Thursday, July 27, 2006

Hallelujah, brother

Two things:

My youngest brother is online! He's a worship minister in Wisconsin and a pretty neat guy, if I do say so myself. Go, Jim.

As is often the case, I'm several years behind in discovering great music. I checked Jeff Buckley's cd Grace out of the library a few days ago because I'd always heard he was a great musician. And yet I was never quite sure if he sounded like someone I would like. Well now I know -- I do. And I wish he hadn't died young, because this is pretty amazing music. And Hallelujah is an incredible song (it's actually by Leonard Cohen), and I like the way Buckley sings it. It's mesmerizing. There's a lot of truth in that song, and it's not just in the words -- it's in the way he sings it. I'm trying to find words to describe it. It's a complete performance -- the perfect meld of lyrics, voice, instrument, mood. If I could write a story that does that -- well, then I could call myself a writer. If you've never listened to this cd, go find it and give it a listen. It's hard to categorize and some of it is pretty strange, but it's worth it.

1 comment:

Mikesell said...

Buckley's Hallelujah is a very powerful song; it played in the background on the episode of The West Wing where Mark Harmon's character met his demise (end of Season 3).

Also, it was in Shrek (though with a different vocalist).

Thanks for the heads up on the CD.

And "Hi," Jim.