Mike Doughty's "Haughty Melodic"
As we eagerly await this week's main post on the Conference Youth Event Adam, Jeff and I are just home from...
Mike Doughty's album Haughty Melodic, "Unsingable Name." Mike is a fantastic songwriter, and his album is full of big questions and the struggle to have faith in Something Greater. His spiritual striving makes him hard to box in; reading his blog, he may be an agnostic at one time and a follower of the man Jesus at others. However Mike might self-identify, his reflections are important to me in my journey.
"Unsingable Name" is a wonderfully beautiful way to think about the Being we usually name God, and it reminds me of Jewish tradition in which God's name is too holy to be spoken aloud. Adonai ("Lord") or Ha'shem ("The Name") is used in place of the unpronounceable YHWH.
"I Hear the Bells" recalls the sound of church bells ringing "joyful and triumphant," and also includes the memorable "You snooze, you loose / Well, I have snozzed and lost." On the same theme, "His Truth Is Marching On" is a song of victory that does not also imply conquest/oppression/power-taking (see our previous post for more on that!). Mike's victories, and mine, tend to be those of love over the more unruly parts of our own selves; over meaninglessness, cynicism, and hopelessness.
Album closer "Your Misfortune" expresses the attitude that I see in God, Christ, and the best of human nature; I'd quote the lyrics, but if you've gotten this far you'll appreciate reading them all for yourself here. If you dig snappy songs, sharp lyrics, and a sense of one man's quest for faith, pick up Haughty Melodic.
"On the docks in Memphis, with a boombox, nodding out, singin' 'Don't fall through the stars, don't fall through them...'"
-howie
Mike Doughty's album Haughty Melodic, "Unsingable Name." Mike is a fantastic songwriter, and his album is full of big questions and the struggle to have faith in Something Greater. His spiritual striving makes him hard to box in; reading his blog, he may be an agnostic at one time and a follower of the man Jesus at others. However Mike might self-identify, his reflections are important to me in my journey."Unsingable Name" is a wonderfully beautiful way to think about the Being we usually name God, and it reminds me of Jewish tradition in which God's name is too holy to be spoken aloud. Adonai ("Lord") or Ha'shem ("The Name") is used in place of the unpronounceable YHWH.
"I Hear the Bells" recalls the sound of church bells ringing "joyful and triumphant," and also includes the memorable "You snooze, you loose / Well, I have snozzed and lost." On the same theme, "His Truth Is Marching On" is a song of victory that does not also imply conquest/oppression/power-taking (see our previous post for more on that!). Mike's victories, and mine, tend to be those of love over the more unruly parts of our own selves; over meaninglessness, cynicism, and hopelessness.
Album closer "Your Misfortune" expresses the attitude that I see in God, Christ, and the best of human nature; I'd quote the lyrics, but if you've gotten this far you'll appreciate reading them all for yourself here. If you dig snappy songs, sharp lyrics, and a sense of one man's quest for faith, pick up Haughty Melodic.
"On the docks in Memphis, with a boombox, nodding out, singin' 'Don't fall through the stars, don't fall through them...'"
-howie
Mike Doughty's "Haughty Melodic" posted by St. Peter's UCC at Tuesday, February 21, 2006
1 Comments:
test comment
Post a Comment
<< Home