When The RBR Gospel Hour...

SONG LYRICS FOR THIS SONG:

"When I cross over
I will shout and sing
I will know my savior
By the mark where the nails have been

CHORUS:
By the mark where the nails have been
By the sign upon his precious skin
I will know my savior when I come to him
By the mark where the nails have been"

Sidenote for Todd: I recently purchased Brian Eno and David Byrne’s most recent collaboration cd titled: “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”. Now, not get all “off-tangent-y” and all, but this cd is AWESOME.

“In his words,” Byrne said, “he (Brian Eno) ‘hates writing words’, [so] I suggested I have a go at writing some words and tunes over a few of them, and we see what happens.”

The result is an album of 11 tracks, more a collection of songs than their previous collaboration, according to the press release. Byrne’s lyrics draw their inspiration from a number of places, including the Dave Eggers novel What is the What, but Everything That Happens … is particularly indebted to gospel music.

“As a foreigner in New York,” Eno explained, “I was surprised by how little attention Americans paid to their own great indigenous musical invention: gospel. It was even slightly uncool – as though the endorsement of the music entailed endorsing all the religious framework associated with it. To me gospel was a music of surrender, and the surrendering rather than the worshipping was the part that interested me. This idea has informed my music ever since: I guess it’s the reason I use modes and chords which are easy to follow and easy to harmonise with. I want the music to be inviting, to offer you a place inside it.”

“I think David responded to this with sensitivity and skill, and his natural edginess made those familiar progressions sound new to me.”

It’s not exactly Gillian Welch or Ce Ce WInans (although I LOVE both artists), but it’s a collaboration that even the most hard-pressed anti-gospel or gospel-lovers themselves would find more than just palatable. The themes are tragic and doom-filled- lacking the quality of Jesus or God as it’s central host. . . .but- they are also about redemption and hope- qualities that leave an imprint on your psyche, much like what gospel music does to me WHENEVER and WHEREVER I listen to it.

Thanks a bunch for this Welch/Skaggs hymn. I can now go forth to my 11 o’clock service knowing that the hand of Jesus has touched us both this morning.

For Byrne the challenge in this “electronic gospel” style is to write songs that are “simple but not corny, basic but heartfelt. The results, in many cases, were uplifting, hopeful and positive- even though there were lyrics about cars exploding, war and similarly dark scenarios.”