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This Light Lingers | A Year of Song

by A Year of Song curated by Andrew Smith

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Sheri McConnell
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Sheri McConnell Such a fabulous idea and gift. Thanks Andrew and team. You are an inspiration. I'm looking forward to incorporating these songs and stories into my meditation practice. Peace and Love.
janeeamon
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janeeamon Wow I listened this morning and the songs made me cry. Mostly for the changes life has brought, some things lost, some things forever altered so they can never go back to what they were. The desire to hold on to the status quo pains deeply when the very foundation shifts. Everything is holy now indeed. it's a saving grace. Thank you.
1.
I first heard this song by Leonard Cohen on his ‘Tower of Song’ album being sung by Jane Arden. Like many of Cohen’s great songs, this one leaves plenty of room for interpretation. What strikes me about it is the powerful images and phrases that surprise you at every turn. The spiritual power comes from an authentic humble voice speaking from the perspective of the great collective 'us' - with the understanding that we are all in this together. There’s a solidarity in our brokenness. The final verse says... “And draw us near And bind us tight All your children here In their rags of light In our rags of light All dressed to kill And end this night If it be your will” As Leonard Cohen says about the song: 'It's an old prayer ...It's about surrendering'. If inclined, you can research more about this song and the artist online. Lyrics If it be your will That I speak no more And my voice be still As it was before I will speak no more I shall abide until I am spoken for If it be your will If it be your will That a voice be true From this broken hill I will sing to you From this broken hill All your praises they shall ring If it be your will To let me sing From this broken hill All your praises they shall ring If it be your will To let me sing If it be your will If there is a choice Let the rivers fill Let the hills rejoice Let your mercy spill On all these burning hearts in hell If it be your will To make us well And draw us near And bind us tight All your children here In their rags of light In our rags of light All dressed to kill And end this night If it be your will © 1985 Leonard Cohen and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada Company
2.
I first heard Peter Mayer’s song performed live when I opened for the great American folk singer David Wilcox. For my wife Tami and I, it was like the shards of light of our own musings all came together in a lightening bolt of understanding.  We love how he expresses how spirit connection can be found all around us in our everyday life - if we have eyes to see. It reminded us of a favourite quote from the artist Emily Carr:  "God got so stuffy squeezed into a church.  Only out in the open air was there room for him. He was like a great breathing among the trees." We obviously need to understand this lyric in the poetic context in which it appears.  A theologian or a literalist will say if everything is holy, nothing is holy.  Clearly. War, deceit and cruelty are not holy.  But for me, the overstatement ‘everything is holy now’ effectively reminds me to look for beauty and spiritual revelation in the mundane. Peter Mayer is an amazing guitarist and songwriter from Minnesota and the author of this song.  Please check out more of his songs at petermayer.net  My dear friend Dean Clark sings the lead vocal on this one. Lyrics: When I was a boy, each week On Sunday, we would go to church And pay attention to the priest He would read the holy word And consecrate the holy bread And everyone would kneel and bow Today the only difference is Everything is holy now Everything, everything Everything is holy now When I was in Sunday school We would learn about the time Moses split the sea in two Jesus made the water wine And I remember feeling sad That miracles don t happen still But now I can t keep track Cause everything s a miracle Everything, Everything Everything s a miracle Wine from water is not so small But an even better magic trick Is that anything is here at all So the challenging thing becomes Not to look for miracles But finding where there isn t one When holy water was rare at best It barely wet my fingertips But now I have to hold my breath Like I m swimming in a sea of it It used to be a world half there Heaven s second rate hand-me-down But I walk it with a reverent air Cause everything is holy now Everything, everything Everything is holy now Read a questioning child s face And say it s not a testament That d be very hard to say See another new morning come And say it s not a sacrament I tell you that it can t be done This morning, outside I stood And saw a little red-winged bird Shining like a burning bush Singing like a scripture verse It made me want to bow my head I remember when church let out How things have changed since then Everything is holy now It used to be a world half-there Heaven s second rate hand-me-down But I walk it with a reverent air Cause everything is holy now © 1999 Peter Mayer
3.
This song was written by Joel Mason, an artist from Minnesota currently living in Montreal and working on his PHD on the subjects of performance and racialization.  He is a highly prolific writer, musician and educator who performs in a group called The Mighty River with cellist Joel Gorrie based in Montreal (themightyriver.ca).    This song has the distinction of being the inspiration for the title of our first collection of spiritual songs.  This refrain itself is evocative for those of us who have come and gone and come back again - searching for the essence of spiritual music.  This light does indeed linger.  And though it looks and sounds different after all the years and miles, it feels quite familiar.  “This Light” seems to capture the intriguing, difficult and exciting work of collecting and recording so-called ‘spiritual songs that have universal appeal’.   What are we searching for?  What is that essence in a song that can make us stop and reflect and meditate and be nourished?  “Deep in our dust, we’re chasing the birth and the dying in us”.  A lot of it is about an emotional connection, and comes down to that feeling of transcendence that the artist is able to evoke in the listener.  That is why for me, that simple phrase alone warrants some reflection and meditation.    The lyric unfolds as a relentless series of similes and metaphors, as though the writer is attempting to examine something inscrutable from all possible angles.  “ Like the last chance that I get, and the last one after that.  Like a hand reaching out, and the sleepless eyes of doubt.  Like the sea that hides beneath the ice.   Like when you and I both tried.”   The listener is drawn into the quest.  And the odd verse timing (going back and forth from 12/8 to 9 time) contributes to making everything feel uncertain, even a little desperate.   But then the song climbs, deliberately, with three strong chords and a familiar 6/8 groove into that evocative meditation: This Light Lingers, This Light Lingers On.    The chorus lets us pause from the barrage of thoughts and questions.   It elevates – and like a grand old gospel song, it compels the listener to sing along.  -Andrew "This Light" (lyrics) by The Mighty River   like a drunk at last call like the moment before you fall this light is lingering in me like the words never said or the memory of the dead this light is lingering in you i'm a poet in the rain or i'm a teenage midnight train i'm the remnant that survived or i'm that bee in its hive deep in our dust this light lingers this light lingers on like the last chance that i get or the last one after that this light is lingering in you like the hands reaching out or the sleepless eyes of doubt this light is lingering in me i'm the memory of war or i'm forgotten buried ore i'm that stain that won't wash or i'm those love letters you never lost deep in our dust we're chasing the birth and the dying in us deep in our dust this light lingers this light lingers on like the scar after the scalpel sings like the wound that revolution brings like the sea that hides beneath the ice like when you and i both tried deep in our dust we're chasing the birth and the dying in us deep in our dust this light lingers this light lingers this light lingers on This Light Lingers by The Mighty River written by Joel Mason (c) 2012, 2017 Acre Alley
4.
Buddy and Julie Miller are successful songwriters, and many of their songs have been recorded by big-name artists.  (facebook.com/Buddy-Julie-Miller-69522817902)  This song was written by Julie Miller.   I have loved the elegance and simplicity of this song from the first time I heard it.   Though the lyric is a straight-forward first-person narrative, the song seems to never get old, and always ring true.  Ariel Smith’s vocal delivery beautifully communicates the naked fragility of the lyric. If I asked you to conjure up a mental picture of a ‘spiritual person’, what is the first image that comes to mind?  STOP and think about that for a second.  For most of us, it would be hard to ignore the cultural stereotypes we’ve been fed.  The serene monk on the mountain, far above the rat-race.  The robed clergyman angrily denouncing the sins of his parishioners.  Mother Theresa comforting the suffering.  etc. In my view, one of the most important characteristics of a spiritual person is humility.  Someone has said that the doorway to spiritual progress is low, and hard to get under.  Intelligence, virtue, discipline or wealth can open lots of doors – but not this one.  We tend to grade ourselves on a curve in order to support the notion that we are worthy of being considered ‘spiritual’.  We tell ourselves that, well... we are not as bad as ‘those’ guys ...  as if someone else’s faults can somehow make us better people.  It’s only natural – but we are always trying to present ourselves in the best possible light.  “... I tried to fix it myself but it was only worse when I got through”. Broken Things makes no excuses, attempts no deflection, refuses to conceal.  It rejects false certainties.  In fact, the song is a whole-hearted acceptance and embrace of weakness.  It’s a call to honesty.  But, as we all know - it’s hard to live there.  It’s unlikely that you will find it on falsebook ... uh facebook.  But if we can admit to ourselves that there are ‘broken things’ within us,  maybe we can embrace all the good and bad in each other.  “You can have my heart if you don’t mind broken things”. In this song, the artist has decided to rest, not in her strength but in her weakness.  This kind of surrender is courageous.  I think it’s a good place to start, and might be the only way forward. "Broken Things" (lyrics) by Ariel Smith You can have my heart, though it isn't new It's been used and broken, and only comes in blue It's been down a long road, and it got dirty along the way If I give it to you, will you make it clean And wash the shame away? You can have my heart, if you don't mind broken things You can have my life; you don't mind these tears Well, I heard that you make old things new So I give these pieces all to you If you want it, you can have my heart So beyond repair, nothing I could do I tried to fix it myself But it was only worse when I got through Then you walk right into my darkness And you speak words so sweet And you hold me like a child 'til my frozen tears fall at your feet You can have my heart, if you don't mind broken things You can have my life if you don't mind these tears Well, I heard that you make old things new So I give these pieces up to you If you want it, you can have my heart Written by Julie Miller © 1991 Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group
5.
I’ve long been a fan of The Waterboys. Mike Scott was the lead singer and chief songwriter for the Waterboys from the time the band came together in London in 1981 until it reconstituted with new personnel in Dublin in 1987, and finally fell apart in New York in 1991. Scott has a knack for amazing melodies and evocative lyrics of spiritual yearning - and for singing them in a raw personal voice. This song is from his post-Waterboys solo album of the same name – and I only discovered it recently. Do yourself a favour and listen to some old Waterboys and some new Mike Scott albums. (mikescottwaterboys.com) This lyric can be interpreted in a numerous ways, but here’s what stands out to me: The song seems so relevant in these days of divisive politics and small-minded tribalism. It’s an invitation to EVERYONE to see the big picture from a divine perspective. “Bring em all into my heart”. It’s a poetic statement that God has invited all - even those ‘others’ that we despise and with whom we disagree. “bring the little fishes, bring the sharks ... bring the unforgiven, bring the unredeemed ... bring em out of exile, bring em out of sleep”. I arranged the song as a tap-style acoustic piece because I loved how the percussive intensity accentuated the repetitive lyric. ‘bring em, bring em, bring em!’ But the recording took on a grand cinematic and anthemic feel when Zachari Smith added the wonderful thundering drum part, and Eric Disero brought out the sense of yearning in the lyric with his surprising and delicate piano part. "Bring 'em All In" by Andrew Smith written by Mike Scott © 1995 Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart Bring the little fishes Bring the sharks Bring 'em from the brightness Bring 'em from the dark Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart Bring 'em from the caverns Bring 'em from the heights Bring 'em from the shadows Stand 'em in the light Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart Bring 'em out of purdah Bring 'em out of store Bring 'em out of hiding Lay them at my door Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart Bring the unforgiven Bring the unredeemed Bring the lost and nameless Let 'em all be seen Bring 'em out of exile Bring 'em out of sleep Bring 'em to the ? Lay them at my feet Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in, bring 'em all in Bring 'em all in, bring 'em all into my heart
6.
Zachari Smith is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music producer who lives in Montreal. He has recorded 5 albums, 2 solo, two duo (Andrew and Zachari Smith) and one with the band, The Geese. (zacharismith.com) ‘Feel It’ is a sad song. And there is a beautiful truth in it. It boldly explores the loss of an emotional sense of spiritual connection. “The light that used to ease my pain ...” Isn`t it true that our struggles or just the monotony of our everyday lives can dull our emotions and make us lose that sense of a greater purpose? The lyrics of ‘Feel It’ capture that sense of alienation that most of us have felt – but few can articulate. “Show me the days that I have missed, haunted by your last kiss. I’d take your love all again, but I can’t feel it anymore”. In the tradition of spiritual poetry, we would call this a lament. A statement like “everything is meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) or “I can’t feel it anymore” is firmly in that tradition. The song does not attempt to resolve the uncomfortable feeling, and so never lets the listener off the hook. Yet, it is strangely comforting. Why is that? The solace that the listener feels when he hears such a sad song results from the fact that the writer has identified and entered into their experience of loneliness, isolation, alienation, abandonment etc. The beautifully bleak and sparse production by Eric Disero fits hand-in-glove with the lyric. The sense of bitter cold and loneliness is brought out by the detuned piano and the crackling percussion and clang of the pipe hit. We all want to be moved, to be impacted, to be awoken, to be emotionally present and alive. But obviously this is not always our experience. This lyric and music together beautifully express the cry in us for something “to pass through my skin” and touch us on a deeper level. "Feel It" by Zachari Smith written by Zachari Smith (c) 2014 Acre Alley Wheels are spinning in my head Angel Rust is never dead Talking to the walls of my fallen cage I can’t feel it anymore Danger comes and goes like time Swimming cement pools in my mind A moment’s time has elapsed and I can’t feel it anymore Show me the days that I have missed Haunted by your last kiss I’d take your love all again but I can’t feel it anymore A pill to take to ease my pain Takes me further away I’m grasping for the last straw I can’t feel it anymore I see the light shining still I reach my hand to get my fill but every time it slides away I can’t feel it anymore Show me the days that I have missed Haunted by your last kiss I’d take your love all again but I can’t feel it anymore Sit in church to pass the time Think about the scripture lines But nothing passes through my skill I can’t feel it anymore The light that used to ease my pain Wash my hands with rain Is standing before me now But I can’t feel it anymore
7.
Chinua Ford is an enigmatic fellow. I first heard his music from a cassette tape while sitting on a Mexican beach in 2002 - and a few weeks later we were playing a concert together in California. He was my introduction to ‘tap-style’ guitar playing. We’ve connected a couple more times over the past 15 years – most recently in the summer of 2017 when we played a house concert together in Kelowna. My wife Tami and I also attended a group meditation session facilitated by his wife, Rachel at that time. He and his family were back in Canada for a holiday. They live in India where they share the love of God through music, art and meditation with the neo-hippie ‘traveler’ communities. Chinua opened his concert with this song, Again. He is a wonderful musician and songwriter, and I was mesmerized. I love the epic feel of the song and how it communicates the vastness of time and space. I feel like a tiny speck in the universe when I hear the opening lines. The song celebrates the foundational spiritual value of humility. It speaks of how relationship depends on it. It is understood that we are fragile beings who cannot help but fall, so we need to hear from each other and from God “I’ll take you back. Again. Again. Again.” "Again" by Chinua Ford written by Chinua Ford © 2016 Chinua Ford And like the moon above it all You didn't care, you thought that You'd never fall So out you dare with Icarus wings And the black days of space Where no voices sing And I'll take you back again And I'll take you back to where we began I'll take you back, I'll take you back again And though my heart was under the weight of planets and stars you know I didn't hesitate Cause I heard the sounds that you almost made The sound was like sorry You know that's all it takes And I'll take you back again And I'll take you back to where we began I'll take you back, I'll take you back again
8.
Holy War is a song that spilled out of me in a ‘stream-of-consciousness’ kind of way. I think of it as a very personal song (even autobiographical), which also works as a social and political commentary. It taps into this deep-rooted desire that we all have to give ourselves to some greater vision and cause. For most of us, it’s just not enough to have a career and make a living. We want to feel like we are on the right side of the great and eternal struggle for justice and for truth. And so we “search for a reason to waste our lives”. That’s all good. But in this desire, we become susceptible to leaders who want to clarify the struggle for us by identifying (and demonizing) an enemy. Holy War is also about celebrating the role of the artist as he searches (“in the fog of his ambition”) for the heart of the matter, trying to understand it and express it through art. “Make some sense to me! - with images and rhythm and colour and movement indigenous to my world”. I suppose the song sounds like it was inspired by current headlines about the dark and twisted side of faith that finds expression in self-righteous and hateful politics. But in fact it was written long ago. The personal story of the song feels like ancient history to me, but it too is the experience of many today. It’s the story of my struggles navigating through the community of faith, trying to maintain a level of independence and integrity, and feeling misunderstood. (“how can I defend myself anymore?”). Yes, we “drank the depths of spiritual pleasures”, and that was good. But I became disinterested and suspicious of the “unifying creeds and militant messages” of church leaders. I couldn’t reconcile it when non-church friends and people groups were being marginalised rather than embraced, and it struck me that “I don’t want to live in your us-and-them world; God knows there is only us”. "Holy War" by Andrew Smith written by Andrew Smith © 2002, 2011, 2017 Andrew Smith We have all drunk the depths of spiritual pleasure And we’ve all become addicted to the song of ghosts We get so easily waylaid by the sirens and the weather And all those things that we fear the most And I say, yah yah we are the ghosts within your machine, within the fog of our ambition Searching for a language of the soul much moreso than any unifying creed or militant message And we’re hard to hold, like fog people Searching for a reason to waste our lives But I don’t want to fight in your holy war How can I defend myself anymore I don’t want to live in your us and them world God knows there is only us You say we stumble like the damned trying to touch it I know. I know we st st stammer like fools Struggling to articulate the inexpressible wonder All of the beauty in this broken mirror These are the signs, these are the pains of hunger, the very mark of our ascendency as we rise to that table, to that feast prepared for the least of these fog people, tasting a reason to waste our lives It don’t make no rhyme or rhythm, it don’t make no rhyme or rhythm to me Take me up, take me back to that misty mountain with a beat and a melody Make some sense to me, speak with clarity in images and rhythm and colours and movement indigenous to my world They’re all rising up like incense for these are the prayers of a wasted life But I don’t want to fight in your holy war I won’t define myself by what I’m not anymore I don’t want to live in your us and them world God knows there is only us

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A Collection of Spiritual Songs Curated by Andrew Smith

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released July 31, 2017

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A Year of Song curated by Andrew Smith Kelowna, British Columbia

Andrew Smith is a producer and singer/songwriter from Kelowna, BC.

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