remind me, in one way or another, of Adventures in Odyssey. I put in the video, why it reminds me of AIO, and the lyrics. Just thought I’d go ahead and explain that now.

 

You know what? “By Any Other Name” is a very good introduction to Bernard’s character. His dedication to his work, him wanting to teach these kids what their modern education doesn’t seem to cover, his storytelling (when he says what happened with Phillips), even Eugene is mentioned! And of course, his curmudgeonly nature is evident by the third sentence.

 

One thing I don’t like about “Cross-Check” is how it ruins “An Encounter with Mrs. Hooper.” The episode had a nice, happy ending, and the book decided, nope, she just goes right back to her old ways and makes everything worse and unwittingly helps Blackgaard buy his building.

I mean, it’s an interesting twist, but it ruins the episode for me.

 

Kinda wish Digger Digwillow had become a bit more of a regular. He had some major sass in “The Imagination Station,” and that plus his new faith (coupled with his wonderful, wonderful imagination) make him seem like such an altogether awesome character.

 

It’s so bizarre hearing Richard Maxwell’s voice, sarcasm and all, coming out of Lucy’s dad (who I’m guessing is Mr. Schultz, unless the timeline hasn’t been altered by this point).

[Edit: I just found out that, in fact, this is Mr. Cunningham. The timeline has not yet been altered as of Album #4!]

Also, I wonder if Lucy’s crazy nightmare is still considered crazy for Whit, with all that’s going on in AIO these days. I don’t know much about it myself, except for reading everybody else’s posts.

Still, the episode’s message is an important one in times like these. It doesn’t matter if everybody else in the world says it’s perfectly fine - if you believe something is wrong, you don’t go against your conscience, and you don’t go against the Bible, even if it means you have to go against a very strong flow.

 

Listening to “Bad Company” makes me want to reread “Cross-Check”. Richard Maxwell’s little sister, and all the backstory that comes with her.

Also, if this episode had happened after Daring Deeds, Sinister Schemes, Connie would definitely know better than to listen to a Bible teacher who sounds like Philip Glossman.

 

The family put on some Silly Songs a little earlier, just to listen to while we were cleaning, and a certain one gave me a random headcanon:

Bernard was watching one of his nieces or nephews one day, and the kid put in a VeggieTales tape (yes, back when tapes were a thing). When “Love My Lips” came on, Bernard thought it was hilarious (mostly due to his previous experience with all that psychiatric stuff in “Prequels of Love”). He showed it to Maude a little later, but she hated it. Too childish for her very very mature taste, and completely inaccurate (though she knows that’s not strictly true, and he pointed it out).

Now he’ll sometimes play that one song at the house whenever Maude is in the room, just to annoy her a little.

 

Okay, so I was listening to “Simple Man” by the Charlie Daniels Band, and there’s a little acoustic guitar riff, and it sounded so familiar the whole time, and then it suddenly hit me: it sounded extremely similar to the tune that plays every time Mr. Skint shows up in GRC.

And I mean, I don’t know if they did that on purpose, or if I was mistakenly remembering it, or if it’s just one of those “coincidences”. But it sounded so very like it, and it blew my mind. I literally said “whoa” and had to take a moment to process it.

 

My sis (recently twelve) is listening through the whole series, and for whatever reason, she played them out loud today (she’d mostly been using earphones). She’s up to “Peace on Earth,” and it gave me some thoughts:

 - The reason Whit’s acting strange now is because he doesn’t have Tom to keep him straight. Tom was just about the only one who could call him out when he was getting off track, along with Bernard (and maybe Jack).

 - I really love how Whit basically takes Eugene into his own family for Christmas—and remember, he was just introduced three episodes ago! And yet Whit just insists that Eugene have Christmas with him, and not be alone. It’s so cool.

 - Donna is three years older than Jimmy. So Jimmy is probably 9 years old, since in the previous summer, Donna said she was twelve.

 - The Barclay plot is basically “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” meets “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

 - I just think it’s nice that they brought Lightning in again.

 - They managed to sneak Harley back in for a cameo, but only because they didn’t say his name. George just says “you”.

WELL. I’m completely over the moon right now.

 

In the most recent Official Guide, there was the text of a poem Bernard wrote to say goodbye to Eugene. They said that a scene was recorded where he, Whit, Tom, and Connie read it to him, but they never released it. So obviously, I’ve been dying to hear it ever since.

AND IT’S APPARENTLY AVAILABLE TO LISTEN TO.

It’s in one of their podcasts from 2008. July 16^th. If you have the Odyssey Club, it’s the last one in the third collection. I think it’s around 7 or 8 minutes. I listened to it, and I’ve not been able to stop fangirling since. My family keeps going, why are you so happy?

I’m literally going to record it somehow and post the audio on here for everybody to hear, including people who don’t have the Club, because it made me so, so excited, because IT’S THERE! I CAN LISTEN TO IT! YAAAAAY!!!

 

Can I just say, I love how the AIO Tumblr fandom just went and spent several days brainstorming, writing, and posting about what it would be like if the old characters were still around (and/or why they’re not)? Because that just makes me so happy. They’re not forgotten. Even in whatever all is going on in town these days, they’re not forgotten by the fans, and that’s a wonderful thing for an old-fashioned kiddo like me to see.

This is gold. I’m accepting this as canon.

 

https://green-sweatered-spinster.tumblr.com/post/625123678066294784/jared-my-husband-thanks-btv-grace

Mr. Charles is 100% the Boogeyman. YES, THANK YOU. I literally had that picture in my head long before this thread got started, so I’m glad I’m not the only one!

I’m dying for an episode where Jay finds a Novabox in the attic. They can do that, they don’t have to bring in old or new characters, they can just do an episode about it. Do a dadgum Club episode about it, if you don’t want to interrupt your current plans!

@sparkythehappygiraffe, Those are some interesting thoughts. The technology reverses itself, so it erases people’s memory of its effects. Maybe the more a person uses the Novabox, the quicker their memory of it disappears when it’s gone. Sort of like a precaution, I guess, covering up their tracks. If somebody (like Whit) only used it once, it wouldn’t erase their memory as quick, or at all maybe.

Oh! And it could connect to Eugene’s amnesia, too! He used the technology a lot, he experimented with it, and he ended up erasing his own memory. (Of course, I also kind of headcanon that a few Andromeda agents attacked the lab that night, and something happened to cause him to lose his memory: maybe he had to destroy the technology to keep it from them, and it affected him like that? I don’t know, I need to listen to those eps again.)

Also, Emily saying she thought it was just a story reminds me of David and Mandy having no clue who Blackgaard was in “I Slap Floor”.

 

Okay, but like, I haven’t listened to a new episode since Wooton and Penny got married, and I’m just looking at the AIO Tumblr fandom like what

Two Rodney things about “Broken Window”:

 

It’s been 23 albums, and he’s still bullying kids and getting caught up in Whit’s End courtroom setups.

He gets to talk to himself on the witness stand. TWICE.

 

(Victor)  You know Eugene, don’t you?

(Bernard)  Eugene… *long pause* …yyyyyeah, I’ve seen him around.

(Victor)  Well, what’s it gonna take to get him to change his mind?

(Bernard)  Surgery.

Let’s think about something.

 

In “Missing Person”, Rodney went missing at a time when a carnival was in town, and Isaac found him in the barn at Gower’s Field.

In “Scales of Justice”, Rodney and Isaac disputed over a bag of money found near Gower’s Field, which turned out to be counterfeit. They refer to the events of “Missing Person”.

In “The Green Ring Conspiracy”, a backpack of counterfeit money was found near Gower’s Field, which was connected to Uncle Archie’s Carnival.

Hmm.

 

“You’re an ornery critter, John Avery,” is a line that could only be said of the Hal Smith Whit.

 

Jared in “The Buck Starts Here”:   I should hide the money. YES…no. He’s expecting that. In fact, he’s probably got cameras all over the house!

Jared in “Strange Boy in a Strange Land”:   …  I’m vindicated.

You wanna know what my absolute #1 favourite Adventures in Odyssey episode of all time is? “The Day Independence Came.”

 

I’m not even quite sure I can say why. Oh, of course, the script is top-notch, the characters are great, and the music – don’t even get me started on the music, it’s incredible. But it’s more than that.

Because every time I listen to it, without fail, it always gives me a real sense of wonder, a genuine joy. Every time, I walk away feeling inspired, and very, very happy to be an American.

That’s true even today, and this specific day especially.

And yeah, our country’s going through some seriously rough times. Yeah, a lot of our people have been pretty stupid (I’m not gonna say who, because there are a lot). But we’ve seen THIS – hardship, division, sorrow – all before. Multiple times.

And God has seen us through each and every one of them. Sometimes He’s had to take drastic measures to snap us back to reality, and He’s had to discipline us, but He always gets us through to the glory on the other side. He breaks the chains we’ve grown to love in order to show us real freedom.

The point is, we know that God’s got a plan for America. History has shown us that much. And now’s not the time to forget the past. It’s now that we need to look to the heroes He guided to build our great country as heroes, of the faith as well as liberty. And it’s now that we need most to obey the commandment to honour our Fathers and Mothers – including the Founding ones.

Believe me, if you have any doubt that history teaches us to hope, this episode will solve that problem. More specifically, the heroism, patriotism, and above all faith of the men it portrays. If that can’t at the very least leave you like Irwin, with an awestruck Oh wow! on your lips, well, I’m stumped.

 

Dang it, why don’t the Odyssey writers ever use Wonderworld? It’s literally built for imagination. Not just historical and biblical adventures, which a time machine like the Imagination Station gives you, but sheer imaginarium from your own mind. It was so cool.

But they barely used it, even before the reboot, and after, it just vanished! I mean, it was in, what, four episodes? Mentioned in like two others? And there were only really two where its potential was even used—“Heatwave” and “Wonderworld”. All the others, it was just a setting.

 

FACT: Lawrence Hodges watches a lot of old movies. He quoted the Errol Flynn Robin Hood almost word for word in one scene. Tarzan, westerns, spy movies (lots of spy movies)… he’s clearly drawing from all of them.

HEADCANON: it was one of the main things (along with baseball) that he and his dad did together for fun. Just turn on the channel or pop in the tape (because they used tape back then). That’s where he got a lot of these ideas. (There was even an old spy movie which featured a criminal organization called Destructo, and it was his dad’s absolute favourite. They watched it over and over again, especially when Lawrence was little.) They’ve done this together since he was a baby, and it’s one of his fondest memories, as well as one of the biggest influences on his young life.

 

For some reason, I just love how Whit’s working on the Imagination Station and starts reciting poetry to himself. I mean, who does that? Singing, I’ve heard of, but reciting poetry? That just seems incredibly cool to me.

Ironic “Nemesis” things:

 

The first thing that we hear from Blackgaard is an evil chuckle.

Tom’s reaction to Richard Maxwell after their first meeting is to say “Nice fella.”

 

In the first scene of “Eugene’s Dilemma,” there’s a bit where Nicholas clears his throat.

Eugene: What was that?

My brother: A sixty-year-old man.

(But really, the guy had a pretty wonderful performance.)

 

After we listened to “Connie Comes to Camp,” my sister brought up a good point: why didn’t Lucy just stay in her cabin, or talk to Jill from the window?

From the 25th Birthday Edition of the Adventures in Odyssey Official Guide:

 

“In this episode [“Bernard and Joseph”], window washer Bernard Walton emerged as a storyteller with his own style (loosely based on the 1987 feature film The Princess Bride).”

Having recently watched The Princess Bride for the first time in my life, and then relistened to “Bernard and Joseph”, I can officially confirm that quote as fact.

I feel like they drew on it most in this first storytelling episode, too, with Artie complaining about the mushy stuff. I literally had flashbacks to the episode during the movie. It was hilarious.

Even funnier, I could literally imagine Bernard in place of the storyteller in The Princess Bride. I mean, coming to visit a sick nephew (he’s bound to have lots of nieces and nephews, with how many siblings he has), and telling him this story, or one like it. And the nephew complains, because 1) he doesn’t wanna hear this story, he wants to play his game, and 2) he’s a Walton, they love complaining. But Bernard, being Bernard, is able to draw him completely into the story, and constantly messes with him about him not wanting to hear the rest of it. He even gets him to tolerate the mushy stuff by the end. And then, of course…

(Nephew)  Uncle Bernard?

(Bernard)  *turns* Yeah?

(Nephew)  …Maybe you could come over and tell it to me again tomorrow.

(Bernard)  *pause* As you wish. *smiles, goes out*

Also I seriously love that movie. No wonder it’s a classic.

See if this sounds familiar:

 

A loveable curmudgeon played by Dave Madden is pulled into several uncomfortable situations and even adventures by an intelligent, red-haired young man. These two are constantly disagreeing and poking fun at each other, but they secretly really care about each other, because whether they always like it or not, whether they want to admit it or not, they’re family.

Very strange.

 

Honestly, now I’m thinking about it, “Curious, Isn’t It?” was the first episode Eugene and Bernard were even in together. Certainly the first crazy situation they got into together.

But the thing about that is, it wasn’t so much Eugene pulling Bernard along into a situation as it was them both getting caught up in this whole misunderstanding, started by the kids. Bernard’s as sarcastic as ever about Eugene, of course, but in way of the situation, it’s just that much different this first time.

Now I’m really curious (ha) about how they actually met in the first place.

I know this was the first time onstage, so to speak, but had they met before? I mean, in “By Any Other Name,” Bernard’s first appearance, Whit said he sounded like he was talking to Eugene. But Bernard didn’t make some comment like “Well, you don’t have to get insulting,” which he would have certainly done… if he knew Eugene at that point. Of course, they could have met at some point after that episode, but it’s never said.

So maybe at this point, they both knew who the other were, from seeing them around and other people talking about them, but they’d not talked yet.

Maybe they’d never actually officially met before this episode.

Huh.

 

I gotta admit, I love how Bernard just takes charge when he thinks Whit’s getting married and pulls the whole thing together. Even if it wasn’t for real, that was still impressive work for a single afternoon.

 

Ahh, every time an episode ends with a couple of the characters laughing together, it just makes me very happy. Especially the older episodes. It always felt so warm and joyous. Hal Smith had the best laugh.

I mean, I remember some old cartoons where episodes ended with everybody laughing, and it sounded totally fake. But no, in Odyssey, they have genuine laughs. Whit, of course, and if he’s joined by others (like Tom or Bernard, or Connie sometimes), better still. One episode even ended with Jack Allen and Edwin Blackgaard laughing.

Whit always had the best one, though. I can’t even think of the most recent episode where it went out laughing. I guess they stopped doing that at some point. I miss that.

(Has the Andre Stojka Whit ever even really laughed? Like out-loud laughed, not just a little chuckle?)

 

Whit’s End is amazing, but it’s the worst place for board games. See “An Act of Mercy” and “Poor Loser.”

“An Act of Mercy” was a little weird.

 

To start, it’s the first episode with Bart. Which isn’t strange on its own, but it’s probably the reason he got called “Bill”.

Also, Steve Burns really did not have his Rodney voice down yet, because he just sounds like Mitch on a bad day. I mean, it was only his second Rodney episode, but it still sounds a little off.

…And that fact makes it all the weirder when you realize (like I did for the first time today) that Rodney/Steve Burns/Mitch was pushing around Peter/Katie Leigh/Connie.

(my sis made such a hilarious face when I told her: between laughs, of course)

“First-Hand Experience” is one of my absolute favourite episodes.

 

I know it’s not exactly in most people’s top tens, but it’s just so good. The humour and all the exchanges are spot-on funny, it’s well written, and I kind of love the cameo of the information window guy from “Feud for Thought.” Because that’s totally him. “YEEEES, may I help you?”  XD

But I love this episode most because it’s about two of my favourite characters and it demonstrates so brilliantly the friendship between them.

They’re completely different, of course, and have opposing views on just about everything. And the episode shows you that in literally every exchange. Yet despite all this, they actually do care about each other. Eugene left his bus to help Bernard when he saw he was in trouble (although it didn’t help much). And then Bernard came back for him. He came back to make sure he was okay, and he offered to let him ride with him, and Eugene never would’ve known except for the policeman. Bernard just doesn’t want to admit that he kind of likes this kid. Eugene, however, has no such problems.

Eugene:  I will heartily confess that I did learn something.

Bernard:  Oh, you did, huh. Like what?

Eugene: That sometimes, you don’t know who your friends are, until you need them.

Bernard:  Yeah? Well… don’t let it get around.

Ahh, these two. Their friendship is one of the best parts of the show to me. And it’s what puts “First-Hand Experience” in my top ten.

 

Does Jack have any kids? I mean, I know he was married, and I know he’s got at least twelve mugs that say “World’s Greatest Grandpa”. But I don’t remember any direct reference to his having kids.

(If he doesn’t, my guess about the mugs is that Whit gave him some boxes of stuff a while back, and accidentally gave him a box with some mugs he got for Monty’s birth).

Underrated comedic performance: Everett Nielson.

 

I know he’s just a bit part, but he’s pretty funny. Even better is that he doesn’t go crazy with his last line. It’s way funnier sounding subdued like that, after his over-the-top spaghetti strainer tirade.

 

Whit’s words at the end of “Isaac the Procrastinator” are words to live by, and boy, did I need to hear them. It’s like, SIT YOUR REAR IN THE CHAIR, HAVE CARY GRANT SEAL YOUR PANTS TO THE SEAT, AND JUST DO YOUR DADGUM WORK.

 

You know, people talk about how Darkness Before Dawn’s technology is dated. But in The No Factor, Connie is using a TYPEWRITER for her article for Dale. You can hear it in the background.