Diane wrote:
<<Yesterday it was teacher appreciation day at our local Border's store. That
means teachers get a nice discount on purchases so I picked up a couple
extras.:-D One of them was a book called "Daughter of God." Lo and behold
;-) on page 13 was a reference to Joni's lyrics and her Biblical
inspirations.
Love to see her influence acknowledged in these subtle ways!
BW
Diane>>
i like that, diane...i've usually found joni to be spiritually rewarding...her
compassion for others has been powerful from early songs like "For Free" and
just generally tuning into the reality of the subjects of her songs, a certain
capability to walk in other people's moccasins... "don juan's reckless
daughter's" title track, her wrestling between the eagle of spirit and the
serpent of desire...the ambience of "paprika plains"...how she can capture
devastatingly the pink flamingo atmosphere in songs like "otis and
marlena"...
then she satisfyingly set to music the love passage in 13 Corinthians in
the last song "Love" from "Wild Things Run Free"...
"Dog Eat Dog" is revealing in more depth and intensity her social prophetic
role, sounding not hugely different from the hebrew prophets...
sometimes her prophetic spirit is coupled with native beats, jangling
trinkets and shakers...coming to view things from the perspective of the 'land
and the sky'...somewhat similar to francis ford coppola's "koyaanisqatsi",
hopi aboriginal vision...
in "Night Ride Home", she inserts herself into the gospel journey in the
song "Passion Play" identifying herself with mary magdalen and zacchaeus and
referring to the 'magical physician' and this 'heart healer'...
personally, i love "The Sire of Sorrow" (Job's Sad Song), from "Turbulent
Indigo" a long and powerful exploration of the character of Job and his
struggles...i believe Sire of Sorrow to be one of joni's finest
compositions...rythmically exciting, prophetic...universal...
and last, in a couple of video interviews she has revealed or spoken of her
spiritual side...with Pamela Wallin in LA
she spoke of her zen meditation and in her recent interview on Much More Music
she spoke of her native spiritual interests....intriguingly of the four
directions and how she is aware of them when she performs...she once said that
the i ching influenced her choice of a music career and setting out on her
stunning path...
many influences all put together and explored in joni's emphasis on the
universal values of "truth and beauty", the two things that represent the yin
and yang of her creative work...
thanks diane...
shane
www.angelfire.com/art/cactussong
