Osler's Razor

Yesterday, I went to see the new James Brown film, and it was excellent.  There is some history there, including the racial history of America in the middle of the 20th century, that was hard to revisit (but relentlessly true).

One thing the movie did was show the rootedness of Brown's music in gospel, a music that pervaded the place where he was raised.  The song featured above, Mary Don't You Weep, plays a key role in the story, and recurs throughout the film.  It's a song some people might know as one that Bruce Springsteen sometimes performs in concert.  It's a great song.

Which, as usual, brings me back to Bob Darden, who has done so much to save this form of music-- it's very historical existence-- and who has taught me what little I know about it.

Music can stir the soul, but I find that it only happens when I am open to it, when I let myself hear it and move to it.  There are times in my life when I have shut it out, let it fade to the background behind politics and sports and some guy on the radio talking about fuel economy.  It takes effort to do that-- and like water flowing around a stone or the Holy Spirit filling a room, it always comes back in.

Where does that urge come from, to shut out music? I suspect it is about control, since music takes us places (and brings back memories) that may not be of our choosing.  And I am at my best when I let that guard down, and listen.