Heartfelt thanks to my dear Papa who first suggested this to me. I am not as familiar with Graceland as I ought to be but I understand this is an album which was sufficiently weighty to square up to it. Indeed I have listened and re-listened to this album countless times over the year, by myself, with Charlotte and with Nick and it has improved on every listen. It covers themes like love, ageing, and the onslaught of modern life. Regrettably I do not have enough time to give this album the depth of review which it deserves. However, the album does not need my endorsement, it sold two million copies and was nominated for two Grammys.
Though he recorded the album’s prominent percussion tracks in Brazil, Paul Simon fashioned The Rhythm of the Saints as a deliberate follow-up to the artistic breakthrough and commercial comeback that was the South Africa-tinged Graceland.
In the opening track, the protagonist seeks solace in a higher power when he considers his own mortality. The cross is in the ballpark,” Simon sings. “Why deny the obvious child?”. This is followed by The Coast in which a family of travelling musicians take refuge in the harbour church of Saint Cecilia, who is the patron Saint of music.
In counterpoint to these portraits of human affirmation, Simon casts haunted images of damage and helplessness. On the hypnotic “Can’t Run But,” he parallels with unrelenting grimness the steady erosion of the environment, romantic love and even the ability of music to transport the soul. Rolling Stone
This album does require a few re-listens in order to be fully appreciated. Simon paints abstract musical and poetic tableaus with the tracks in this album. The Cool Cool River is one such track, and is worth having a few goes at. The rewards are legion.
Powered by a surging, jagged 9/8 time signature, “The Cool, Cool River” runs through the thematic center of the album. After sketching a canvas of violence, oppression and isolation, Simon fixes the moment when a soul takes flight: “Anger and no one can heal it/Slides through the metal detector/Lives like a mole in a motel/A slide in a slide projector/The cool, cool river/Sweeps the wild, white ocean/The rage of love turns inward/To prayers of deep devotion.” In a startling moment, Simon offers this stark epiphany: “And I believe in the future/We shall suffer no more/Maybe not in my lifetime/But in yours I feel sure.” Rolling Stone
Overall, while I wish I had more time to explore this wonderful album, I shall leave it there. Suffice to say, this is one of those rare albums which hit hard and stay with you for many years, as I am sure will be the case here.
Holman Hunt worked on this between 1870 and 1873, on his second trip to the Holy Land. It shows Jesus as a young man, taking a break from his carpenter work, which he is doing with his mother, Mary. This painting is replete with details, as I have come to expect from my probable favourite artist (sorry Henriëtte Ronner-Knip). See the painting below.
Mary is kneeling, fetching something from a box. The eagle-eyed among you will spot the Magi’s gifts in this box, which she has kept from the birth of Jesus. We have just celebrated Epiphany within the Church, a feast where we celebrate the Magi came to Jesus and offered him gifts of frankincense gold and myrrh. The first to celebrate his divinity, the second to celebrate his kingship and the third foreshadowing his death. To emphasise this, the painting casts a shadow onto the rack of tools behind our Lord, giving the distinct impression his shadow is being crucified. This is an electrifying painting. We do not know much of the hidden years of Christ’s life. Several of the Gospels do not mention his childhood, and Luke’s Gospel stops at the finding of Jesus in the temple, which I covered in another post. This is a rare insight or impression of what Christ might have been up to in the years leading up to his ministry, which he began aged thirty.
The level of detail is astonishing. From the fabrics, to the skin tones, to the discarded red bandana signifying the crown of thorns Christ was to wear – all of these and more than I have the bandwidth to write about at the moment. John Everett Millais did a similar painting called Christ in the House of his Parents, which I shall cover in a separate post, because it is beautiful.
This painting was criticised as theatrical by some while it was first exhibited, but I think it is a masterpiece. It is grand and somehow reverent, pensive and remarkably detailed. Our Lord’s death and resurrection is at the very centre of our faith. It was foretold in the old testament and indeed by the wise men during their visit. To see it foreshadowed in such vivid detail here, is quite moving to me. I hope it is as moving to you.
Firstly I should like to apologise sincerely for my lack of posting ere these last four weeks. My life has become rather hectic with a combination of wedding planning, Christmas holiday, bereavement and changes at work. I have not had the time which I would have liked to have to dedicate to this blog. However, I shall make an effort to return to normal scheduled programming.
The album cover of the month is Gentleman by Fela Kuti. I have mentioned this before in Five Favourites, but it struck me today as uniquely funny. The track Gentleman is about a local in Nigeria going to the west, becoming Westernised (the opposite experience which Fela had) and coming back home. This man has come back and is dressing inappropriately for the climate, in western gear, sweating and making a fool of himself in order to appear cultured. Fela ridicules this idea. The cover explains his views far better than any explanation can. This is why it is the album cover of the month!
Jaroslav Čermák (1831 – 1878), a Czech born painter, produced this beautiful painting of Saint Nicholas. This Saint’s feast day was celebrated on December 6th. He was the bishop of Myra, a city in modern day Turkey, in the 4th Century AD. Interestingly, he is one of the foremost Saints in the Russian Orthodox Church. He is the patron Saint of children, but not for the reasons which advertisements would have you believe…
Saint Nicholas is the patron Saint of children because during a grizzly famine in Myra, three local children were killed and pickled in order to be sold as ‘ham’. Saint Nicholas intervened, by working a miracle, and brought them back to life! There is a painting by Gentile da Fabriano depicting this scene.
He is also the patron Saint of unmarried people, fishermen, pawnbrokers, and the falsely accused.
This is very far indeed from the usual depiction of this Saint, astride some garish sleigh and pulled along by an assortment of ill-paid reindeer. I think the painting evokes the kindness and bravery of this Saint in splendour.
Hello and welcome back to three favourites. My apologies for a slight hiatus. I have been very busy with wedding planning and qualifying as a solicitor (next Spring, God willing) and have not had as much time to dedicate to the blog. PI’m afraid I am going to have to move from 3 to 1 favourite going forward. Please see this below.
J J Cale – Troubadour (1976)
This is a fantastic cover. I particularly enjoy the guitar and guitar shaped clouds, as though Mr Cale is imagining guitars in his dreams, which, I suppose, is most likely the case. The treble clef on the head of the acoustic guitar is quite clever. I do not know whether Mr Cale intended to differentiate this from the French clef, or indeed the difference between the two (Nick’s territory). This is a sweet cover, with calm overtones, which match the calm competency of this fabulous artist. I encourage you to listen to this album if you have time.
I spotted this on the Daily Art app, which I frequent quite often. This 1856 painting was done by early Pre-Raphaelite painter William James Webbe. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy for a time.
Webbe was an early convert to Pre-Raphaelitism. Allen Staley wrote about Webbe in his book The Pre-Raphaelite Landscape (1973), and noted that two of his works dating from 1854–55 are of “Pre-Raphaelite elaboration of microscopic foreground detail pushed to an almost insane extreme”.[1] In 1862 Webbe pilgrimaged to Jerusalem and the Middle East and began to paint Eastern subjects.[2][3][1] Webbe’s journey was probably inspired by English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood William Holman Hunt, who visited the Holy Land in 1854–1856, 1869–1872, 1875–1878, and 1892. Wikipedia
As with all Pre-Raphaelite works, the detail in The Owl is astonishing. The vine leaves on the side, the proud expression, the sheen of the feathers on the head and the varied colouration of feathers throughout the coat make for an excellent rendering of the owl. I particularly love the claws holding onto the wall, as well as the little mouse which has seen better days. The termite holes in the wood are also an astonishing detail. The sheen of the feathers is striking, as is the sheen on the beak. The little varies feathers poking through are quite spectacular.
Overall, I think this is a lovely piece which shows great artistic merit. When it was listed at Christies they included the below poem, which I think is quite lovely.
When cats run home and light is come,
And dew is cold upon the ground,
And the far-off stream is dumb,
And the whirring sail goes round,
And the whirring sail goes round;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.
When merry milkmaids click the latch,
And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
Twice or thrice his roundelay,
Twice or thrice his roundelay;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.
