Six More Songs: Further Reflections on Faith and Rock'n Roll

By Ivor Moody

In a society many consider now to be post-Christian, with traditional rituals and expressions of belief and faith struggling to maintain their appeal, we desperately need different signs and symbols to help us realise afresh the message of the Christian Gospel and the importance of faith. Ivor Moody argues that the songs studied in this book can provide a way to do just that. They are familiar, much-loved icons of music played and admired by millions and famous throughout the world; but also, they might contain a message to the world of faith and spirituality to look again at how the sacred can be found within the secular. They are stories of a priest and a parishioner feeling crippled by their loneliness; a musician who has ended up in a dead-end bar with others who need to blot out life for a little while; a community living with division and repression, a dying soldier, a singer experiencing a kind of epiphany and people living with mental illness. Each song connects us to something in our own story. Songs which have been with us for years and which thread through our lives but which could provide those new signs and symbols which will be able to inform and enrich our relationship with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Aug 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398459533

Ivor Moody

The Rev’d Canon Ivor Moody is Vice Dean and Canon Pastor of Chelmsford Cathedral and he has held the post since 2010. He Chairs Essex Mind and Spirit, the Mid Essex Inter Faith Forum, the Chelmsford Single Homeless Forum and the Essex Faith Covenant. He is also Chaplain to the Essex County Council. Ivor has served all his professional life in the County of Essex, working in the Diocese of Chelmsford. After studying for a theology degree at Kings College London and then training for the priesthood at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, he served two curacies, at St. Margaret’s Leytonstone and at St. Margaret’s Leigh on Sea. He then became vicar of St. John the Baptist Tilbury Docks, before moving to Chelmsford in 1996 to become Chaplain of Anglia Ruskin University (Chelmsford campus), where he gained an MA in Pastoral Theology with the Cambridge Theological Federation.  Ivor is married to Ruth and they have four grown up children.

Book preview

About the Author

The Rev’d Canon Ivor Moody is Vice Dean and Canon Pastor of Chelmsford Cathedral and he has held the post since 2010. He Chairs Essex Mind and Spirit, the Mid Essex Inter Faith Forum, the Chelmsford Single Homeless Forum and the Essex Faith Covenant. He is also Chaplain to the Essex County Council.

Ivor has served all his professional life in the County of Essex, working in the Diocese of Chelmsford. After studying for a theology degree at Kings College London and then training for the priesthood at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, he served two curacies, at St. Margaret’s Leytonstone and at St. Margaret’s Leigh on Sea. He then became vicar of St. John the Baptist Tilbury Docks, before moving to Chelmsford in 1996 to become Chaplain of Anglia Ruskin University (Chelmsford campus), where he gained an MA in Pastoral Theology with the Cambridge Theological Federation.

Ivor is married to Ruth and they have four grown up children.

Dedication

To Dorothy and Arthur. Heroes both, who went into the fire.

Copyright Information ©

Ivor Moody 2023

The right of Ivor Moody to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398459526 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398459533 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

Permission granted from Frank Turner for a quotation from I Still Believe, from the album England Keep My Bones. Xtra Mile UK and Epitaph Records, June 2011.

‘Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Anglicized Edition, copyright c1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.’

THE SONGS

Piano Man

Written and sung by Billy Joel

Eleanor Rigby

Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Sung by Paul McCartney

Heroes

Written by Brian Eno and David Bowie

Sung by David Bowie

Brothers In Arms

Written by Mark Knopfler

Sung by Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits

Solsbury Hill

Written and sung by Peter Gabriel

Into The Fire

Written by Jenson Vaughan, Maarten DeJong, Bobby James, Cristina Sing and Paul Van Dyk

Sung by Thirteen Senses

Commendations for Six More Songs

When Ivor Moody listens to a song, he really listens. He hears not only words and music, but also the longings and dilemmas, the joys and the questions, of the human heart. But he goes further and deeper. He triangulates each song with a great theme of the Bible and with his own long experience as a counsellor, pastor, and teacher. The result is an absorbing and enriching treasure-trove of reflections, to help us discern the truth of our own lives, the amazing grace of God, and the hidden messages of our popular culture. This is a heart-warming, mind-expanding, wisdom-imparting read!

The Rev’d Canon Andrew Knowles, author of The Bible Guide.

This book brings together two things that know us all only too well from the inside – the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the poetry of song. Together they jostle and fidget creatively and Ivor Moody captures the richness of the conversation. His reflections help us dive deeper into the mystery of God and into the confusion we call ourselves. As he pursues how these are beautifully, painfully, gloriously and inseparably joined, he creates his own song to God that is both imaginative and hopeful.

The Rev’d Mark Oakley, Dean, St John’s College, Cambridge.

Song and story entwined, Ivor Moody takes us on a journey of imagination and memory through the lyrics and melodies of songs that have been part of the soundtrack of our lives. Listen as you read; you will hear the intonation of faith lived out in real time through reflection and story.

The Revd Rob Merchant, Dean of Mission, Ministry and Education Chelmsford Diocese.

In this book, Ivor Moody delves into six more iconic pop songs for clues as to how secular music and poetry might speak anew to a generation searching for spiritual meaning. His first book, Songs for the Soul, was published in 2017.

Now who’d have thought that after all

Something as simple as rock ’n roll would save us all?

Frank Turner, ‘I Still Believe’

Foreword

In Songs for the Soul, Ivor Moody unearthed the religious themes and spiritual dimensions of six well known songs from popular music. I am delighted that he’s had another rummage through his record collection and has cued up six more records to form the basis of some further reflections. The songs speak of Ivor’s pastoral heart and of his passion for the human encounter with the divine. He suggested that the first collection addressed the theme of powerlessness which pervades a lot of modern living. This new collection goes one step further in identifying the power of shared experience. Songs often resonate with us because we see something of our own story reflected in the song’s lyrics and melody. The circumstances and emotions portrayed in the song will be ones that we too have experienced.

The American activist Tarana Burke used the phrase Me Too in order to build solidarity among young survivors of harassment and assault. Over a decade later, actor Alyssa Milano tweeted, ‘If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write me too as a reply to this tweet.’ She woke the next morning to find more than 30,000 people had used the hashtag #MeToo. The #MeToo movement is an excellent example of what Tarana Burke calls empowermental empathy.

The umbrella of solidarity that was created during the height of the #MeToo movement not only recognised the abuse and suffering of thousands of women but it also affirmed and acknowledged the vital truth that not one of these survivors was on their own. It is a gesture to each one of them to say that they are a valuable part of something bigger and that they are in this together.

There is something essentially human about the need to be part of something bigger. The Book of Genesis is clear that it is not good for us to be alone (Genesis 2:18). This existential crisis in the very first pages of the Bible led to the crown of God’s creative work; the formation of human community. We belong to one another. We are made in such a way as to naturally seek connection with others. This is especially the case during times of pain or suffering or disaster, when the presence of co-sufferers brings us comfort and consolation.

What has all that got to do with music? Music connects. Ivor writes of the combination of music and poetry to which artists resort in order to ‘express and understand what has happened to them in their lives which together provide a symbolic language which points to truths unable to be fathomed through mere words alone’. However, the music and lyrics are not just an expression of the artist’s own memories and emotions. They also serve as a cry for recognition and response from like-minded souls who see the artist as a co-sufferer who understands and empathises with whatever plight they face.

But there is more to our relationship with music than simply finding our stories of love and pain and loss and sorrow reflected in the lyrics and melodies of our favourite artists. The singer or musician does more than simply tell their story. I believe that they perform a function that is very similar to that performed by a priest. There is something priestly about giving voice to the suffering of others and then abiding with them in their distress and discomfort. In an interview with Allan Jones, the melancholic poet and songsmith Leonard Cohen speaks of the inadequacy he feels in the face of massacre, disaster and human humiliation. What, you think, am I doing, singing a song at a time like this? he asks before adding, But the worse it gets, the more I find myself picking up a guitar and playing that song. He continues, It is, I think, a matter of tradition. You have a tradition on the one hand that says if things are bad we should not dwell on the sadness, that we should play a happy song, a merry tune. Strike up the band and dance the best we can, even if we are suffering from concussion. And then there’s another tradition, and this is a more Oriental or Middle Eastern tradition, which says that if things are really bad the best thing to do is sit by the grave and wail, and that’s the way you are going to feel better. I think both these efforts are intended to lift the spirit. And my own tradition, which is the Hebraic tradition, suggests that you sit next to the disaster and lament. The notion of the lamentation seemed to me to be the way to do it. You don’t avoid the situation – you throw yourself into it, fearlessly.

The fearless throwing of oneself into a situation may be one way of describing the dynamic of Incarnation. The Incarnation of Jesus hurled God into the mess and mire of humanity. In the ultimate act of empowermental empathy, the God who flung stars into space became a fertilised ovum that divided and redivided inside the womb of a nervous teenage girl. A priest at the temple declared that Jesus was destined for the falling and the rising of many and he spoke of the opposition that Jesus would face (Luke 2: 34 f). The bitter perfume of myrrh that hung around Jesus’ birth foretold a life of gathering gloom. In just thirty-three years, Jesus’ life would be cruelly taken from him. Of course, that is not where the story ends. The Christian faith is founded upon the bold and extraordinary claim that, by dying, Jesus destroyed death. In just three days, the risen Jesus was back in the company of his friends. Except, that is, for Thomas. When the other disciples spoke of having been with Jesus, Thomas responds, Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe. (John 20: 25).

For three years, Thomas had followed Jesus. Once when the disciples were together, Jesus told them about his death and not to be afraid. He said, You know the way to the place where I am going.

Thomas then says, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? (John 14: 4 f). Thomas always spoke from the heart. He was honest, uninhibited and utterly loyal to Jesus. He didn’t doubt the resurrection. He just needed to know that the risen Jesus loved and understood him in the way that he had done before his death. If empowermental empathy meant anything, then the risen Jesus would still bear the scars of his torture and death.

Shortly after the First World War, when the suffering of many people was still fresh in our minds, Edward Shillito published a collection of poems in a volume called Jesus of the Scars and under the heading He showed them his hands and his side, his first poem spoke of this Jesus of the scars. The last verse says:

The other gods were strong but Thou wast weak;

They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;

But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,

And not a god has wounds but Thou alone.

Thomas understood this. He knew that the scars Jesus bore on his body were more than just proof of his identity. They also spoke of the quality of his love; a love that embraced and addressed the suffering and pain of the world.

That is what these six songs do in Ivor’s hands. They are stories of a priest and a parishioner feeling crippled by their loneliness, a musician who’s ended up in a dead-end bar with others who need to forget about life for a while, a community living with division and repression, a dying soldier, a singer experiencing a kind of epiphany and people living with mental illness. Each song presents a narrative in which we can find something of our own story. We make connections. We engage in empowermental empathy. We find ourselves in the company of others. We are not alone.

+ Roger Morris Bishop of Colchester

Allan Jones, Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down: Rock’n’Roll War Stories, Bloomsbury 2017

Introduction

My eldest son trained to be a doctor at Manchester University Medical School. In his third year, he acquired his first stethoscope (always a big moment). To my astonishment and admiration, he had inscribed on it Jesus’ words from Luke 4 v.23, Physician heal thyself. For one so young, potentially with a full and demanding career ahead of him and with the promise of the incredible power and privilege of intersecting people’s lives at those ultimate life and death transitional moments, it was a humble and perceptive insight. A recognition even then that his own mortality would accompany him into the treatment of the mortality of many others, and that despite the incredible knowledge he would acquire, doctor and patient would always share the same vulnerabilities. The quote on a stethoscope, an instrument designed to identify and diagnose a wide range of ailments and potential medical problems speaks both of an acknowledgement that knowledge would never come to an end, that there would always be learning to be done, and a waiting for the next skill, insight or experience to be obtained. However much knowledge of and about the human body could be gathered and learnt, it would never replace the most precious insight of all, the wisdom not only how best to use and apply that knowledge but how its application is tempered and shaped by the needs, outlook, loves, hates, strengths and weaknesses of the one required to deliver it.

Wisdom and