Religion, Music, and it’s influence on me.
There is one thing that I have never directly blogged about before, and may well never again, and that is Religion. I tend to keep that close to my chest, and I don’t really care to get into blosphere arguments or philosophical debates about it. You believe what you believe, and you live your life by those beliefs. If you don’t believe in God, I can’t change you, nor can you change me. It is what it is.
Between reading BJ Aberle’s blog and and the “Bob Dylan Encyclopedia“, I was reminded how much music has helped me keep my religious upbring. (side note- the “Bob Dylan Encyclopedia” is insane- a 724 page alphabetical analysis of every song he has recorded or sang live… yea, ok, I’m a little crazy, I know, you don’t need to remind me)
Anyone who has read my blog for any amount of time knows I’m a big music fan who can’t remember a golfer’s name 2 seconds after he introduces himself to me on the first tee, but could tell you in a heartbeat who played the killer sax solo on the song Aja (Wayne Shorter). I’m a music nut. I don’t listen to WCIC, I don’t listen to Christian Rock, I don’t listen to religious music per-se, outside of church, but in a way I do…
I listen to alot music. Mostly of the obscure ‘classic rock’ variety, with a large dose of blues and some splashes of jazz, hillbilly country, and everything in between. After hearing enough of it you learn to appreciate different styles for different reasons. Everyone’s got their favorite ‘party’ songs, quiet songs, heartbreaking songs, cool groove songs, kick-ass powercord songs, etc… but there are two prolific artists who have kept my religious flame alive, or at minimum in the far recesses of my mind, even in the devilish college years, and they are noneother than Van Morrison and Bob Dylan.
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First and most importantly to this subject is Van Morrison. He has a mystical spiritualism that cannot be put into words (especially mine). There’s alot more to him than Gloria and Brown Eyed Girl. All of his songs, even back to Astral Weeks have had spiritual overtones, but with two of my favorite albums, Avalon Sunset and even moreso, the absolutely 100% essential double album Hymns to the Silence, he really took me away to another place.
Here’s Van the Man’s video of Have I Told You Lately That I Love You from Avalon Sunset (yes, the same song that Rod Stewart ripped off); a popular wedding song, but actually a love song to God.
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But of course, the grand-pooh-bah of songwriters… Bob Dylan… not as soulful as Van, that’s for sure, but he can cut to the chase like no other. In the late 70’s he put out three religious albums, and received his first Grammy (yea, his 60’s output that changed the face of music wasn’t good enough for a Grammy, go figure!)
There are strong biblical references on most of his albums, even from the beginning, but he let it all hang out on Slow Train Coming, Saved, and Shot of Love- to the over the top point of giving sermons and not playing any of his hits during this point in his career. He was lambasted by critics, but that’s nothing new… Funny thing is, these three albums have withstood the test of time and are now an essential part of his library.
Here is a great promo video for Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan, which is not a tribute album in the traditional sense, but a various artists Gospel album of Dylan tunes from this time period.
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When times are tough, you always fall back on what is comfortable in life; to me it is music, and thank God that I have always had two of the greatest singer/songwriters to fall back on.
July 11th, 2006 at 10:41 am
Hey thanks for the mention. I think that we could have some grand music discussions. I have recently become a Bob Dylan devotee. I think he is one of those artists that can be intimidating to get into. It’s like “where do I start?” You almost need a friend to show you how to appreciate him so you can then appreciate him on your own. There are some tracks on Slow Train Coming that are truely amazing. My wife loves Van Morrison so through her I have become a fan. If I am not mistaken, I think Van Morrison has made claims to be a Christian. Not that makes a difference to me, great music is great music no matter who makes it. I won’t get too religious or philisophical here but, to me, music takes on a whole new meaning when you can see that when an artist gets to create, he catches a glimpse as to what it is like to be like God. You start to understand what John Lennon meant when he said “writing a song is like giving birth.” Anyway, I would love for you to check out The Normals at some point. Not for my own ego but more for a taste of something different. And I am definately not comparing us to the previous artists!! Yes we are what most would consider a “Christian” band, but I think we took our role seriously. Because of that we were never played on WCIC. Which I am not too upset over. We tried to make music that wasn’t shabby or trite. I am especially proud of the last 2 records we got to make with Malcolm Burn as producer. Looking back, I really didn’t realize then how lucky we were to have this guy at the helm. Anyway, our music is available through iTunes. I would love to get that .005 cents from your download
Sorry if this turned in to a Normals advert.
July 11th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
I actually did watch one of The Normals videos off the site and quite enjoyed it. Is there anywhere I can pick up an actual CD without doing the download thing?
A Dylan “devotee”. Welcome to the wonderful world that is Bob. Once you come in, there is no going back, and that is no joke; the cavern just keeps getting deeper and deeper and if you can take the time, you will get sucked in further and further. He’s a most amazing character. I highly recommend you watch the Martin Scorsese biography No Direction Home, if you haven’t yet, or pick up the biography No Direction Home (same title but not related to the movie). Let me know what you have and what you like and I’ll steer you in the right direction…
I can’t say if Van Morrison is Christian or not, but he is obviously a very spritual man whose music I find quite inspiring.
July 12th, 2006 at 8:32 am
You can order our music (in CD form) from Amazon or most on-line retailers. I want to see the Martin Scorsese flick. I have heard it is amazing. The records I currently have are Slow Train Coming, Blood on the Tracks, Time out of Mind and Love and Theft. As you can see I have yet to delve deep into his early stuff. Any recomendations?
July 12th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
You’ve got a nice sampling. Most people find Blood on the Tracks as one of his greatest and tragic albums, written while he was going through a divorce. I don’t know what it’s like to go through that, but he lays out all the love, the anger and the pain.
Slow Train Coming is the best of the “religious” albums, with some great songs.
You also own his last two albums, which kindof surprises me. They’re both kind of dark, especially Time Out Of Mind, but critics immediately applauded them, and he got his first Grammy because of it.
I’ll think about what to recommend; I might just make a new post out of it, depending on what I have going on tonight.