Tag Archives: Songs

God Bless The Child That’s Got His Own

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Billie Holiday. God bless the child that's got his ownBillie Holiday was not only the first artist to record this song, but she was one of the writers of the song as well. Just like the song “Without A Song,” “God Bless the Child,” first recorded in 1941, has been recorded at least once in every decade since. I remember using the gospel-tinged Keith Jarrett Standards Trio version on an answering machine recording in the 1980’s. But I have other reasons for sharing this great song.

Them that’s got shall get
Them that’s not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news.
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

God bless the child that’s got his own

I was having a conversation with a friend recently. We agreed on the proposition that freedom was a good thing, a condition to be sought. We agreed that some nations of the world were more free than others.

Yes the strong gets more
While the weak ones fade
Empty pockets don’t ever make the grade
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

We failed to reach agreement on the proposition that freedom has the requirement of self-sufficiency. I consider it intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that since beggars can’t be choosers, beggars are not free. It was not intuitively obvious to my friend.

Money, you’ve got lots of friends
Crowding round the door
When you’re gone, spending ends
They don’t come no more.

It would seem that I need to think about this some more, or work on my advocacy skills, or both.

Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don’t take too much
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own
He just worry ’bout nothin’
Cause he’s got his own

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_1LfT1MvzI&feature=kp

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Get Your Hand Out The Flame

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Wookiefoot sings "And if you cant stand the pain, then get your hand out the flame"In my experience, the band Wookiefoot is a 21st century Minnesota version of the 1970’s Anglo-French band Gong. I’ve never quite been able to figure out whether Wookiefoot is really a religious group that just happens to make music, or a band that just happens to traffic in paleo-hippie spirituality. They seem to like Rumi, so they can’t be all bad. For reasons I don’t fully understand, enjoying the music of Wookiefoot is a rite of passage for my children.

Get your hand out the flame

I’m telling you this because Wookiefoot recorded a song that had a sympathetic vibration to my study of Steps to Knowledge. It was on the album Make Belief, which had the singular misfortune of being released on September 12, 2001. The song is called Out Of My Way. I’m including the lyrics because someofthelyricsaresungveryquicklyandtendtoruntogether.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWoHFKpiVE4

and if you can’t stand the pain then get your hand out the flame
and if you don’t like to lose get your ass out the game
and if you don’t like the cold then you had better fly south
and if you don’t like the taste then get the shit out your mouth

get out of your way

how come every damn time i get it but i never get it right
cuz my pants get caught on fire or a needle in my eye
i think i’m gonna hit rock bottom but i fall right through the floor
i hear the opportunity knocking but i never get the door

no i don’t really know
why this place fucking sucks but i don’t want to go
this place fucking sucks but i just can’t leave here

how come every damn time i get it but i never get it right
just a victim to my vengeance anger bitterness or spite
i sabotage myself almost every single day
i can’t get out of my way

and if you don’t like my touch you can hide in your shell
and if you want to eat shit you had better get used to the smell
and if you leg bone is broke then you can learn how to crawl
and if you can’t stand up you better get ready to fall

how come every damn time i get it but i never get it right
cuz my pants get caught on fire or a needle in my eye
my blessing or my tragedy both living in the same beast
hiding underneath the bed with a double sided blade to cut me

i can’t get out of my way

 

Would you like to stop feeling the burning? Then get your hand out the flame. Steps to Knowledge has been addressing self-destructive practices in Step 80 “I can only practice” and Step 81 “I will not deceive myself today.” The person singing this song is at least aware of his self-destructive practices, which puts him ahead of a lot of people. I recently told two of my children that the students of Steps to Knowledge are people making significant efforts to get of their way, to get out of the way of Knowledge, their true self which is not apart from life.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

I Dream A Life Not Lost In Time

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The track "I Dream A Life Not Lost In Time" uses a track by DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid

Paul D. Miller records and performs under the nom de musique DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid. He may quite possibly be the only DJ with not one, but two books published by MIT Press (Rhythm Science in 2004, and Sound Unbound in 2008). He engages in collaborations with a vast galaxy of individuals and ensembles. I call him a musical version of Anansi, the west African trickster spider, possessor of countless stories.

I dream a life not lost in time

I’m telling you this to tell you that two weekends ago, I purchased a used copy of the CD Songs of a Dead Dreamer, recorded in 1996. This CD has been called electronica, but it contains occasional acoustic instruments. This CD has been called ambient, but it’s not as ambient as other ambient music, in that it has some beats and rhythms wandering in and out. I consider the spirit of this CD to be ambient, a little bit like Minnesotans who talk to you without looking at you.

Eldon Tyrell tells Roy Batty he can't have more life. I dream a life not lost in time.

I’m telling you this to tell you that last weekend, I felt an inclination (as in Step 72, “I will trust my deepest inclinations today”) to create something. I have added music to poems I have liked before, like this poem by Antonio Machado. This time I started with the track “Thoughts Like Rain” from Songs of a Dead Dreamer, and added some lines from the 1982 science fiction classic movie Blade Runner. Why Blade Runner? Because the exclamation point of the movie is the line where an almost-human android is facing the end of his artificial(?) life, and regretting that the amazing moments of his life will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

I’m telling you this because I feel a connection between this creation and the Steps to Knowledge sidebar “Why Am I Doing This Anyway?” between Step 9 and Step 10. It says “Without Knowledge, you are unaware of your purpose. You are unaware of your origin and your destiny, and you will pass through this life as if it were a troubled dream and no more.” It is as if Steps to Knowledge is saying “Why are you doing this? Because you want a life that is more than a collection of moments that will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Because you want a life that is more than a troubled dream.”

I’m telling you this to share with you this combination, this mashup, which I call “I Dream A Life Not Lost In Time.” It is a valentine of sorts to DJ Spooky, to everyone involved in the movie Blade Runner, and to Steps to Knowledge.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Songs May Evoke The Truth

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This song “Ivushka” (The Weeping Willow) written in 1957 by outstanding Soviet composer Grigory Ponomarenko to the words by Russian poet Vassily Alferov and performed by National Russian Folk Singer Lyudmila Zykina touches my heart-strings and opens up the deeper mind where I can hear, feel, and see the Truth.

Зорька золотая светит над рекой,
Ивушка родная, сердце успокой.
Ивушка зелёная, над рекой склонённая,
Ты скажи, скажи не тая, где любовь моя.

Были с милым встречи у твоих ветвей,
Пел нам каждый вечер песни соловей,
Ивушка зелёная, над рекой склонённая,
Ты скажи, скажи не тая, где любовь моя.

Но ушёл любимый, не вернётся вновь,
С песней соловьиной кончилась любовь.
Ивушка зелёная, над рекой склонённая,
Ты скажи, скажи не тая, где любовь моя.
Ты скажи, скажи не тая, где любовь моя.

I did not find an English translation of this particular song, so I will provide my own. This is not a word for word translation, but my personal interpretation of the meaning.

In the golden light of the setting sun, a weeping willow dips its green boughs over the river, bringing peace to the hearts of those who seek.

Its leaves whisper secrets of love, of amorous couples who meet under its branches to hear the nightingale sing. Love comes and goes, but the green weeping willow forever bends low over the river, whispering its secrets.

The video that accompanies the song depicts the Russia I have come to love, and I dream of living in a simple log cabin by a river where the weeping willow bends its boughs and whispers its Truth.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Without A Song by Noah Stewart

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I’m sharing this song because keeping my hand on the plow, while necessary, doesn’t seem to be sufficient to get me where I’m going.

This song was written in 1929, with music by Vincent Youmans, and lyrics by Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu.  The Broadway musical it was in, Great Day, had the misfortune of opening about two weeks before the catastrophic stock market crash, and closed after 36 performances.  But the song has done much better, recorded in the 20’s (Bing Crosby), the 30’s (Lawrence Tibbett), the 40’s (Frank Sinatra), the 50’s (Perry Como), the 60’s (The Supremes), the 70’s (The Carpenters), the 80’s (Willie Nelson), the 00’s (Jimmy Scott) and the Teens (Noah Stewart).

Without a song the day would never end
Without a song the road would never bend
When things go wrong a man ain’t got a friend
Without a song

That field of corn would never see a plow
That field of corn would be deserted now
A man is born but he’s no good no how
Without a song

I got my trouble and woe but, sure as I know, the Jordan will roll
And I’ll get along as long as a song, stays deep in my soul

I’ll never know what makes the rain to fall
I’ll never know what makes that grass so tall
I only know there ain’t no love at all
Without a song

I’m sharing this song because if I wish to attain to what Steps to Knowledge is promising, an effective preparation for engaging with my mission in life, I not only need my hand on the plow, but I need to keep my eyes on the prize.  I need a song on my lips and deep in my soul, and the song on my lips and the song deep in my soul have to be the same song.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Keep Your Hand On The Plow by Mahalia Jackson

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The last verse of the poem “Freedom’s Plow” by Langston Hughes declared:

A long time ago,
An enslaved people heading toward freedom
Made up a song:
Keep Your Hand On The Plow! Hold On!
The plow plowed a new furrow
Across the field of history.
Into that furrow the freedom seed was dropped.
From that seed a tree grew, is growing, will ever grow.
That tree is for everybody,
For all America, for all the world.
May its branches spread and shelter grow
Until all races and all peoples know its shade.
KEEP YOUR HAND ON THE PLOW! HOLD ON!

When I shared the poem, I didn’t share the song which was its exclamation point. I am correcting that omission now.

Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on

Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on

Heard the voice of Jesus say
Come unto me, I am the way.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
When my way gets dark as night,
I know the lord will be my light,
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.

Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on

You can talk about me much as you please
the more you talk, gonna stay on my knees.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.

When I get to heaven, gonna sing and shout
Be nobody there to put me out.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
I know my robe’s gonna fit me well,
I tried it on at the gates of Hell.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.

Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.