The Sacred Art of the Lyric: Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Songs?
(published in "Listen & Be Heard" Weekly / September 3, 2004)
© 2005 Annabelle A. Udo
Buddhism made me a better Catholic—and a better writer. Steeping into the spiritual rather than the religious aspects helped me to tap into not only Life’s mysteries and riddles, it gave me a deeper appreciation of the struggles of humanity and how the spoken word was a strong force in releasing personal oppression. These new discoveries gave me a deeper understanding of how the thump-thump of the heart was as necessary to life as was the relationship of lyrics to a song.
I found the meditation part of it all oftentimes came in sound (say “ommmmmmmm”) which catapulted me into fine tuning myself to the unseen frequencies of space and time—a place where I can gather up the spirits of 15th century monks writing in cells of beautiful views and arched doorways, to envision silhouettes of anonymous couples strolling along the evening waters in Spain, or even just to bask in the mellow glow of a 1970’s sunrise.
Amidst the journey, I found that heaven isn’t a fluffy stratosphere in the sky but that Life itself was a heavenly dish seasoned by reality and imagination, sparked by past and present, enlivened by experience and not just existence. Walk into a place like City Lights Bookstore (261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco) and the spines of thousands of books written by a myriad of poets continue to bless us with some of the most powerful pieces of our time.
For centuries, writing was not only a mark of literacy it was a highly revered form of communication and documentation. Perhaps with the human need for harmony and melody, the Word evolved into a new kind of lyricism giving even more power to the senses of the masses. With the likes of the ecclesiastical chants of Pope Gregory I, the witty tangents of Frank Zappa and the powerful beats and rhymes of Public Enemy, words seem to be lifted from the pages and swirled into the universe in the same space as dragonflies, kites, and airplanes. The ability for words to take flight in the form of song is truly magical.
As history has it, Pope Gregory the Great (590-604 A.D.), may have been one of the first rockers of our time. Best known for his Gregorian chants (not the pop group Enigma) the sanctity of the word was put to song as a musical response to the Scriptures, creating one of the most ancient forms of musical prayer. With its deepest values coming through its melody, the chant has become an intrinsic part of daily monastic life as nourishing as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some operas have played a similar role as that of chants and psalms applying the formula of putting scripture to song such as, J.S. Bach’s scriptural music collection of “Magnificat” based on the Book of Luke, or Aaron Copeland’s, “In the Beginning” based on Genesis.
The beat poets were, in more modern times, inspired by the essence of Zen Buddhism. Such luminaries as Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane DiPrima and Gary Snyder, were among these writers who skatted their zen words to jazz rhythm. And the list goes on and on. . . . in the late ‘60s such wordsmiths as the Last Poets’ Umar Bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewoleof, who were inspired by Islamic texts, were dynamic pioneers of "jazzoetry" defined by its mixture of jazz and funk with poetry.
From the quill and scroll that created the Declaration of Independence to the chiseled hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt, these pioneers of the written word preserved stories that allow us to walk backward into the passage of time—still to be dazzled by their lasting memory.
© 2005 Annabelle A. Udo
Buddhism made me a better Catholic—and a better writer. Steeping into the spiritual rather than the religious aspects helped me to tap into not only Life’s mysteries and riddles, it gave me a deeper appreciation of the struggles of humanity and how the spoken word was a strong force in releasing personal oppression. These new discoveries gave me a deeper understanding of how the thump-thump of the heart was as necessary to life as was the relationship of lyrics to a song.
I found the meditation part of it all oftentimes came in sound (say “ommmmmmmm”) which catapulted me into fine tuning myself to the unseen frequencies of space and time—a place where I can gather up the spirits of 15th century monks writing in cells of beautiful views and arched doorways, to envision silhouettes of anonymous couples strolling along the evening waters in Spain, or even just to bask in the mellow glow of a 1970’s sunrise.
Amidst the journey, I found that heaven isn’t a fluffy stratosphere in the sky but that Life itself was a heavenly dish seasoned by reality and imagination, sparked by past and present, enlivened by experience and not just existence. Walk into a place like City Lights Bookstore (261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco) and the spines of thousands of books written by a myriad of poets continue to bless us with some of the most powerful pieces of our time.
For centuries, writing was not only a mark of literacy it was a highly revered form of communication and documentation. Perhaps with the human need for harmony and melody, the Word evolved into a new kind of lyricism giving even more power to the senses of the masses. With the likes of the ecclesiastical chants of Pope Gregory I, the witty tangents of Frank Zappa and the powerful beats and rhymes of Public Enemy, words seem to be lifted from the pages and swirled into the universe in the same space as dragonflies, kites, and airplanes. The ability for words to take flight in the form of song is truly magical.
As history has it, Pope Gregory the Great (590-604 A.D.), may have been one of the first rockers of our time. Best known for his Gregorian chants (not the pop group Enigma) the sanctity of the word was put to song as a musical response to the Scriptures, creating one of the most ancient forms of musical prayer. With its deepest values coming through its melody, the chant has become an intrinsic part of daily monastic life as nourishing as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some operas have played a similar role as that of chants and psalms applying the formula of putting scripture to song such as, J.S. Bach’s scriptural music collection of “Magnificat” based on the Book of Luke, or Aaron Copeland’s, “In the Beginning” based on Genesis.
The beat poets were, in more modern times, inspired by the essence of Zen Buddhism. Such luminaries as Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane DiPrima and Gary Snyder, were among these writers who skatted their zen words to jazz rhythm. And the list goes on and on. . . . in the late ‘60s such wordsmiths as the Last Poets’ Umar Bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewoleof, who were inspired by Islamic texts, were dynamic pioneers of "jazzoetry" defined by its mixture of jazz and funk with poetry.
From the quill and scroll that created the Declaration of Independence to the chiseled hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt, these pioneers of the written word preserved stories that allow us to walk backward into the passage of time—still to be dazzled by their lasting memory.
posted by Filipina Veritas at 7:40 PM
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