Music as poetry, philosophy, preacher and prayer
Recently, I’ve been playing the same artist’s full collection non-stop – while I potter around getting ready for work, taking a shower, smashing out a tough task at work, as I’m chopping my vegetables, getting ready for bed. My love for this music has been growing over the past few years from a mild crush to a full-blown love affair. It may surprise you to know that the artist in question is Jack Johnson.
When I say the name, I get some interesting responses. Usually it’s 'banana pancakes!’. One of my colleagues genuinely despises him and his privileged existence that appears to consist of lounging under trees strumming tunes on his ukulele, with not a care in the world. But what I’ve found really interesting about him is that there is so much more than meets the eye. I, too, thought that he just sung about hanging out in the sun sipping from coconuts, ignoring his alarm and cooking pancakes for his perfect wife, alongside other deliciously luxurious endeavours we sort of want in our lives but also find incredibly annoying, in equal measure.
I was lulled into this love affair by Jack’s calming vocals and smooth melodies, his joyful little ditties (hello, Upside Down!). But what kept me here was something much deeper and more sustaining. And that is when his music became more to me than something to have on in the background and sing along to. It got me thinking about what music can offer when we live in a culture that has lost its deep connections to things like philosophy and religion.
Religion is no longer central to our lives in many Western countries. I myself am not religious. And we do not, at least in Western countries, have a particular set of philosophical guidelines about how to live. We are left scrambling around. For all of the incredible harm that has occured as a result of religion, there is so much it has offered from a human-need perspective. For one, it could offer some kind of guidance about how to live your life, some stability and light in the dark as you stumbled along working out how to be, who to be and what to do. It offered a person who could counsel you through rocky times or even joyful times. Nowadays, you see many, many people looking for some sort of guidance, drawing upon philosophical or religious frameworks such as Stoicism and Buddhism for a foothold in the vast chasm of uncertainty.
Well, music can also be that foothold! As I listened to Jack Johnson more and more, playing his full discography over and over, the lyrics in his songs just kept jumping out at me. And they offered me something deep and true. This isn’t about idealising a person, seeing them as another god; while I respect JJ (yup, JJ) deeply, I am conscious of not seeing him as perfect and of dehumanising him. The reason his lyrics jump out to me are because they are just gritty, they touch upon a feeling, a sense, a worry, a fear, a longing I know in my bones. And I know them because I am human, and there’s a common thread between us all.
I realised that his music is poetry; it sustains through connecting me to these human experiences and knowing I am not alone. It is philosophy; it genuinely guides me, keeps me on the right track, reminds me of who I want to be. His music is my very own preacher, in the sense that to preach is to ‘earnestly advocate (a belief or course of action)’. And, although I am not religious, his music is prayer in the wider sense I have heard it be spoken about recently – a way of voicing thanks, of saying sorry to this wounded world, of holding onto a little hope as we keep taking steps towards love.
Here are some of my favourite lyrics.
The fallibility and the wonder of humans, of how we are trying to move forwards in this uncertain messy world (from Never Know)
We're breaking and rebuilding
And we're growing, always guessing
Never knowing
Shocking but we're nothing
We're just moments
We're clever but we're clueless
We're just human
Amusing and confusing
We're trying but where is this all leading
We'll never know
Need I say more (from The Horizon Has Been Defeated)
'Cause people are lonely
And only animals with fancy shoes
On having whirring thoughts when we face the uncontrollability of life; wanting to work it out and find a solution, but knowing there isn’t one; realising the thoughts come and go on their own; and clinging to the love you have for a person (from No Other Way)
When your mind is a mess so is mine, I can’t sleep
‘cause it hurts when I think, my thoughts aren’t at peace
with the plans that we make, chances we take,
they’re not yours, they’re not mine
there’s waves that can break
And know that if I knew all of the answers
I would not hold them from you
Know all of the things that I know
We told each other there is no other way
We don’t really need to find reason
'Cause out the same door that it came
Well, it's leaving, it's leaving
Leaving like a day that's done and part of a season
Resolve is just a concept that's just dead as the leaves
But at least we could sleep, it's all that we need
When we wake we would find, our minds would be free to go to sleep
On how we treat this Earth, greed, and the impacts on life (from Ones and Zeroes – recommend a listen to this whole thing!)
Wonder is there somebody with a perfect plan
That goes boom when it's stamped, then we could understand
How the gods of old used to clap their hands
To make thunder
And so were clapping and were laughing like it was so absurd
In the future we'll be laughing at who we were
Right now as man plays God with the land
That he plunders
On resting and slowing down (from Breakdown)
I hope this old train breaks down
Then I could take a walk around
See what there is to see
Time is just a melody
With all the people in the street walking fast as their feet can take 'em
I just roll through town
And though my window's got a view, well, the frame I'm looking through
Seems to have no concern for now
Rampant consumerism (from Gone)
Look at all those fancy clothes
But these gonna keep us warm, just like those
What about your soul?
Is it cold?
Is it straight from the mold and ready to be sold?
Cars and phones and diamond rings, bling bling
Those are only removable things
What about your mind, does it shine?
Or are there things that concern you more than your time?
Love and home (from Home)
Home is wherever we are if there's love here too.
And a little hint of Jungian psychology (from Subplots)
Run from the shadows or relax in the shade
Which road you gonna choose?