This isn’t a deep cut in the sense that it is an old song that we can evaluate in a new Pagan light, but rather a true “Deep Cut” as in an unreleased song from an album. If you listen to the kind of radio station that I do (you know, that plays the kind of music a 30-40something listens to who wants to think they are still relevant), you have probably heard of Australian singer/songwriter Gotye. His single “Somebody I Used To Know” is taking over airwaves in our hemisphere even though in Oz it is kind of old news. The song is catchy and fun to sing along to at the top of your lungs in the car when no one else is around. But this post isn’t about that song. It also isn’t about his first single, which has an awesome video but I’m only mentioning in passing because it reminds me a lot of old Midge Ure and I don’t think there is enough Midge Ure in the world.
But this post is actually about a different song on the Gotye album. The song is called “In Your Light” and it just makes me happy to listen to it. The hand-clapping percussion and lyrics that make you wonder if it is about a lover or the Sun are simply joyful.
Especially in this season between the Solstice and the Equinox, it is nice to be reminded that the sun is returning:
When you’re smiling on me, that is all I need,
To put behind me all my worry and life’s complexities.
Maybe only a moment, but the world just falls away
And I forget myself and everything else that depressed me yesterday
When I sing along to this song in car, it feels very Pagan. I don’t know the religious leanings of Wally De Backer (aka Gotye), but it is just a happy song about the sun or God or someone you love very much and it is just so much fun to listen to.
When I’m in your light, all of this is clear
If only I could always be just as I am right here (in your light)
In your light, just when I’m in your light (in your light)
And I won’t get far if you take that light away
Arizona based singer-songwriter Celia has released the new song titled “Bridget’s Song” just in time for Imbolc. The song is available for download here. You can also see the video on YouTube
From Celia’s own facebook page: “Bring on Spring! ‘Bridget’s Song’ is ready! Feel free to share the link far & wide & use this song for Imbolc celebrations.”
I do not believe that the Gods ever left the Classical Arts, and- although it has been some centuries since anyone produced Classical Painting- Classical Theater, Opera, and Ballet, remain showcases for the Classical. Witness, for instance, The Enchanted Island, which had its premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on New Year’s Eve. Reviewed by Anthony Tommasini in “Shiny Bibelot From Shakespeare, Handel & Co.,” in today’s New York Times (Mon., Jan. 2, 2011, The Arts, p. C1), the “inventive concoction” is a pastiche of various Baroque composers (in the Baroque era, the habit of outfitting music from one opera with new words, and incorporating it into a new work, was common), conflating “with wit and charm” Shakespeare’s The Tempest with Midsummer Night’s Dream (with Ariel substituting for Puck, and introducing the Witch Sycorax- unseen in Shakespeare’s play- as a character). The Star Role, however, is not the Wizard Prospero so much as King Neptune, sung here by Opera Legend Placido Domingo and presented in a “dazzling underwater scene” by Denizens of the Deep singing a derivation of the Handel coronation anthem, “Zadok the Priest.” King Neptune goes on to bemoan that His supreme gift to humans- the “sublime ocean”- has been so thoroughly polluted and despoiled. It sounds like a fascinating show, demonstrating that Classical music, wed to Classical Theater and Classical Deities, can make a powerful contemporary ecological comment.
This is a true story. There is a reason I am telling it to you, but you have to trust me.
I went to elementary school in suburban Detroit. It was back in the early 80s when there were no buses to take us to the school about three quarters of a mile from our house (for some kids, it was a much longer walk). I was always a kind of nerdy, introspective kid. I as bullied and teased. One the the issues I dealt with was an overwhelming sense of fear. Crippling, paralyzing fear. This fear would manifest when I was exposed to typical culturally terrifying things – like horror movies. I had nightmares a lot when I was a kid. Occasionally, I would prefer to stay awake all night with the lights on because I was too scared to close my eyes and face the images I would see there. When I was only 5 I wasn’t watching the Exorcist, but I was unintentionally exposed to things by my much older siblings and, on top of that, some things that were only meant to be mildly disturbing would set me off. For instance, I was terrified of the Disney version of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I think fear is a good thing – it teaches us our own boundaries and how to be aware when something isn’t exactly right. But, for me it went a little deeper. If I am being honest, I still have problems with this. I have to monitor what I watch and if something appears to be too scary, I need to step away. My mind just kicks into overdrive and I can’t shut it off.
As a nerdy kid who wore glasses by the time she was 8, this predilection for being afraid of my own shadow made me also a target for school yard taunting. And this was never more evident than my exposure to “The Banshee”.
The Banshee, as we all know, is a mythical Irish spirit who heralds death with loud keening. My first experience with her was in my elementary school music class. Every year, at Halloween, our music teacher would decorate the music room with all the typical trappings of the season. On Halloween itself he would bring us in and sit us down, turn off all the lights and play for us a piece of music called “The Banshee” by a composer named Henry Cowell. “The Banshee” was highly experimental and Cowell wrote it to be played on the strings inside the piano. The sound of the banshee shrieking and wailing is haunting. The first time this was ever played for me, I freaked out. I hated it. It terrified me. When I went home that night, I have awful nightmares and kept my parents awake throughout the night. I was in the first grade. My mom did the only thing she could think to do – tell my teacher how much it scared me and ask him not to include me in the event the following year. So for years, every Halloween when the class filed into the music room the teacher would point me out and tell me I could go into the hall to wait it out. I did. I was teased about this and while that upset me – having nightmares upset me more.
This all changed for me in the sixth grade. That year, my teacher asked me if I wanted to stay and hear the piece of music. The last time I had heard it, I was 6 years old. All of my classmates had heard it year after year after year, so the novelty was worn off for them. But I thought I would be okay to listen to it. The lights went out and the song began and I listened to it in the dark. And when the piece was over and the lights turned on my elementary school music teacher turned to me and asked what I thought. I said “Can I hear it again?”
As I said at the beginning of this post, there is a reason I am telling you this story. This experience in my childhood I believed opened up my mind to the darker things. I think part of the reason I had so many problems with scary things is that my mind would process them differently than the people around me did. The fear I felt was so real, that my imagination would not let me do anything besides freeze in terror. And even though I still get that when when I watch something scary, I also think it let me into the darker side of the Goddess. There is a side of the Goddess that we should be very afraid of. She isn’t always cupcakes and unicorns. I would always reel when someone says the words “the Fear of God” because I would wonder why we would want to be afraid of God. But there is a part of the divine that is worthy of a healthy dose of fear. I am dedicated to Persephone and part of her role is as the Goddess of the Underworld. She holds this place over every man and woman on earth – she will be the last face we see. We should be more than just a little respectful of that. “The Banshee” by Henry Cowell taught me that.
So – do this. Turn off the lights wherever you are. The eerie glow of your monitor won’t be too distracting. Get comfortable. Click play on the video. Close your eyes. Let the piece wash over you. Let it frighten you. Feel the spirit of the banshee for this Samhain season. Acknowledge the way it makes you feel. Respect that feeling. You won’t regret it. Blessed Samhain.
Let me set the stage for you. This was the first time that I was ever able to attend Atlanta Pagan Pride without being there as a representative for any sort of group. I wasn’t camped out at a table, I wasn’t tied to just one position. I was free in what I wanted to do with my day. I arrived around 2pm just in time to see Emerald Rose play, and while I enjoy them very much the truth is I see them play all the time. When you consider the limited amount of original Pagan music available, when you have a local band like Emerald Rose, you do tend to see them play a lot. It is great, but occasionally I think I would love to hear something else.
There is also the stereotype that there is a lack of quality in a lot of original Pagan music. So, when a musician I had never heard of was scheduled to take the stage at 4pm I wasn’t sure what to expect. Well, I submit that this artist absolutely smashes that stereotype and if you are looking for quality Pagan music you should check her out. Her name is Celia.
We had already taken seats while she was setting up her equipment. My partner, who is also a musician, was admiring her set up. She had a Roland GR-55, or something very much like it. I noticed it because he has something similar called a Pod but he explained the difference between the two machines. She had it set up in a really cool way where she had access to all the pedals at knobs while she played. She also had a little PA system that he was admiring. All of this was set up with a little mixing board on a stand. When she began to play she explained that she uses a technique called looping. She isn’t the first artist I’ve seen who uses this technology in concert, but I was impressed with the creative way she used it. She recorded parts in real time allowing the sound to build as the song progressed and then, when the song was done she just erased it off the board and moved on. She described it like a sand mandala that would just be swept away.
I really enjoyed her show. I also enjoyed the song where she brought Arthur Hinds from Emerald Rose on stage to sing and drum with her. Since this was the first time I had heard any of her music before, I was really moved by what she presented at Atlanta Pagan Pride. I even became a little misty eyed during her performance of her song Symbol.
I am really glad I had the chance to attend Atlanta Pagan Pride this year without any predetermined commitments. It gave me an opportunity to see Celia for the first time.
Earlier this month, as part of its SummerScape Festival Bard College (located at the picturesquely-named Annandale-on-Hudson) presented the rarely seen opera Die Liebe der Danae (“The Love of Danae”). The 1940 work by Richard Strauss is said to be unstageable and unfairly carries a few strikes against it, making its debut as it did in Nazi Germany (hardly an endearance to future audiences). Zachary Woolfe, in his review “Even As Financial Fears Mount, Real Love Outweighs Gold” (New York Times, “Arts” Section, Aug. 2, 2011, p. C5), bemoans the “vicious cycle” afflicted upon such neglected works (assumed to be inferior, they suffer more neglect), adding to the “stubborn smallness of the standard [opera] repertory.” However, Bard College’s SummerScape production quite changed Woolfe’s mind about this piece, which he concluded is filled with “gorgeous music and a plot seemingly tailor-made for our troubled times.”
Concerned with the efforts of the “libertine” God Jupiter’s efforts to achieve one more mortal conquest, Danae details how Jupiter (in love with Danae, the daughter of King Pollux) disguises Himself as Midas (with the ability to transform whatever He touches to gold, a talent that Pollux’s cash-crazed court finds very appealing). The real Midas accompanies Jupiter, masquerading as a servant; he however inconveniently falls for Danae himself, and the couple is punished by Jupiter as He takes away their wealth, sending them from haute couture to hoodies and flannel shirts, from the Art Deco heart of Manhattan to- horrors- Brooklyn. Finally Jupiter “caps” the opera with a “long, arching renunciation of mortal love.”
Woolfe finds Danae to be very much of the moment, “almost scarily relevant” in its examination of the corrupting effect of money; I find it poignant that the Classical tales of the Gods continued to so inspire that, even at the midst of the Nazi regime, musicians were trying to turn them into Art.
Appalachian folk music isn’t necessarily Pagan. In fact, many traditional songs and ballads have a distinct Christian lyrics. However, I find that Appalachian folk music connects me to the land that I call home. After moving to Georgia, folk music quickly made its way to my playlists, and feeling connected to the place you live is just about the most Pagan thing I can think of.
One of my favorite independent musicians, Josh Joplin, also feels a connection to traditional folk music. This is notable because Joplin is a Jewish kid living in New York. He has brought together a raggle taggle group of musicians for a project he callsAmong the Oak & Ash. Back in 2009, he released the self titled debut album with then musical partner Garrison Star. It quickly made the list of the most played albums on my iPod. And now, on Tuesday, the second Among the Oak & Ash project was released: Devil Ship.
A mix of traditional, inspired by traditional and original folk-style songs, Devil Ship is a fantastic collection of modern mountain music. The magic of traditional music like this is the way it grows and changes. Every singer who has ever touched a folk song or ballad from this region has given it new life. Joplin and his project take this to another level bringing a bit of his rock sensibilities to the music. One of my favorite examples on the new album is “The Rose and the Briar,” a deliciously rock and roll take on of one of the infinitely possible interpretations of the Barbara Allen ballad.
Joplin’s self-described “Michael Stipe” sound is fantastic on this music and enhanced by vocals of more folk-sounding singers like Jessica Lea Mayfield and Lucy Wainwright-Roche. For an entirely new experience with these traditional songs, check out Among the Oak & Ash.
You may find a you there that you never knew was yours
Last Saturday was a strange day for me. In the afternoon, I took my mother and in-laws to see the stage version of Mary Poppinsat the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, our most upscale local theater venue. That night, I collected my toast and toilet paper for a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at our local Unitarian Universalist church. I rocketed from “A Spoonful of Sugar” to a “Sweet Transvestite” in just a few hours.
It seemed at the time that these two were so different. One is an elaborate retelling of a children’s classic with extremely talented performers and stunning special effects; the other is Rocky Horror. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that these two pieces really aren’t all that different. The storyline is basically the same- two naïve souls get taken into another world by a strange but charming guide in a dress. They meet some odd characters, confront some difficult things about themselves, learn about the world outside their comfort zones, and emerge from the experience forever changed.
Both stories are guided, almost shamanic journeys into the depths of the underworld. They have very different conclusions, which can be blamed on the guides in each story.
Mary Poppins is a much darker story than many people realize. If you are unfamiliar with the stage version, think for a moment about the film. We all remember the animated sequences of Dick van Dyke and Julie Andrews dancing with cheerful penguins and riding detached carousel horses through Hyde Park. But many of us forget little Michael Banks’ confrontation with the transient bird lady, where he is forced to see the pain and deprivation that some of his fellow humans suffer every day.
Fresh from his dark realizations, Michael is forced to go to his father’s bank and start and sensible, interest-bearing account by depositing his precious sixpence coin. His resistance starts a chain reaction during which the little boy runs loose through industrial age London, his father loses his job, and the whole family seems on the brink of ruin. Yet, George Banks learns that his family is truly important to him and the entire family becomes closer and happier than they ever were before. They emerge from the darkness cleared of what no longer serves and ready to live happier lives thanks to the difficult lesson.
The stage version is similar, except that the children and their father learn separate lessons. Jane and Michael, the children, are guided by their “practically perfect” nanny, Mary Poppins, into wonderful worlds that they never new existed. Escaping dreary London, they dance with animated statues, cavort with chimney sweeps, and learn the usefulness of the word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” in magical candy shop.
However, the end of the first act brings with it a much more difficult experience, which they must face themselves. It was all fun and games until their previous behavior comes back to haunt them, and they are forced to account for their actions before they can go back to playing their games. Unfortunately, the original musical number for this section, “Temper, Temper,” is no longer in the show and has been replaced by the milder “Playing the Game.” “Temper, Temper” features the children’s toys trying Jane and Michael for cruelty. It is far more dark and disturbing than the current song. Here’s the original, scarier version:
George and Jane, the children’s parents, are taken on a journey into their own darkness. George is forced to confront the main source of pain in his life, enabling his wife to understand her husband’s cold, demanding personality. The two grow closer through this darkness and, like in the film, George learns what truly makes him happy.
Brad and Janet, Rocky Horror’s protagonists, don’t fare as well as any member of the Banks family. These “young ordinary, healthy kids” are sidetracked by a flat tire while (perhaps foolishly) driving through a rainstorm in a dark forest. Most Juggler readers probably know what happens next: after going to a castle to use the phone, the hapless Brad and Janet get stripped, humiliated, and seduced by the master of the house, a cross-dressing alien scientist known as Dr. Frank-N-Furter.
OK, so it’s not as deep as Mary Poppins, but it is still a trip into the otherworld. Brad and Janet, like the Banks family, emerge from the experience forever changed. However, their experiences involve recklessly embracing all parts of their shadows instead of removing what they don’t need and allying with the rest. After being convinced to “swim the warm waters of sins of the flesh,” they give themselves completely over to Frank’s unmediated hedonism. They leave his castle in much worse shape than when they arrived.
Both stories involve a journey into the underworld. The difference between them is the guide. Mary Poppins guides Jane and Michael, and even their parents to some extent, through their experiences. True, they have to face the worst part alone, but she has properly armed them for the challenge. In an echo of Wiccan cosmology, you could even argue that finding a balance is so vital that the Banks family gets both Mary Poppins and Bert to guide them, a man and a woman providing an energetic balance.
Mary Poppins is no pushover. She and Bert teach fun and enjoyment, but the nanny also is quite strict in teaching Jane and Michael to follow the rules. Balanced guidance.
Frank-N-Furter, on the other hand, is a mockery of proper guidance. As the butler, Riff Raff, says, his “lifestyle’s too extreme.” Like George Banks’ ultra-strict life, Frank’s was too unbalanced to be sustainable. He is all mirth and no reverence, and Brad and Janet suffer the consequences.
So perhaps it wasn’t so odd to see both musicals in one day. As we move into the dark time of the year, it reminded me that we all have a dark side that we must face. We all have our own descents to undergo and those who will guide us along the way. Those guides can make or break the journey.
Please forgive the hastiness of this post. My intention all along for this day was to post one music video to celebrate Beltane and the 1st anniversary of The Juggler. However, as I rose from bed myself this morning I was met with a panoply of song from all around me. Friends were posting music on their Facebook pages. Star Foster posted her 13 songs for the season over at Patheos. So, I decided to pop in here and share not just one but five songs to celebrate Beltane. Here I’ll share the videos with little commentary. I’ll let the music do most of the talking.
Air:
June Hymn by The Decemberists
I wrote about the newest Decemberists album recently. This song is a lovely hymn to the season. I know it is called “June Hymn” but it has a clear Spring into Summer vibe, which for me is what Beltane is all about.
Fire:
The Mummer’s Dance by Loreena McKennitt
I had all but forgotten about this song when Star posted about it on Pantheon. I used to listen to Loreena McKennitt all the time and a couple of years ago she fell off my radar. This song is essential for Beltane.
Water:
Merry May Folk by Emerald Rose
Lets dance!
Earth:
Songs from The Wood by Jethro Tull
A friend of mine posted this one today. “Life’s long celebration’s here.”
Spirit:
First of May by Jonathan Coulton
This was the song I was going to post originally. It is my favorite Beltane song. IT IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR CHILDREN. If you are sensitive to harsh language, this is not for you. I warned you.
I was on a road this weekend, heading home from working on our Tiny House in WNC. On the way home we were listening to the Cake album Prolonging the Magic. The album was released in 1998 so it isn’t in quite the same category of the 70s rock I typically call out for Pagan Themes, but it is over a decade old at this point.
I already loved the quasi-Dionysian anthem “Sheep Go to Heaven”.
I just want to play on my pan-pipes
I just want to drink me some wine
as soon as you’re born you start dying
so you might as well have a good time
But I didn’t know the song “When you Sleep” which surprised me with a non-sequitur reference to the stories of Zeus and Hera.
now Zeus was a womanizer
always on the make
but Hera usually punished her that Zeus was one to take
Cake is such a fun band that I think it is only too appropriate to celebrate the Theoi though their music this way. Praise Dionysos! Praise Zeus and Hera!
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into the underworld. The difference between them is the guide. Mary Poppins guides Jane and Michael, and even their parents to some extent, through their experiences. True, they have to face the worst part alone, but she has properly armed them for the challenge. In an echo of Wiccan cosmology, you could even argue that finding a balance is so vital that the Banks family gets both Mary Poppins and Bert to guide them, a man and a woman providing an energetic balance.
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