Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Living in Ireland
As luck would have it, I have spent much of this month listening to the music of two Irish artists-U2 and Van Morrison.
I was drawn back to both of them this month due to late night television. Van Morrison was on the first episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. That same week, u2 closed the show for a full week on David Letterman.
I went through a Van Morrison phase back when I was engaged, but I still left some of his music undiscovered. U2 has always been a part of my musical consciousness, though they have come to the forefront of my mind yet again. When Morrison was on Fallon's show, he performed a song from his legendary album, Astral Weeks. I had always heard of the album but had never listened to. Fallon instructed me to listen to this music with the headphones and become lost in it. I obeyed him. I bought it on itunes, listened to it, and what a musical discovery I have made. This hybrid of melody, jazz and rock truly is hypnotic. I suppose I will never have enough time or energy to listen to anything other than popular music (by this, I mean known by many, not "Pop" music). My laziness keeps me from seeking out more independent artists (please though...I am always open to suggestions). However, if I am able to immerse myself in this level of sublime expression it needn't matter. The sixth track on the record, "Madame George", continues to play in my head. It is a masterpiece of climatic and stream of consciousness song writing. I have read a lot over the last few days concerning what it is about, but I don't suppose it matters. Sometimes an artist's tone is enough to convey volumes.
I bought u2's new album this week, and I like it fine. But the musical discovery I made this week was very true to form for me. By this, I mean I was late to the party. 4 years ago, U2 released How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. This week, I have listened several times to the final cut on the album, "Yahweh." Once again, Bono (with the Edge) has brought a sublime expression of faith to a song, and it took me 4 years to hear it. "Take this soul, stranded in some skin and bones...take this soul, and make it sing. Yahweh....Yahweh...always pain before a child is born. Yahweh...Yahweh...still I'm waiting for the dawn." The last line, a prayer to break the singers heart, reminds me of the rebuke of Israel by God in Joel 2:13 to "rend your heart and not your garments." The special nature of Yahweh, the covenant name, resonates for me, since Hebrew has taken over my mind so much in the last 6 years. The prayer of this song seems to be one for sanctification, not matter what discomfort it may bring.
It has been a good March, listening and discovering more of the music of Ireland.
I was drawn back to both of them this month due to late night television. Van Morrison was on the first episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. That same week, u2 closed the show for a full week on David Letterman.
I went through a Van Morrison phase back when I was engaged, but I still left some of his music undiscovered. U2 has always been a part of my musical consciousness, though they have come to the forefront of my mind yet again. When Morrison was on Fallon's show, he performed a song from his legendary album, Astral Weeks. I had always heard of the album but had never listened to. Fallon instructed me to listen to this music with the headphones and become lost in it. I obeyed him. I bought it on itunes, listened to it, and what a musical discovery I have made. This hybrid of melody, jazz and rock truly is hypnotic. I suppose I will never have enough time or energy to listen to anything other than popular music (by this, I mean known by many, not "Pop" music). My laziness keeps me from seeking out more independent artists (please though...I am always open to suggestions). However, if I am able to immerse myself in this level of sublime expression it needn't matter. The sixth track on the record, "Madame George", continues to play in my head. It is a masterpiece of climatic and stream of consciousness song writing. I have read a lot over the last few days concerning what it is about, but I don't suppose it matters. Sometimes an artist's tone is enough to convey volumes.
I bought u2's new album this week, and I like it fine. But the musical discovery I made this week was very true to form for me. By this, I mean I was late to the party. 4 years ago, U2 released How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. This week, I have listened several times to the final cut on the album, "Yahweh." Once again, Bono (with the Edge) has brought a sublime expression of faith to a song, and it took me 4 years to hear it. "Take this soul, stranded in some skin and bones...take this soul, and make it sing. Yahweh....Yahweh...always pain before a child is born. Yahweh...Yahweh...still I'm waiting for the dawn." The last line, a prayer to break the singers heart, reminds me of the rebuke of Israel by God in Joel 2:13 to "rend your heart and not your garments." The special nature of Yahweh, the covenant name, resonates for me, since Hebrew has taken over my mind so much in the last 6 years. The prayer of this song seems to be one for sanctification, not matter what discomfort it may bring.
It has been a good March, listening and discovering more of the music of Ireland.
# posted by Unknown @ 8:02 PM 
