Brian Eno, known to many as the brains and brilliance behind Roxy Music, and also the production muse on albums by David Bowie, The Talking Heads, U2, and Coldplay, was interviewed recently in The Guardian. He has a lot to say about music in general, but I was struck particularly by his take on gospel music:
"I belong to a gospel choir. They know I am an atheist but they are very tolerant. Ultimately, the message of gospel music is that everything's going to be all right. If you listen to millions of gospel records – and I have – and try to distill what they all have in common it's a sense that somehow we can triumph. There could be many thousands of things. But the message… well , there are two messages… one is a kind of optimism for the future rather than a pessimism. Gospel music is never pessimistic, it's never 'oh my god, its all going down the tubes', like the blues often is. Gospel music is always about the possibility of transcendence, of things getting better. It's also about the loss of ego, that you will win through or get over things by losing yourself, becoming part of something better. Both those messages are completely universal and are nothing to do with religion or a particular religion. They're to do with basic human attitudes and you can have that attitude and therefore sing gospel even if you are not religious."
I wanted to jump up and down and shout "Hallelujah!" when I read this. What do you think?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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WOW!!! I love this article; this guy really hit the 'gospel' nail on the head. This is exactly why I sing gospel, and I think, what our group, Rock My Soul stands for the most; overcoming adversity and looking forward with hope. We can all turn the negatives in our lives into positives. And gospel music does NOT have to be about religion at all, or about subscribing to a religious doctrine. The music that comes out of ones' soul, shines from a place uniquely inside each one of us, no matter what our backgrounds are; atheist or christian or jew, religious or no, black or white, male or female.
ReplyDeleteHallelujah!! and somebody say 'Amen'
~Tina W.
Agreed, Tina! I also love the part about getting rid of ego, winning by losing yourself, becoming part of something better. It ties into what you said at a recent Rock My Soul forum--how many of us initially join the group because we want to get something out of it, but we start to realize the bigger value is in giving to something that is greater than ourselves. I love the emphasis the Gospel Music Project has on serving the community through music. How we serve others, vs. what the organization can do for us, is what keeps us vibrant, thriving, and valuable to the community. It also keeps us on the right path. :-)
ReplyDeleteIn the words of the great Carl Perkins ... "We shook the Devil loose!"
ReplyDelete