About
Where it all Began
His story began in February, 1964 while watching The Beatles' iconic performance on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. Eight-year-old Noel decided then and there to become a rock star. He was given his first guitar when he was 10, he wrote his first few songs a year later, and formed his first of many bands by the time he turned 14.
Fast-forward 20-some-odd-years …
Life will sometimes throw us a curve ball, and Noel was no exception to being thrown his share of them.
Being the creator of his own demise as he often was, coupled with having to face unforeseen circumstances that would naturally get in the way, Noel went through a divorce, which inevitably led him down the path toward homelessness. It was during this period when he became destined to return to writing songs, which brings him to where Noel Carol is today.
Noel Carol Music, based in British Columbia, Canada, is more than just an online music shop. It's the culmination of a life dedicated to music, visual arts, and writing. Noel is a multi-faceted, seasoned musician and songwriter, and an amateur visual artist, who has also since emerged into becoming a published author. Every aspect of Noel's artistic endeavours ties together, such as his song Left Unread having inspired his memoir of the same name.
After taking a performing hiatus since 2004, Noel is now returning to the live music scene by performing at intimate house concerts in Western Canada, promoting his songs, his book, and his artistic memorabilia.
A True Artist
Now, if one were to ponder how and why an individual might ever become considered a true artist, he may be drawn to ask himself several questions . . .
How talented must he be and to what extent might dedication and personal sacrifice have to do with achieving his goals? What drives him to keep on keeping on when time and circumstance are not necessarily on his side? Could it be the lure of fame and fortune that lines the pockets of his thoughts that inspires his incessant journeying? You can be sure that there are as many reasons to continue on as there are true artists who actually do so - although if the hope of fame, glory or money is the driving force behind it all, one might assume that the journey would be short-lived, since none of these things necessarily develop overnight. So, what is it then?
Could it be that sheer passion and determination are the necessary ingredients that enable a true artist to not give up no matter what get thrown his way? Could it also be plausible to imagine that there really is no particular goal in mind at all and that this innate need to create comes from such depths from within the artist that nothing could ever prevent its surfacing anyhow? If this were the case then, can one who is looking from the outside/in possibly come remotely close to grasping what truly defines the making of a true artist in the first place?
A true artist doesn't decide to become one but rather comes to understand that he had always been, and will forever remain as such. Being a true artist is a state of mind. It's a way of life. It's an adventure in discovery of self. It's the acknowledgement that nothing in life really matters without first having had the desire and ability to feel and deal with the extremities of both pain and joy, while learning to accept their co-existence as being part of what shapes and molds him into becoming who he inevitably is to become. Thus said, a true artist delivers his emotions to the senses of anyone who dares to enter into the different worlds that he might have inhabited at the times of giving birth to his individual creations.
Noel Carol is one such artist . . . talented, dedicated, disciplined, passionate and deep. While he so readily exposes his own personal vulnerabilities to his audience through his lyrics, his strengths as a composer/guitarist/singer shine forth, bringing an awareness of his true depth of character to the forefront. The stories behind his songs are real stories about life lived - sometimes coming from a point of weakness and at other times coming from a place of visionary optimism.
He writes, too, from a place of compassion and forgiveness about having been wronged by someone while, yet again, depending upon which planet he inhabited at the time of writing a particular piece, he has demonstrated how brutally honest he can be toward someone who might have earned the status of being on his black list.
Yes, a culmination of hope and despair, love and anger, truth, lies and betrayal, compassion and frustration - all are intertwined to define the oxymoronic, day-to-day goings-on that could possibly occur in anyone's life. Noel has gone to the extent of putting these feelings to music. Anyone who takes the time to truly listen to his songs can, and usually does, relate to his stories.
Noel has been described as being a modern-day Mozart in that his musical compositions encapsulate the listener by taking him on a moody journey that may start out as being totally calm, progressing toward chaos and returning to calm once again. This is achieved with the use of melodic changes in key, rhythm, tempo and unexpected modulations that transpose the listener from one time zone to another, causing his breathing patterns to fluctuate accordingly. The attention of the listener is held in anticipation of the next unpredictable musical mood swing that is sure to cause emotions to stir within, yet again. And yes, he is eventually brought back to a recognizable, yet subtly modified, return to the introduction of the composition, causing the listener to say to himself, "Oh, yeah!"
Noel grew up listening to Lennon and McCartney, Simon and Garfunkel, Gordon Lightfoot, Elton John, Eric Clapton, The Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Pink Floyd, Queen, The Eagles, James Taylor, George Jones, Kris Kristofferson and Billy Joel, to name a few - all of whom greatly influenced his musical styles in some shape or form.
His most influential moment took place on February 9, 1964 at the age of eight, after having seen The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. He clearly recalls his thoughts of wanting to become a musician at that very moment . . . testimony that passion and determination had been living inside of Noel since his early years.
Two years later, Noel was given his first guitar from one of his seven sisters, Paulette. He was relentless in his attempt to learn how to play it, driving everyone in the house completely mad. Aside from a few introductory lessons from an older friend called Jack, Noel is self-taught. His ear developed simply from repeatedly lifting and lowering the needle on the RCA record player and also by closely listening to his favourite songs being played on the radio . . . eventually figuring out what was being done on many of the songs he wanted to learn.
A sample of the result of this effort that was put forth more than 50 years ago is now at your fingertips. Noel's time has come! Thank you for your support.
Probably the worst thing any of us can do when we're trying to pull off the impossible is to impose unrealistic expectations upon ourselves. However, that's exactly what Noel did in 1995 when he decided to pursue song writing as his new career. He gave himself five years to make it happen. As it turned out, time began to run out for him in December of 2000, which is when the song that changed his life was written.
Although Noel had felt that he had accomplished some amazing feats during those five years, he still hadn't really become discovered to the extent that he would have hoped he would. He was ready to give up on his dream. But then, out of nowhere came the inspiration to write a new song. He began the lyrics by telling of his ups and downs, comparing the way he felt to being nothing less than running scared in one bad dream while also being overtaken by such darkness that he wasn't able to even see where he was going.
He goes on to tell of his awareness of his having sometimes been right and other times having been wrong. But lately, he just felt done in and snared - too weak to even scream. And even though he'd done everything within his power to realize his dream, it seemed that every step he made and every breath he took toward it just became harder to do every day.
No Matter What!
But he had no sooner written those few lines when it occurred to him that he was kidding no one but himself by giving in to defeat. So, without any further thought, he concluded that he owed it to himself to be true to himself and not give up . . . no matter what gets thrown my way.
I digress for a moment . . . from the onset, Noel called his music endeavour NMW Music Productions. The acronym stands for No Matter What, which was his original philosophy that he adhered to for the previous five years. Subconsciously, upon writing those words, he became reminded of his commitment to himself, which enabled him to immediately change his mind about quitting. He followed up on the "no matter what" line by writing the following line to the song: I'll not end up like some book on a shelf - Left Unread.
He instantly decided that Left Unread would become the song title but he no sooner had that idea when it also occurred to him that he should also write a book by the same title, too. He didn't stop to think about the logistics of it all at that particular moment in time, but he believed that somewhere down the road he would eventually write the book. He already knew the storyline; it would contain the stories behind each of his songs.
Now he wasn't aware of it at the time but his song-writing days weren't quite over as of yet. Unbeknownst to him, he still had some living and learning to do and along with that living, he would have additional heartache to overcome and a lot more lessons to learn that would inspire yet another handful of great songs to become written.
Fast forward to today. Our present time is June, 2025. It's almost 25 years to the day since the idea of writing the book came to him. You may not have considered this, but it takes courage to expose one's vulnerabilities. Noel has allowed himself to lay bare his many weaknesses and insecurities about himself in the writing of this book. Perhaps that's why it's taken him this long to put pen to paper.
Could it also mean that he's found the level of success that he'd been seeking all these years? Well, that would depend on how one defines success. The quick answer is "No, he hasn't!"
But that would be according to how the masses define artistic success. Noel had finally discovered, somewhere along the lines of his incredible musical journey of discovery, that his personal success was found each and every time he'd written a song that prevented him from pulling the plug on life itself. So, the slow answer is an overwhelming "Yes, he's found success many times over!"
Read the book; it tells the whole story. There are plenty of life lessons to learn from reading all that Noel had put himself through. As the book itself elaborates upon, Noel's artistic journey could also be described as being a spiritual one. After all that he'd gone through, primarily as a result of many really poor choices he'd made, Noel's of the understanding today that he was used as an example by our Giver of Life that anyone can turn his life around simply by giving in to God's will for him.
And although this next statement will likely not be very popular with some of you who read this, there are several important messages that Noel hopes to get across to everyone who reads his stories. They range between that of, first, putting your faith in Yahweh through Yeshua haMashiach who is our true Lord and Saviour, followed up with learning that our coming to repentance for our past wrongdoings combined with changing our ways is the single most important thing that we can do for ourselves. This is what Noel's journey was really all about. This theme slowly weaves its way through each chapter of his book.
And, secondly, on a more personal note, he encourages you to realize that if you find yourself living in a dream of darkness, it can actually turn into day simply by being true to yourself and to not give up no matter what gets thrown your way.
Discover
The
Stories Behind the Songs of Noel Carol
Delve into the diverse world of Noel Carol's music and writing. Explore heartfelt songs and the stories that inspired the memoir, Left Unread. Noel’s songwriting styles are so diverse, he's confident that, at the very least, he has one or more songs that will resonate with everyone.