For a Holy Season….

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This is a countdown I’ve been thinking about for a good while. And, given that we’re going into a season that has many religious aspects, this seems to be the perfect time for it. Back in the 60s and 70s there was a thing called the “Jesus movement” in the US. I don’t know how to explain it in detail, except to say that the gist of it was the hippies discovered they didn’t have to have short hair and suits to worship God. The religious aspect began to be reflected in popular music. There were rock operas (Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar being the two most popular, but even Harry Chapin did a “gospel opera” called Cotton Patch Gospel) and songs that ranged from implicitly, “interpret it that way if you want” songs (“Bridge Over Troubled Water”) to explicitly faith-based (“Are You Ready” by Pacific Gas & Electric). Next thing you know, you had a nun doing a rock version of the Lord’s Prayer! So these are songs that hit the pop chart with a religious theme. Among the way we’ll have a re-worked hymn, a song with lyrics straight out of the Bible, and even a country song (where religious themes were common, even expected) that made the pop charts. As for our teaser…well, it’s not a religious song, even though many people have interpreted it as such. If you don’t know the backstory, Paul’s mom died when he was 14 so she never got to see him become successful. He had a dream where his mom visited the adult Paul and gave him advice for the trials and tribulations of his superstardom. So it’s his mother, Mary, not the Virgin Mary. Having said that, Paul said he was happy if the song did help people “let it be.” “Mother Mary makes it a quasi-religious thing,” McCartney said, “so you can take it that way, I don’t mind. I’m quite happy if people want to use it to shore up their faith. I have no problem with that. I think it’s a great thing to have faith of any sort, particularly in the world we live in.” Amen to that!