This being the month of Easter and Passover, I’m releasing a collection that I have been toying with off and on since I was 14 years old.

I was interested in finding songs that called out to God, that we not necessarliy propper hymns, or used in a musical.  I’ve been keeping lists here and there for over 20 years and this past Lent the list re-appeard to me.  I’ve made some updates, and left a lot up to Divine Inspiration.  The songs on this mix also come from an increasing study of the music of George Harrison and the philosophy that God’s house has many doors.

I was born a Catholic, and continue to draw a deep connection to God from my parrish.  But that does not mean I am closed off to other ideas and faiths.  With the world population so great, it makes sense that the Divine needs to reach us in very many ways.  So, let these songs be a guide of allowing a little Divinity into your life, God the Father, Mother or Higher Power… whatever opens your heart.

These are all at their core, songs of love, songs of faith in something greater and songs to inspire.  Sure, there is dissent and questioning age old foundations.  But if you really go back to the intent of the original Messages: Torah, Quran, New Testament, Teachings, Scrolls and Chants – it is all Love, Goodness and Light.

Maybe we ought to not get caught up in so much finger wagging and judgements.  Seek Light and Love in all things. There will be sacrifices and that’s where Hope and Faith come in.  Amen.

Track List:

1. Presence of The Lord – Blind Faith:  Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood’s opening track to their only album is powerful.  A great headphone track, while sitting in a room lit by a single candle.  Feel the warmth surround you.

2. Hymn #43 – Jethro Tull: A great tune about how we can corrupt the message and get in the way.  It does beg a question: have we hurt the Teachers who taught us?

3. God’s Gonna Cut You Down – Johnny Cash: Some may see this a fire and brimstone sermon from the final Cash album.  It’s very simple… live a good life.  If anyone knows about repenting and changing your life… it’s the Man In Black.

4. John Saw That Number – Neko Case: Sacrifice, hunger and a deep desire to spread the word. I do love a good revival song once in a while.  Neko’s haunting voice is uplifting.

5. Kyrie – New Dominions: A Mr. Mister cover by an old friend’s sister college acapella group.  Latin text with 80’s hope, all with just a cadre of voices.  This a great song to play while walking down the street smiling at people.

6. Letter To God – Sheryl Crow: Written during the height of the WTF GWB period, Sheryl looks at the world and asks some heavy questions.  Remember #43 believed he had to invade because God told him.

7. Wreck Of The Day – Anna Nalick: Somedays, you need a little help.  What I really get out of this song is to not give up on Love.  We have been there before, falling in Love and relaize you are losing yourself.

8. Fire And Rain – James Taylor: This was the first song I added to the list, back in the late 80’s.  What is most interesting is that I would meet a namesake in the song and plead the same lines 15 years later.  To parahase a dear friend, “We all have a fire and rain.”

9. Awaiting On You All – George Harrison: This was the second song I added to the original list.  When All Things Must Pass was re-released in 2000, George left out my favorite line from the published lyrics and the digital version was called “Awaiting On The Wall.”  Listen to the “General Motors” line, and see how scary it is in 2009.

10. Prayer of St. Francis – Sarah McLachlan: A simple recording, of a simple, yet powerful prayer.

11. Mrs. Robinson – Simon & Garfunkel:  I almost used their version of “Go Tell It On The Mountain,” but this always resonated to me more.  As much as I understand the subtext of “The Graduate,” I never made the connection of this song.  The character in the film was so different than the song’s Mrs. Robinson.  This Mrs. Robinson always reminded me of the strict Catholic mothers I met growing up (For the record, my mom is a Protestant).  I imagined the musical Mrs. Robinson with the picture of Jesus, JFK and the Pope below her crucifix.

12. Hey Jesus – Indigo Girls: We have all had those one sided conversations with God and made our deals.  The lesson here is to sometimes let things go and trust that it all works out somehow, with the right attitude. I also believe that it’s ok to have these conversations with God.  If you cannot be honest with your feelings, what kind of life is that?

13. Holy – Love As Laughter: A modern revival without the collection plate or finder wagging!

14. Rejoice – U2: 95% of all U2 songs would fit in a collection such as this.  Bono Vox uses the Bible for inspiration more than Tim Rice and Andrew Llyod Webber did in the 60’s.  Rejoice, is the only actual published lyric for this song – the rest is all Bono being open and guided in front of the mic.

15. Divine Intervention – Matthew Sweet: I came upon this song and album when I was going through some deep personal shit.  I remember playing this when I was a college DJ on the air and for hours, off air.  Prayer through music. What a powerful message.

16. Gotta Serve Somebody – Bob Dylan: It doesn’t matter that he had more conversions than Sammy Davis Jr., some consider Dylan a prophet.  He is really a brilliant poet with keen insight.  No, he doen’t have all the answers – he does have a few.  I read recently, that John Lennon had issue with this song.  At the time Lennon wanted to serve no one and belived that there was nothing else but us.  Religious or not, this song sums up life pretty neatly.

17. Jesus Is Just Alright – The Doobie Brothers: Song #3 from the orginal list.  Faith through rock.  Kinda dopey in the bridge, but it all works.

18. No More My Lord – Pentangle: Much thanks to my high school English teacher for introducing me to this group.  I love the late 60’s take on olde English folk songs.  Keep you head up!

19. Down To The River To Pray – Alison Krauss: More olde tyme music, this from O Brother Where Art Though.  Simple, pure. Heavenly.

20. We Bid You Goodnight – The Grateful Dead: I actually saw them perform this version, at the Meadowlands.  I was a follower of The Dead but had not committed their whole repitoire to memory at that point.  It’s rough, but so beautiful!

Cover
The front cover is a picture of a praying hands statue that was in the front window of my Great Grandparents home in Bethlehem, PA.  After my Great Aunt passed, this was left to me.  As a child, I would sit and stare for hours at this statue.  My Great Grandfather saw me doing this one time and laid my hands over it, so that I could learn to position mine the same way.  Every time I walked into that house, I felt like God was also at the table with us.

The back cover is a picture of the Rose Window at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Hoboken, NJ.  I’ve been a parishioner there for over ten years and draw much inspiration and comfort from that building.

I realize that there are much more important things to be talking about these days.  We are on the verge of a economic depression that cannot be cured with pharmaceuticals.  The US election in two weeks is one of the hardest fought in our nation’s history.  Art is taking a beating and true artists are being shadowed by too much muck and lowest common denominator.  I have to use the spellcheck more now, as opposed to remembering how to spell denominator.

Sports, though feeds into the national psyche.  We use sports as a way to escape, for a few hours, the pain we may be feeling in life.  Sports can be recession proof, to a point.  I believe that God intended sports not only as something for us to do to keep active, but to keep our minds active in watching sporting events.

Some cities have teams that teach us lessons.  I believe Boston, always a second home to me, to be such a place.   For 86 years, the Boston Red Sox never won the World Series.  They would fall like a house of cards, without fail.  Yet, the Boston fan had faith.  Opening Day was a mix of the excitement of opening a new wrapped gift on Christmas morn, and the rebirth and hope of Easter, all rolled into one.

For Football fans, you had the bone chilling stadium(s) in Foxboro, to see the Patriots.  A team that also had it’s shares of ups and downs.  The Celtics and even the Bruins all had glorious wins and crushing defeats.  Well, for most of Boston sports history, crushing defeats.  Yet through it all, there was faith that the team would do better next year.

The Boston sports fan was humble, knew the value of hard work and was not as pompous as a Yankees fan.   They are not as hardscrabble as a Mets fan… Mets fans are a breed onto their own.   A true Mets fan has an appreciation for the Red Sox, since they have both played second fiddle to the Yankees and all their synthetic glory.  However, for a Boston fan, we will never forget 1986. (On a side note, I truly believe that the Mets would play better if they came to Jersey and changed their name).

Something started happening in New England, during these last eight years.  Boston teams started winning… championships.  The Red Sox have won the World Series twice.  The Patriots have won three times.  The Celtics once, and the Bruins… well there is always this year.

It dawned on me last winter, when the Patriots lost their fifth appearance at a Superbowl (to the stupid Giants, none the less.  If the Giants admitted they were a Jersey team, I might have felt a bit better), that we need to have balance.

Boston, I believe is a city that keeps America in check, humble and on target.  Much like New Jersey, but I digress.  Boston’s sports teams’ purpose is to entertain and enlighten.  They are true art.  To have a balance, I believe that the Sox and the Pats cannot win Championships in the same season.  Sox/Celts – sure.  Pats/Bruins… that would be nice.  But Sox/Pats… that could send the earth off it’s axis, McCain would be elected and we’d be at war with Mexico and Canada by next Sadie Hawkins Day.

Now, this is a working theory.  The Sox won last year, and this year it’s the Pats turn.  I believe a Pats Superbowl win would help keep the balance.  The Sox’s loss helps Boston remain humble and full of hope.

I heard it once said that you should root for the team that beat your team, so your team’s loss would not be in vain.  Screw that… I really want to see the Phillies sweep Tampa!