Sárospataki Füzetek 1. (1997)
1997 / 2. szám - Dr. Frank Sawyer: How can we go forward? (Hogyan tovább?)
HOW CAN WE GO FORWARD ? No one, I think, is in my tree, I mean it must be high or low, that is you can’t, you know, tune in, but it’s all right, that is, 1 think it’s not too bad. Let me take you down... Always know, sometimes think it’s me, but you know 1 know and it’s a dream, 1 think I know, 1 mean, uh yes, but it’s all wrong, that is, I think I disagree. Let me take you down... Spiritual expression By spirituality I mean perspectives on God and our deepest human values. There are especially two ways of looking for spiritual expression in popular music. The first method is to notice where religious words are used, words like God, religion, Bible, church, Christ, prayer, faith, and hell or heaven. The second way is to notice where deepest values are placed, that is, where faith is expressed, even when that faith is secular and not very transcendental, such as faith in humanity, history, or self. Thus there are sometimes overt and sometimes covert expressions of spirituality in popular music. This is the more so when the singer is a religious seeker, as was John Lennon. In GOD, Lennon expressed himself in iconoclastic fashion, breaking down what he saw to be inadequate idols. John Lennon could be rather ambivalent about his religious expressions. He was quoted in the newspapers as saying that the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus Christ. It is said that after taking LSD he even claimed to be Christ for awhile. He was also known to have burst out in anguished prayer to God for help when he found his life undergoing unbearable tensions. The repeated phrase ’Christ you know it ain’t easy, you know how hard it can be’ (THE BALLAD OF JOHN & YOKO) seems a mere using of Christ’s name in vain; but who can say whether it 63
