“The flood is seen symbolically as a baptism of the earth; where the same things symbolically happen in baptism; the old person dies and comes out of the water reborn anew, in the same way the old carnal world is cleansed and begins a new life..Baptisms happen, but you’re not really dying so it would be symbolic in the same sense“.
I have been going on a John Hamer – Centre Place binge for at least a month. I cannot recommend his presentations more highly to anyone fascinated with the history of the Bible and ancient history. Hamer gives regular lectures at Centre Place (the Toronto congregation of Community of Christ) on the topics of history, theology, and philosophy. Over 100 of his lectures are available on the Centre Place YouTube channel. Today’s presentation is one such topic on the Flood Myth.
Noah’s Ark is one of the best known stories of the Bible and many other cultures have flood stories that predate Genesis by centuries and millennia. While some people still read the story literally and imagine it is history, others look for a kernel of historic truth around which these legends grew. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will examine some of these theories and the likelihood that the idea of a universal Flood is entirely mythic.
Lecture topics include: Deluge End of the World Divine Punishment Comparative Mythology Book of Genesis: The flood myth in Ancient Israel Epic of Gilgamesh: The flood myth in Ancient Mesopotamia Popol Vuh: The flood myth in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica
Hillbilly Music isn’t my go – to genre, but I have to make an exception in this case. I can’t help but enjoy Mountain Dew; a bit like what the Coen Bros did with O Brother, Where Art Thou?Mountain Dew is technically ‘Bluegrass‘ music but according to this Wikipedia article: ‘Bluegrass was initially included in the category of folk music and later changed to hillbilly’.
Down the road here from me there’s an old holler tree Where you lay down a dollar or two Go on round the bend come back again There’s a jug full of that good ole mountain dew
[Chorus:] Oh they call it that good ole mountain dew and them that refuse it are few I’ll hush up my mug if you’ll fill up my jug with that good ole mountain dew
Now Mr. Roosevelt told ’em just how he felt When he heard that the dry law ‘d gone through If your liquors too red it’ll swell up your head You better stick to that good ole mountain dew
[Chorus:] The preacher rode by with his head hasted high Said his wife had been down with the flu He thought that I o’rt to sell him a quart of my good ole mountain dew
I got this song from Max’s blog PowerPop, so I’ll turn it over to him:
I got really curious and looked the song up. It’s great…I’ve always liked these old folk songs and bluegrass music because I respect it so much. I’ve played bluegrass with a professional before and it is some of the hardest music I’ve tried to play. The time signatures are all over the place and if you haven’t played the music a lot… it can be tricky. It made me a better musician.
I like the music because it’s so rootsy and earthy. I don’t listen to it a lot but sometimes I will enjoy an hour or so of it. It reminds me of when my dad would go to work in the morning and sometimes he would have this music on.
I’ve seen some photos in my life, but wowee. As my father used to say to me, ‘she’s better looking than you son‘. Any-hows, I better talk about Natalie Merchant’s Motherland. I mentioned this song in the article about Lily Kershaw’s song As It Seems. Motherland is the third song featuring Natalie Merchant here and is the title track from her third solo album released in 2001. I’ve heard a lot of performances of this song, but the one I like the most is from the NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert presented below.
[Verse 1] Where in hell can you go Far from the things that you know Far from the sprawl of concrete That keeps crawling its way About one thousand miles a day?
[Verse 2] Take one last look behind Commit this to memory and mind Don’t miss this wasteland This terrible place, when you leave Keep your heart off your sleeve
[Chorus] Motherland, cradle me Close my eyes Lullaby me to sleep Keep me safe Lie with me Stay beside me Don’t go Don’t you go
[Verse 2] Oh, my five-and-dime queen Tell me what have you seen? The lust and the avarice The bottomless, the cavernous greed Is that what you see?
The title song, MOTHERLAND has much deeper resonance since the events of September 11th and its aftermath. I was far more cynical when I wrote, ‘Motherland cradle me, close my eyes, lullaby me to sleep, keep me safe, lie with me, stay beside me, don’t go.’ Now the song is a desperate plea for innocence, to be ‘faceless, nameless, innocent, blameless and free,’ expresses a craving we all share now for the world we took for granted and lost. Suddenly there seems to be no hiding from our past as a nation or our present, or our future. For me it’s the death of nostalgia and dreams.
It is befitting Most of the Time is the first song to be presented from Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy record, because it is my favourite song from it. If the outtake Series of Dreams made it onto the record, then the decision would have been a lot more difficult. Series of Dreams would become the final track on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 and was later included on 1994’s Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Volume 3, but never released on a studio album.
Most of the Time was released as the sixth track (or the first song on Side Two of the vinyl) of his 1989 album Oh Mercy which was produced by Daniel Lanois and seen by critics as a comeback to form for Dylan after disappointing sales with Knocked Out Loaded and Down in the Groove. Daniel Lanois would produce Dylan’s Time Out of Mind 8 years later which won three grammy awards, so they obviously did something right! Here is Daniel Lanois speaking about the making of Oh Mercy.
[Verse 1] Most of the time I’m clear focused all around Most of the time I can keep both feet on the ground I can follow the path, I can read the signs Stay right with it when the road unwinds I can handle whatever I stumble upon I don’t even notice she gone Most of the time
[Verse 2] Most of the time It’s well understood Most of the time I wouldn’t change it if I could I can make it all match up, I can hold my own I can deal with the situation right down to the bone I can survive, I can endure And I don’t even think about her Most of the time
Daniel Lanois on Most of the Time:
I had been to Bob’s house..and he had played me a few songs..he already had the song Most of the Time which I loved. A beautiful love song…I thought it was a very tender way of looking at love and looking at missing somebody. That was beginning of it and he had a few others.
For me, Most of the Time is one of Bob Dylan’s most restrained, but atmospheric tracks. Like so many of his songs I never grow tired of hearing it. The contemplative instrumental sounds combined with Dylan’s voice and phrasing really envelopes the listener. The synchronisation of the two is masterful and it’s what Dylan doesn’t say in this song that makes it a treasure-trove unlocking a wide range of emotions. It’s just irony, plain and simple. After his involvement with the Traveling Wilburys, Dylan had started constructing what he referred to as “stream-of consciousness songs“. Most of the Time and Series of Dreams couldn’t demonstrate his intention better.
From Wikipedia for all the Dylanholics out there:
The lyrics of “Most of the Time” were written before the music. In his memoir Chronicles: Volume One, Dylan describes not having a melody for the song when he first went into the studio to record it and trying to find one while strumming an acoustic guitar in front of Lanois: “Dan thought he heard something. Something that turned into a slow melancholy song”. Lanois’s recollection differs from Dylan’s, as he told an interviewer in 2014 that he first heard the song at Dylan’s house, with Dylan playing piano. In the same interview, Lanois said that the song “It stood out to me as a very powerful expression of love. I was determined to frame that song the best I could.” In their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon praise Lanois’s production for “putting magic into the essence of the song” and creating “an amazingly dreamlike and haunting atmosphere. Very deep reverb, omnipresent delays, saturated guitar sounds (with or without vibrato), a Roland TR-808 drum machine set in a loop, percussion, a sonic blanket, bass and acoustic guitar give the song one of the strongest vibes on the album. Dylan provided a superb vocal performance”. Lanois played bass on the track, and overdubbed four Les Paul parts to produce a “string quartet effect”. Dylan said that Lanois was able capture his “stage voice” during the Oh Mercy recordings, and that he appreciated Lanois’s willingness to make suggestions, stating “You need help to make a record … People expect me to bring in a Bob Dylan song, sing it, and then they record it. Other people don’t work that way. There’s more feedback”
More Than Life is from the album For All You’ve Done released in July, 2004. This is another great worship song from this magnificent album and concert which I’ve written about often. I like one viewer’s comment about this album ‘This is still Hillsong’s best album‘. For All You’ve Done is indeed a great modern presentation of Christian music that doesn’t seem to grow old. I just presented Hillsong’sMighty to Save on June 30th this year, so their music has been doing the rounds in these parts.
The problem with researching Christian music is it often difficult to ascertain information. I have no idea why that is. I would have thought above all music, Christian music would have been the most transparent. For example, who wrote this song and how was it developed etc. On the Wikipedia page of this song it just says ‘Morgan’ wrote it. Who is Morgan? Is that Reuben Morgan who I wrote about in my previous article?
Stand by everything You said Stand by the promises we made Let go of everything I ‘ve done I’ll run into Your open arms And all I know
Chorus: I love You more than life I love You more than life
Fall back on everything You’ve done Fall back on everlasting arms When all the world is swept away You are all the things I need You’re the air I breathe
How can it be You were the one on the cross Lifted for all our shame? How can it be The scars in Your hands are for me? You are the king of all
Crosswalk wrote: Each year since 1992, Hillsong Christian Church in Sydney, Australia—under the direction of Darlene Zschech—releases a live worship album of the newest, original songs written for the church. Each of those albums has achieved gold (some even platinum!) status in sales worldwide.
Recorded in the Spring of 2004 at The Sydney Entertainment Centre with a 500-voice choir and a house packed with worshipers, For All You’ve Done captures again the unique talent and spirit of this church. This 2-CD set is a bold, celebrative cacophony of sound, ripe with lyrics that will infuse your life with praise and gratitude to God. There’s not a soul on earth that doesn’t need more of that. If live worship is your thing, let your fingers do the walking…
Two songs in fairly quick succession from one of my all-time favourite Australian albums – Curious (image inset). Today’s song More Heart Than Me was the first song I ever heard from the group at a David Bridie and Archie Roach concert in Melbourne in 2002. Well, it was played solo by David Bridie on piano at that concert, but it sure made an indelible impression.
More Heart Than Me was the first song played at the event and I had never heard Bridie’s music before. So, we’re just sitting there, and I hear Bridie start with that incredible piano melody and he sings ‘She comes every morning at least 3 times‘ and I turned to my partner and said, ‘Who the f%&k is this guy‘? I was floored by it, and still am today. More Heart Than Me has 11 views on You Tube and yet it is one of my favourite Australian love ballads.
She comes every morning at least three times I walk the dark side just for you You know my fault lines all so well Every look every word every thing I can imagine With you I got the nerve for anything at all
By god I’m grateful for that’s how it be She’s graceful, she’s forthright, she’s stronger than me She’s a fighter, she’s headstrong, she’s got more heart than me
I change my flight path just for you I copy strange behaviour if you want me to So high up I may never land So confused I don’t understand With you I’ve got the nerve for anything at all
By god I’m grateful for that’s how it be She’s graceful she’s forthright stronger than me She’s a fighter, she’s a brainstorm, she’s got more heart than me
David Bridie who founded My Friend the Chocolate Cake has featured prominently here. You can find so much more about him and his group in my previous articles. Their first album was recorded with a budget of $800.
The album Curious is littered with clever string arrangements by cellist Helen Mountfort and violinist Hope Csutoros, and the lush overtones of David Bridie’s piano and Wurlitzer round out the lead section nicely. Bridie handles the majority of the songwriting (sometimes sharing the credit with Mountfort and others not in the band) and proves a talent for composing engaging changes and insightful lyrics. A far cry from the goofy name and band photo, Curious is a sophisticated affair.…
Courtney Barnett (born 1987) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for her deadpan singing style and witty, rambling lyrics. The music video below of today’s featured track Avant Gardener is one of the most edgy and amusing I’ve seen, plus I love Tennis. Who’s watching Wimbledon? Combine all that with fantastic lyrics ala (“The paramedic thinks I’m clever ’cause I play guitar, I think she’s clever cause she stops people dying“) and an enticing Subterranean Homesick Blues type of rhythm and playfulness; then you have something special. Great songwriting. I wonder if the New Zealand band The Beths were partly inspired by her.
[Verse 1] I sleep in late, another day Oh, what a wonder, oh, what a waste It’s a Monday, it’s so mundane What exciting things will happen today? The yard is full of hard rubbish, it’s a mess and I guess the neighbours must think we run a meth lab We should amend that,I pull the sheets back It’s forty degrees and I feel like I’m dying Life’s getting hard in here so I do some gardening Anything to take my mind away from where it’s supposed to be The nice lady next door talks of green beds And all the nice things that she wants to plant in them I wanna grow tomatoes on the front steps Sunflowers, bean sprouts, sweet corn and radishes I feel proactive, I pull out weeds All of a sudden, I’m having trouble breathing in
[Chorus] I’m having trouble breathing in I’m having trouble breathing in I’m having trouble breathing in
The following is taken from the wikipedia article below:
International interest came with the release of her EP The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas in 2013 in which Avant Gardener was the lead single. While pursuing a music career, she worked as a pizza delivery driver. Barnett was nominated in eight categories at the ARIA Music Awards of 2015 and won four trophies: Breakthrough Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Independent Release and Best Cover Art for Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. On 21 May 2016, she was the musical guest on the season finale of Saturday Night Live’s 41st season.
Bob Dylan takes a classic traditional Irish drinking song here and inverts it, using tone and a few choice lyric changes to turn a celebratory ode to the moonshiner’s lifestyle into a brooding meditation on the essential emptiness of life as an alcoholic. One of Dylan’s first performances of Moonshiner was Liveat The Gaslight 1962 which is a live album including ten songs from early Bob Dylan performances recorded in October 1962 at The Gaslight Cafe in New York City’s Greenwich Village. It was released in 2005 by Columbia Records.
In 1963, Bob Dylan recorded a studio version of Moonshiner, which was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991 and is the version which appears below.
[Verse 1] I’ve been a moonshiner For seventeen long years I’ve spent all my money On whiskey and beer I go to some hollow And sit at my still And if whiskey dont kill me Then I dont know what will
[Verse 2] I go to some bar room And drink with my friends Where the women can’t follow And see what I spend God bless them pretty women I wish they was mine Their breath is as sweet The dew on the vine
[Verse 3] Let me eat when I am hungry Let me drink when I am dry A dollar when I am hard up Religion when I die The whole world’s a bottle And life’s but a dram When the bottle gets empty It sure ain’t worth a damn
The following is from the Wikipedia article below:
The Moonshiner is a folk song with disputed origins. Some believe that the song originated in America, then was later made famous in Ireland, while others claim that it was the other way around. The Clancy Brothers stated on their recording that the song is of Irish origin, but again, this is disputed. … Its first American appearance was recorded in Carl Sandberg’s 1927 The American Songbag, which credits the Combs family of Kentucky for the collection of the song going at least as far back as the turn of the century.
Some of you might listen to this and get a jolt from the past. Moonlight Shadow is not one of those 80’s songs you hear played often these days. I have always enjoyed listening to it; not just for nostalgic reasons, but because it has great vocals (Fleetwood Mac – like), a magnificent guitar solo and a fantastic melody with a Celtic allure. One of the few 80’s songs that I don’t get sick of hearing over and over. I have included the original studio version and the extended version below. The video is pretty neat, but I prefer listening to the extended version, so I don’t have to keep repeating the original.
[Verse 1] The last that ever she saw him Carried away by a moonlight shadow He passed on, worried and warning Carried away by a moonlight shadow Lost in a riddle that Saturday night Far away on the other side He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight And she couldn’t find how to push through
[Verse 2] The trees that whisper in the evening Carried away by a moonlight shadow Sing a song of sorrow and grieving Carried away by a moonlight shadow All she saw was a silhouette of a gun Far away on the other side He was shot six times by a man on the run And she couldn’t find how to push through
[Chorus] I stay, I pray See you in Heaven, far away I stay, I pray See you in Heaven one day
The following sourced from the Wikipedia article below:
Moonlight Shadow is a song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983 and included on his eighth album, Crises, of the same year. The vocals were performed by Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had collaborated with Mike Oldfield since 1980. It is Oldfield’s most successful single, reaching number one on numerous charts around Europe.
The single peaked at number four in the British charts, making it Oldfield’s second-highest ranked single after Portsmouth, which reached number three in 1976….it reached number one in many countries, including Italy, Austria, Switzerland for four weeks and Norway for six weeks. It spent four weeks at number two in West Germany, hit number six in Australia, and peaked at number three in New Zealand and France.
I first heard this song in the end credits of the above movie, Leave No Trace. It’s so atmospheric and mellow, but I love the ride it takes me on. The lyrics below are fantastic as well. My reflections and sentiments align with the following comments in the You Tube presentation below about the movie and song respectively:
@billyclifton5710: (Leave No Trace) is a well-made, naturalistic, moving portrayal of a man and his daughter living off the grid in an Oregon park.
@edwinrolandoborrallos4193: (Moon Boat) A very beautiful song rendition to complement a very lovely and emotional movie which really elevates ones mind to another level of consciousness especially due to its soft and mellow music and emotive lyrics.
I wandered this world green and wild And the things in my mind are Like a red sun go down. Oh And I, I know you must go. And I think I know why… But I don’t know why. Still I am thinking we both share a moon and a star. May you be safe, may we both find a place with a heart. Here, where treasures a-bound In the things I have found, a leaf, a song come from above… In the wood, where secrets crawl The Earth so small, a place, a home, a dream my own… There’ll be a tree that joins you and me from a-far. And I am certain we all share a moon and a star
In 2018, Kendra Smith contributed this song Moon Boat to the soundtrack for the film Leave No Trace (her first solo recording since 1996). The film received universal critical acclaim, with praise for the performances of Foster and McKenzie, and it is the most reviewed film to hold an approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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