The first release, Wall Street (VDP) commemorating the fallen of 9/11, b/w Money is King (Neville Marcano, aka Growling Tiger, additional lyrics VDP; arranged and adapted VDP) which addresses the universal issue of greed. The sleeve illustrations, 'Towers' and 'Excess', are by Pulitzer Prize-winning Art Spiegelman.

In 2003, an earlier version of 'Wall Street' was briefly available as a free download from Parks' website. Comparing the two recordings is instructive: the new 'Wall Street' has more varied instrumentation and a far stronger sense of theater, pausing and slowing down now and then for maximal dramatic effect. 'Wall Street' is a 9/11 song, beginning with the biz-talk and chatter of a workday ("Drop me off at Walk Don't Walk") before turning to ash, blood, and confetti, and the indelible image of a man and woman holding hands as they fall to the pavement. Yes, that happened, and this song remembers.

'Money Is King' picks up where 'Wall Street' ends, with an A major chord. Adding a dense and varied string arrangement to a melody by the Growling Tiger (Trinidadian calypsonian Neville Marcano), Parks tells some transcultural truths about the lives of the rich and the poor. The rich man? "He can commit murder and get off free, And live in the governor's company." What about the poor? "But if you are poor, the people tell you 'Shoo!' And a dog is better than you."

The second of the 45rpm singles to be released, 'Dreaming of Paris' (VDP)* on the return of Sally Parks to Paris and the bombing of Baghdad, b/w 'Wedding In Madagascar (Faranaina)' (traditional acapella folksong, arranged and adapted by VDP) to celebrate the marriage of Elizabeth Taylor Parks and Ian Kibbey, features sleeve art 'Paris' and 'Dreaming of Paris', provided by Ed Ruscha of LA.

*Provenance: David Lindley/Henry Kaiser album A World Out of Time.

Fans of the 1995 Parks–Wilson collaboration Orange Crate Art might associate 'Dreaming of Paris' with that album's 'Sail Away'. Here the escape is by plane, a first-class flight with Cabernet and crème brûlée. But things grow dark, the delights of travel interrupted by memories (or news) of assassinations and war. The song closes on an eerie note: a ghostly chorus, strings and ukuleles, a solemn bass. A strange, beautiful trip indeed.

'Wedding In Madagascar' might serve as a reminder that Parks was one of the first pop musicians to explore what has become known as "world music": his 1972 album Discover America celebrated the music of Trinidad and Tobago (an abiding Parks interest). 'Wedding In Madagascar' is a lovely arrangement of what seems to be a traditional Malagasy melody, with horns, strings, and bright electric guitars.

The fourth release, 'Amazing Graces' (Trad arr VDP) b/w 'Hold Back Time' (VDP) features life-size sculptures of Van Dyke by Charles Ray, entitled 'Side One' and 'Side Two' respectively.

The instrumental 'Amazing Graces' showcases the keyboards of "The Van Dyke Parks Orchestra", with Parks recasting the most familiar of 19th-century hymn melodies, first as a full orchestration in 5/4 time, later as the plaintive single notes of an accordion. Think of this recording as music to accompany a sunlit American landscape.

'Hold Back Time', which first appeared on the 1995 Van Dyke Parks-Brian Wilson collaboration Orange Crate Art, is the fourth song from that album to take on a second life as a solo Parks recording. The lyrics celebrate the present — lovers in each other's arms — and the past — the making of a household and family in "our new old house by the track." Parks is joined here by Danny, Dash, and Timothy Hutton: two generations of sturdy voices defying "that old clock on the wall." The careful listener might notice the slight hesitation in each chorus, holding back "time" (the word), if only for the smallest moment.

Drawing upon the music of three centuries, these latter four recordings show us a musician of unflagging energy and imagination. If Van Dyke Parks, like Andrew Marvell, cannot hold back time, cannot make his sun stand still, he can indeed make that sun run.