I never thought one could have a favorite song, but having discovered this one a year or so ago, it is hard to imagine one that speaks more true.There's a lot bound up in it for me, but essentially it seems a celebration of an authentic life against an artificial one. It falls within the fascinating and delightful realm of music known as 'folk punk'.
High upon a mountaintop, lay a garden untended and dry
'Twas a yard that hadn't felt children's feet runnin',
for the mother long ago taught her children how to fly
Within a simple cabin, untouched by industrial hands,
sat the aged mother in her home.
"You can't escape the picture frames -- there's too many," she said.
"They keep me from bein' alone."
Well, she spoke -- "He was an honest man, he worked hard to put food on our plates
"Well, we had more babies than we had arms -- we struggled all our lives, but the rewards were great
"And when my son came home from the war, he rested his head on my breast, and said:
"'Ma, I'm tired of being used and grinded down, I feel so low -- can you make me feel like I'm the best?'
"Well, my best friend truly wed a savage man -- he wore her like a bad tattoo.
For his only love was for a bottle; she said 'There's only thing left for me to do.
'To be wild once again, to take back my life, ran away and set flames to his truck
He won't ever know what he's been missin', I did every day -- joy, freedom, dance and love
Joy, freedom, dance, and love..
These are the stories this mother spoke to me as I brought her garden back to grow
I was rewarded with a warm meal, tales never to be told --
Some call it poverty, but they'll never know.
She said, "All I got's my stories and this old guitar.
"My crops have all come and gone away
"I got a head full of recipes enticin' to the taste,
and a likin' to wake up and greet the day
"Got a bad back from raisin' my children,
"From huggin' my husband so tight
Hell, I never much for any government --
" -- and I got my Jesus when I feel the time is right
"Singing, 'I'm the richest I'll ever be --
"I embrace the world I have all around me
"So sing a dying song and slap your knee
"Have a taste of true anarchy!"
Sun-warmed rock and the cold of Bleaklow's frozen sea...
The snow and the wind and the rain of hills and mountains
Days in the sun and the tempered wind and the air like wine...
And you drink and you drink till you're drunk
On the joy of living
Farewell to you, my love, my time is almost done
Lie in my arms once more, until the darkness comes
You filled all my days, held the night at bay, dearest companion..
Years pass by and they're gone with the speed of birds in flight
Our life, like the verse of a song heard in the mountains
Give me a hand, then, love, and join your voice with mine
We'll sing of the hurt and the pain
And the joy of living
Farewell to you my chicks, soon you must fly alone
Flesh of my flesh, my future life, bone of my bone
May your wings be strong; may your days be long
Safe be your journey.
Each of you bears inside of you the gift of love;
May it give to you light and warmth and the pleasure of giving
Eagerly savour each new day in the taste of its mouth
Never lose sight of the thrill and the joy
Of living
Take me to some high place of heather, rock, and ling
Scatter my dust and ashes, feed me to the wind --
So that I will be part of all you see, the air you're breathing
I'll be part of the curlew's cry and the soaring hawk... The blue milkwort and the sundew hung with diamonds I'll be riding the gentle wind that blows through your hair Reminding you how we shared In the joy of living
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, one of the most destructive wars in human history finally ended. At the time, people were so shaken by its length, horror, and cost that they simply referred to it as the Great War. We know it now as the 'First World War'. It holds a special meaning for me, effectively ending the period of human history I concentrate most on, and for me the Great War is war at its basest. It schooled me in the cost of patriotism and nationalism; it taught me the virtue of pacifism. In a war as ugly and purposeless as the Great War, the only moral option was to refuse to participate. Today we honor the millions of young men who were butchered for their government's greed, pride, and vanity. It happened then; it happened again; it will continue to happen unless we resist, and until we stop honoring propaganda's idea of the 'cause'.
Normally on this date I post a specific song in tribute to the fallen, called "The Green Fields of France". It honors the victims of the war without honoring the war, which I like. Since last year I have heard another appropriate song, and while it may be more appropriate for ANZAC Day, I think its message serves just as well here.
When I was a young man I carried me pack
And I lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said: Son,
It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When the ship pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off for Gallipoli
It well I remember that terrible day
When our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell they call Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he primed himself well
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shell
And in five minutes flat, we were all blown to hell
He nearly blew us back home to Australia
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
When we stopped to bury our slain
Well we buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again
Oh those that were living just tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I awoke in me hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
I never knew there was worse things than dying
Oh no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me
They collected the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind and the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thank Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the Band played Waltzing Matilda
When they carried us down the gangway
Oh nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away
Now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing their dreams of past glories
I see the old men all tired, stiff and worn
Those weary old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year, their numbers get fewer
Someday, no one will march there at all
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong
So who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
Tonight an odd video appeared in my facebook newsfeed, the tale of the Norman conquest set to a pop song from the 90s. The same artist-historian has recorded dozens of these songs, and I'm still relishing them. Behold!
While on YouTube a few months back I encountered a beautiful song by activist-singer Evan Greer. I couldn't find lyrics, so I transcribed them myself.
Well, I've written many songs
about the things that have gone wrong
The wars, and the killings, and the lies
This world is full of hate and there is so much at stake
We must fight for our rights and for our lives
We've gotta raise a fist for our right to exist
in a world where freedom is a lie (alive?)
Strikes they will rage, black flags we'll wave
The rich will have fear in their eyes
But when the fight is done,
The revolution won,
We'll burn the final flag and walk on.
And if we close our eyes and hold each others' hands
And if we sing boldly in the night
We will watch the sun rise through the tears in our eyes
Knowing that we fought the good fight.
Behind our black bandanas
There's a love so strong it can't be stayed
For every living thing in every song that we can sing
Each garden and each house that we have made
We know that in the end we can count upon our friends
To have a love stronger than the state
'Cause the tear gas makes us cry, the bullets make us die
But in the end, we will push beyond that gate --
Save the world and save the trees, set our comrades free
Rejoice though the coming was so late
And if we close our eyes and hold each others' hands
And if we sing out boldly in the night
We will watch the sun rise through the tears in our eyes
Knowing that we fought the good fight.
I met an old man outside an ice-cream stand
And in an old voice, he said to me
"You are young and you are strong, and you will find where you belong --
But remember that no man is your enemy.
It's the borders and the nations and the giant corporations,
But not a single living being."
So we struggle not for chaos, but for harmony
And we would rather fight instead of die
We struggle for the dawn, whose side are you on?
You'll know when we raise our voices high.
And if we close our eyes and hold each others' hands
And if we sing boldly in the night
We will watch the sun rise through the tears in our eyes
Knowing that we fought the good fight.
What's that big thing in the sky, watching over us?
It must know things that we don't know, we give it all our trust!
I have no food, our caves are bare, life sucks we all agree!
I guess that big thing in the sky is freaking mad at me!
Soooo let's build a fire and kill a goat and burn some virgins too!
And then good luck will come to us, our Sun will see us through!
Recently Neurovore shared this piece with me, a history of ignorance (mythology, astrology, the four humors, spiritualism, red scares, etc) set to a history of music, beginning with a stone age chant and...'progressing' to autotuned homeopathic techno-rap.
May Day is an international holiday created to celebrate the accomplishments and trials of the men and women who have, throughout history, made the modern world possible. I celebrate this day not because of my own personal politics, but because of my basic moral outlook. When we celebrate the worker, we celebrate the majority of humanity -- for most of the world belongs to the working class.
On this day, I invite you to consider that most everything you can see and touch around you was created by the labor of another human being not unlike yourself. We live in a world created by one another, and virtually everything in our lives has been touched by the lives of countless men and women across the world. The food you eat, for instance, was planted, tended to, harvested, inspected, cleaned, packaged, transported, unloaded, and stocked in the store by people. We are constantly connected to one another. This is worth being mindful of.
We should also be mindful of the widening gap etween those who create the wealth and those who horde it, between the working poor and the idle rich. It is more present now than at any time in history, for the strength of the few has been increased against the many upon whose backs they are perched. The reasons for this are many, but the solution is the same. We must stand together and work -- organize, protest, and defy. We do not enjoy the civil rights and political liberties that we do because the powerful kings of the past thought it was the right thing to do: we enjoy them because men and women of the past asserted those rights, demanded those liberties. They used the one weapon which can never be taken away -- strength of numbers -- to force reaction. Human progress is the story of courage's advance and tradition's retreat.
While there are many appropriate songs I could share today, the song below has the most meaning for me. Back in 2007, as a self-described social democrat, I searched for 'democratic socialism' out of curiosity. I heard Billy Bragg singing the Internationale, and I listened to it again and again that weekend. It spoke to my humanist morals, to my idealism, and has taken on a powerful significance. Translated throughout the world into various languages, it may be the most sung song in history.
I never fail to feel heartened when this group of young Buddhist monks*, marching solemnly through the countryside in their habits, suddenly breaks forth into a silly, lovable English song.
*According to a documentary I watched recently, it is not uncommon for poorer people in places like Tibet to offer children they cannot afford to feed to the monastery. I think that happened in Europe, as well...
In the western mythos, 'Judas' is synonymous with 'traitor'. This comes from the Christian gospels, in which a man named Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus after being his student and servant for three years of ministry. According to the gospels, Judas led soldiers into the garden in which Jesus was praying and distinguished him among his followers by kissing Jesus on the cheek -- betraying his friend for thirty shekels of currency. Jesus was then taken by the Romans, interrogated, beaten, and condemned to death. Judas later expressed shame for his actions and died, either by hanging himself or by tripping and disemboweling himself in a field of broken pottery.
There have been various attempts to redeem Judas' name. Since most Christians believe that Jesus's essential task on Earth was to die, Judas' role in arranging that death seems necessary. Indeed, when The Gospel of Judas began attracting attention in the media, he was represented as Jesus' dearest friend, specially chosen for the task of leading Jesus to his death. Yesterday, I discovered a song called "Stand Up For Judas", which paints the story of Jesus and Judas in a different story, rooting itself in one of the Christian text's more questionable stories.
In the story, Jesus and his disciples are resting at a supporters' home at the end of a long journey. A woman named Mary enters, carrying an 'alabaster box' full of valuable ointment. Breaking the box, she proceeds to wash Jesus' feet -- presumably dirt-caked from a day of walking -- with it, using her hair to scrub his feet clean. Some of the disciples -- Judas is named explicitly in the other gospels -- objects to this on the grounds that her actions were wasteful. That ointment could have been sold, he says, and the proceeds given to the poor. Jesus' reply was that the poor will always be around but he would not, so it was better that she was able to appreciate him with this sacrifice. Disgusted, Judas leaves and proceeds directly to sell Jesus out. With that in mind, the song.
Essentially, it portrays Judas as a populist revolutionary who feels betrayed by Jesus turning himself into a religious icon rather than leading the people to freedom.Transcribed lyrics follow underneath the video.
The Romans were the Masters, when Jesus walked the land
In Judea, and in Galilee, they ruled with an iron hand
And the poor were sick with hunger, and the rich were clothed in splendor --
And the rebels, whipped and crucified, hung rotting as a warning.
'Not sheep and goats', said Judas, but 'together we may dare!'
'Shake off the chains of misery we share!'
So stand up, stand up for Judas!
And the cause that Judas served --
It was Jesus who betrayed the poor with his words.
Jesus stood upon the mountain with the distance in his eyes
"I am the Way, the Light," he cried, "the Life that never dies!
"So renounce all earthly treasures, and pray to your heavenly father."
And he pacified the hopeless with the hope of life eternal.
Said Jesus, "I am the answer, and you who hunger, only remember --
".. your reward's in heaven"
So Jesus preached the other world,
but Judas wanted This -- and he betrayed his master with a kiss.
So stand up, stand up for Judas!
And the cause that Judas served --
It was Jesus who betrayed the poor with his words.
By sword, and gun, and crucifix, Christ's gospel has been spread!
And two thousand cruel years have shown the Way that Jesus led
The Heretic burned and tortured, and the butchering, bloody Crusaders
The bombs and rockets sanctified, that rain down death from heaven
They followed Jesus! -- they knew the Answer.
All nonbelievers must be believers -- or else be Broken.
"So place no trust in Saviours,"
Judas said, "for everyone
Must be to his or her own self...a Sun."
It's an interesting song, I think. While I've never seen Jesus as a Saviour, for time I dearly wished to regard him well. I wanted to see him the same way I see Siddhartha Gautama, as a teacher of wisdom. In part I still do, if only to find common ground with Christians, but since he never wrote a thing we cannot say with certainty who he was -- or who he thought he was. The song leaves me with mixed feelings, for I hate injustice and applaud anyone who fights against it with swords or through nonviolent means. I despise the Platonic-Christian contempt for the natural world, and have no use for those who want to be worshiped. I rather like this song's Judas, and would indeed stand up for him -- though I don't know if any uprising could defeat the Romans in the time of Augustus. When the Jews did revolt in 70 CE, they were broken fairly quickly.
References:
I had to look at three different accounts of the alabaster box stories, since every author had different details.Relevant chapters are Luke 7, Matthew 26, and Mark 14.
I have shared music from Playing for Change before, not so much for the exquisite music as the beautiful dream it represents by bringing people from all over the world to make music together. Instruments from varied cultures join in harmony together, and the result...is astonishing. This particular song shares that same vision, uniting humanity -- abandoning narrow dreams and fruitless obsessions for a cosmopolitan spirit.
Back in 2006 I titled this blog 'Let Me Be Frank' in part because I wanted to speak my mind earnestly, but also as a tip of the hat to an inspiration of mine, Frank Sinatra. I started listening to Sinatra in the summer of 2004 after picking up a CD of his ("The Very Good Years"), and he immediately rose to become one of my favorite artists. I liked Sinatra not for politics or philanthropy, but because he embodied traits I wanted to posses. Religious-wise, I was already in a downhill spiral. With every passing week, I felt more depressed, angry, and helpless. That dissipated when I listened to Frank. When I hear him sing, I heard courage, bravado, exulting joy, and strength. I read numerous biographies and found myself wanting to emulate him. When I listened to Frank Sinatra, I walked a little taller, was a little happier.
Eventually I told religion to get lost and determined that gods or no, I was going to live my life, enjoy it, and do something with it to help other people. I made this declaration and defended it with nothing but will. Certainly part of that came from Sinatra's willfulness rubbing off on me. In the years that have passed, I've become far happier. In seeking peace, though, I've...wandered too deep into the monastery of contemplation. Studying Stoicism has given me much to be thankful for -- mindfulness, for instance -- but I've been too much self-absorbed, too focused on being 'right' instead of LIVING. This was brought to a head when I started reading Augustine's Confessions and a biography of Sinatra in the same week and realized whose spirit I'd rather mine be more kin to. When it comes to looking for the balance between Stoic serenity and humanist passion, I will err on the side of exhultive pleasure. Life's too short to wear a monk's habit.
Anyway, being as this is Frank Sinatra's birthday, here's one of my favorite 'brassy' numbers. Transcribed lyrics are below.
I'm gonna live -- until I die!
I'm gonna laugh, instead of cry!
I'm gonna take the town and turn it upside town,
I'm gonna live, live, live until I die.
They're gonna say, "What a guy!"
I'm gonna play for the sky
Ain't gonna miss a thing,
I'm gonna have my fling,
I'm gonna live, live, live until I die.
The blues I lay low, I make `em stay low
They'll never let `em trail over my head.
I'll be a devil 'til I'm an angel, but until then --
HALLELUJAH! Gonna dance! Gonna fly!
I'll take a chance, ridin' high
Before my number's up, I'm gonna fill my cup
I'm gonna live, live, live! until I die.
The blues I lay low, I'll make `em stay low --
They'll never trail over my head.
I'll be a devil 'til I'm an angel, but until then --
This song is adapted from a German folk song, and I further modified the English version by replacing "duke" with "priest", addressing both religious and political tyrants instead of political tyrants twice over.
Keb' Mo', associated with the international music and humanitarian effort Playing for Change, has several songs on Youtube I enjoy. I particularly like the third verse and chorus of his "Better Man".
Lyrics:
Sittin' here in my problems, What am I gonna do now? Am I gonna make it -- Someway, somehow?
Well, maybe I'm not supposed to know -- Maybe I'm supposed to cry. If nobody ever knows the way I feel, That's all right: that's okay.
Chorus: I'm gonna make my world a better place Gonna keep that smile on my face I'm gonna teach myself how to understand Gonna make myself a better man.
Climbin' out the window, climbin' up the wall Anyone gonna save me? Or are they gonna let me fall? Well, I don't really want to know.. I'm gonna hold on the best I can. And if I fall down, I'm gonna get back up. It'll be all right, it'll be okay.
(Chorus)
I don't really want to know, I'm gonna hold on the best I can. If I fall down down, I'm gonna get back up It'll be all right, it'll be okay.
(Chorus)
I'm gonna make my world a better place, Gonna keep that smile on my face Gonna teach myself how to understand Gonna make myself a better man.
Perhaps owing to my background, I am especially fond of music sung by choirs. Few things grip me as effectively as dozens of different voices singing in concert together, all contributing to something of beauty. As a more or less nonreligious person, though, there are few choirs I can listen to without finding the lyrics of the song too objectionable. I often listen to choirs with religious lyrics and can enjoy them, but more often the lyrics are too contemptible and ruin the music. Thus, when I find a choir with a beautiful message as well as a beautiful sound, I am eager to share.
Unsurpisingly, I heard this for the first time via Playing for Change. I've linked to their videos before, and will continue to do so in the future, but this I had never heard until I played their CD. I often listen to Playing for Change just for the joy the sound of their videos gives me. This particular video speaks to me, though. I often relate to the idea of Love the way other people relate to the idea of God, although I don't think "love" exists by itself in a form of Platonic idealism.
The choir singing is the Omagh Community Youth Choir of Ireland. You can see them singing -- and hear an account of how they came to be -- here. The lyrics they used are slightly different from the original lyrics.
I found this song on YouTube over a month ago, but neglected to share it here. The song is "I Am Humanity", and is by Bob Rafkin. I found it when I search on YouTube for the phrase "I am humanity".
Sample Lyrics, first versus and chorus:
I can't say I am free of guilt -- I bear responsibility. For everything there is outside, I also have inside of me. The beauty and the joy, I know I'm quick to claim -- But I must also recognize That I'm the hand that brings the pain.
I'm part of all eternity, The center of the wheel The one who lives an honest life, and the one who lives to steal I witness every age, I'm the foolish, I'm the sage -- I am everyone oppressed and free, I am Humanity.
Earlier in the week, I received a video entitled "Creation, the Universe, & the Evolution to a funky beat". The song is "Be Mine", and is by "Fire Aim Ready". The song describes the beginning of the universe (as far as we know it) and the evolution of life leading up to us. Strangely enough, this is a love song.
First verse:
14 billion years ago, time and space were born; filled with homogeneous, nearly uniform quark and lepton plasma that led to you and me through the interplay of chance and necessity. The plasma later cooled to make mostly hydrogen fueling fusion in the stars' generation one . I looked the band up on MySpace and found a number of other songs, although sadly the rest are not songs about science. Another song, entitled "The Decline and Fall", offers political commentary about the United States through comparison to Rome.
"The Decline and Fall", last three verses:
All Iraq’s divided into three parts Even Kurds are getting in our way Barbarians are blowing up the legions Seems that they’d prefer us not to stay It’s carved there in plain Latin, the inscription on the wall: “Welcome one and all to the decline and fall.” Hadrian builds his fence along the border While he fills the Army with the Picts; It’s hard to tell Centurions from Vandals The fall of Rome is not hard to predict It’s carved there in plain Latin, the inscription on the wall:
“Welcome one and all to the decline and fall.” Lead poisons our wine and makes us stupid Gladiators keep us entertained More votes cast for idols than for Caesar The end of empire’s easily explained. It’s carved there in plain Latin, the inscription on the wall:
“Welcome one and all to the decline and fall.” And if your Latin's rusty, here's the writing on the wall:
“Welcome one and all to the decline and fall.”
If you would rather listen to songs about science and that sort, Prometheus Music produces music focusing on "the history and future of space exploration". Five songs are available for free on the website: I recommend "Suprise!", "Fire in the Sky", and "Others Standing By". "Fire in the Sky" is easily my favorite, and I suspect that I've shared it in the past here. If I have not, I'll remedy that now.
