It makes me think too of Martin Luther King Jr's famous quote "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." A belief I hold on to in dark times.
Have you seen One Night In Miami..? It ends with this song, with Leslie Odom Jr recreating Cooke's performance on The Tonight Show. Hugely powerful.
I struggle with that quote more and more with age, but I do that with almost everything that filled me with hope when I was younger - like this song!
As for ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI, I have! I'm hopeful I'll get the playwright behind it -- and the screenplay -- to join me for one of my artist-on-artist conversations.
This song was also used rather powerfully by Spike Lee in MALCOLM X. It's a brilliant use of juxtaposition because it plays as Malcolm is driving to his death.
Yes, I can see how MLK's quote is harder to believe as times seem to get darker and darker, and time and again we see the bad guys triumph (and gaslight us - making us feel even more impotent, and it even less likely that we will see the end of the arc that MLK speaks of). I'm also now thinking of Einstein's question to ask of ourselves: "Is the universe a friendly place?" Ultimately, I do believe it is. But I can understand why others don't - or can't - believe that.
Cooke was a groundbreaking figure in R&B music, and "Change", more than anything else he recorded, successfully merges the secular suffering of his race with the fervor of the gospel music he began his career singing.
The thing about one end of the arc bending toward justice would seem to infer that the opposite end of the arc would be bending toward injustice. These are dark times and I feel that we’ve swung sharply toward injustice. Never in my life did I think I would be living/reliving things that were the ugly side of life in my childhood. In many ways, this feels worse because it did feel that much of this had been left in the past. Apparently, it was just the ugly underbelly waiting to be exposed to the light once again. My hope is that we can once again move toward the upward, center of the arc. Hope is definitely hard right now.
Hope feels silly now, and yet I don't know what else to do except cling to it and try to effect change in minds and our culture in whatever small ways I can.
This is a beautiful piece and I've been thinking the same things about what will happen here the next 4 years. The election results have everything to do with ignorance and racism and fear and there seems no way to turn it around. I want to believe it's possible, but with the fires and the death of David Lynch and the election, it feels pretty dark. I'll be listening to this song today. Thanks for writing this.
And thank you for reading. Everything does feel pretty dark these days. I think maybe darker than they’ve been in quite some time…but I also think a lot of people have live in and through worse — including in the United States. I’m trying to cling to the idea that the arc of justice is long these days, but it can feel pointless when we might never live to see calmer, more sensible days ourselves.
James Taylor performed a version on an episode of The West Wing. A subtle Hammond provides grace notes to the guitar.It’s slow and has his typical sweetness and can be heard either as a hopeful prayer or an elegiac lament. The show has only fragments but the complete song is on https://vimeo.com/12149316
Thanks for the tune cootie Cole. This essay definitely connects with my personal beliefs about the concept of hope. Until my forties, I would have exhibited disdain for the idea, at best naive, and worst case, delusional. Then, more recently a child, thanks Greta!, reminded me that there’s no hope without action.
Hope is action, or it's just pointless as far as I'm concerned. I feel that more and more the older I get. I'm glad to hear the piece resonated with you, John.
What’s interesting is I just reread Frankenstein. Victor is the classic “risk-avoidance” protagonist. The monster has a legit gripe. It’s a great dynamic.
I know I’ve read similar interpretations. I believe Robert Anton Wilson compared the Monster to Prometheus in his book, Prometheus Rising. My copy is in storage at the moment, so I can’t confirm.
Beautiful piece, Cole.
It makes me think too of Martin Luther King Jr's famous quote "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." A belief I hold on to in dark times.
Have you seen One Night In Miami..? It ends with this song, with Leslie Odom Jr recreating Cooke's performance on The Tonight Show. Hugely powerful.
Thank you!
I struggle with that quote more and more with age, but I do that with almost everything that filled me with hope when I was younger - like this song!
As for ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI, I have! I'm hopeful I'll get the playwright behind it -- and the screenplay -- to join me for one of my artist-on-artist conversations.
This song was also used rather powerfully by Spike Lee in MALCOLM X. It's a brilliant use of juxtaposition because it plays as Malcolm is driving to his death.
Yes, I can see how MLK's quote is harder to believe as times seem to get darker and darker, and time and again we see the bad guys triumph (and gaslight us - making us feel even more impotent, and it even less likely that we will see the end of the arc that MLK speaks of). I'm also now thinking of Einstein's question to ask of ourselves: "Is the universe a friendly place?" Ultimately, I do believe it is. But I can understand why others don't - or can't - believe that.
That would be super re. Kemp Powers! He's great.
Cooke was a groundbreaking figure in R&B music, and "Change", more than anything else he recorded, successfully merges the secular suffering of his race with the fervor of the gospel music he began his career singing.
It's a lovely observation, focusing on the collision of secular and gospel in his work.
Another incredible piece.
Thanks, Harvey!
The thing about one end of the arc bending toward justice would seem to infer that the opposite end of the arc would be bending toward injustice. These are dark times and I feel that we’ve swung sharply toward injustice. Never in my life did I think I would be living/reliving things that were the ugly side of life in my childhood. In many ways, this feels worse because it did feel that much of this had been left in the past. Apparently, it was just the ugly underbelly waiting to be exposed to the light once again. My hope is that we can once again move toward the upward, center of the arc. Hope is definitely hard right now.
And continue to reflect, through our actions toward others, the kind of humanity that we would hope for in the world.
Hope feels silly now, and yet I don't know what else to do except cling to it and try to effect change in minds and our culture in whatever small ways I can.
This is a beautiful piece and I've been thinking the same things about what will happen here the next 4 years. The election results have everything to do with ignorance and racism and fear and there seems no way to turn it around. I want to believe it's possible, but with the fires and the death of David Lynch and the election, it feels pretty dark. I'll be listening to this song today. Thanks for writing this.
And thank you for reading. Everything does feel pretty dark these days. I think maybe darker than they’ve been in quite some time…but I also think a lot of people have live in and through worse — including in the United States. I’m trying to cling to the idea that the arc of justice is long these days, but it can feel pointless when we might never live to see calmer, more sensible days ourselves.
James Taylor performed a version on an episode of The West Wing. A subtle Hammond provides grace notes to the guitar.It’s slow and has his typical sweetness and can be heard either as a hopeful prayer or an elegiac lament. The show has only fragments but the complete song is on https://vimeo.com/12149316
Thanks!
Thanks for the tune cootie Cole. This essay definitely connects with my personal beliefs about the concept of hope. Until my forties, I would have exhibited disdain for the idea, at best naive, and worst case, delusional. Then, more recently a child, thanks Greta!, reminded me that there’s no hope without action.
Hope is action, or it's just pointless as far as I'm concerned. I feel that more and more the older I get. I'm glad to hear the piece resonated with you, John.
What’s interesting is I just reread Frankenstein. Victor is the classic “risk-avoidance” protagonist. The monster has a legit gripe. It’s a great dynamic.
The Monster is the hero of that novel, as far as I'm concerned.
I know I’ve read similar interpretations. I believe Robert Anton Wilson compared the Monster to Prometheus in his book, Prometheus Rising. My copy is in storage at the moment, so I can’t confirm.