Rang Tang Theology
interpreting a song by Mountain Man religiously
If you like harmonies, you might also be interested in:
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Rang Tang Ring Toon
Beans boil in the pot I'm dancin' from room to room The sun is setting and the air is hot Rang tang ring toon Bugs sounding off their tune Friends are on their way now, they'll be here soon Beans boil in the pot Rang tang ring toon Toon, toon, toon, toon Beans boil in the pot I'm dancin' from room to room The record's spinnin' and the food is hot Rang tang ring toon My dog, he is dancing too If he wasn't dancing with me, he'd dance with you Beans boil in the pot Rang tang ring toon Toon, toon Beans boil in the pot I'm dancin' from room to room The food is gone but the night is not Rang tang ring toon Bonfire burnin' blue The water's full of naked bodies swimming The water's full, the water's full The water's full of naked bodies swimming The water's full, the water's full The water's full of naked bodies swimming Swimming, swimming The water's full, the water's full The water's full of naked bodies swimming The water's full, the water's full The water's full of naked bodies swimming Swimming, swimming, swimming Rang tang ring toon Rang tang ring toon Rang tang ring toon 
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Rang Tang Theology
I don't know what Rang Tang Ring Toon means, but that doesn't matter so much. What matters is that the music and the video are beautiful and deeply religious. Not religious in a formal sense but in a sacramental sense. The music and video remind me of the horizontal sacred: that is, the sacred quality of friendships, cooking, and parties in the woods. And other songs on the Magic Journey album (Guilt) remind me of the importance of being gentle with yourself and sleeping late on Sunday morning next to someone you love (Slow Wake Up Sunday Morning). All very religious. You don’t have to believe in God to be a Rang Tang Ring Toon theologian. Or, for short, a Rang Tang theologian. Yes, you can believe that the universe has a loving soul of its own, and that the universe is the very body of this soul. You can be a pan-en-theist. You may even be, like so many writers for this website, a process theologian. But belief in panentheism or process theology is not really necessary. All you really have to believe in is kindness and beauty. And in the possibility of having parties where people dance from room to room, with beans boiling in the pot and dogs dancing, too. It also helps if there's a pond nearby where folks can skinny-dip later in the day, close to the bonfire. The big house, the dogs and cats, and the pond -- they are the church of Rang Tang Ring Tune theology. The cooking and eating, the dancing and the skinny-dipping, they are the liturgy. * Kindness and beauty are at the heart of your Rang Tang theology. You believe that it is more important to be kind to others and to yourself than to be rich, powerful, and famous, and you believe that, despite the world’s tragedies, there is a beauty in life that is never erased by the tragedies: the beauty of dogs and cats, slants of sunlight across the pines, friendships, and three part harmonies, for example. Yours is a theology of the religion of kindness and beauty. If you are musically inclined, the three part harmonies are especially important. It’s not just that they bring you a sense of peace and joy in a troubled world, it is that they reveal and nurture a hope for the world. Three part harmonies carry the hope that people can live and enjoy life together, in mutually enhancing relationships, without being the same. The people can have different voices and yet their voices can blend without being subsumed by the other. This is the social ideal of Rang Tang Theology. With this belief in kindness and beauty, and this social hope, and the ever-present possibility, sometimes realized, of a big party where everybody dances, you can build a life. You may turn to other wisdom traditions for nourishment: Zen, Sufism, Christianity, Judaism. The religion of kindness and beauty may not be enough for you. But it is a foundation, and you are reminded of this foundation every time you hear a three-part harmony, whatever the subject of the song. You are a Rang Tang theologian. |
Mountain Man: Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig,Amelia Randall MeathAGTAnimal TracksGuiltSewee Sewee |
A Word about Beauty
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