Ruth, The Song of Songs,
and Brandi Carlile
with a Bible in your hand and a
a prophetic country song in your ear
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My secularized country music loving friends often say that country music means more to them -- much more! -- than the Bible. They'll take Jason Isbell's Vampire over The Acts of the Apostles anyday.
And my church-going country music friends often cringe when they hear the others say this, but add they wish they could listen to a little more country music in church, or at least variations thereof. "Or, if not in church," says one such friend, "at least in morning devotionals." I have a suggestion, both formal and practical. Formally, it is that the biblical books of Ruth and Esther, as interrpreted by Dr. Robert Williamson in Forgotten Books of the Bible,, can help us appreciate the music of Brandi Carlile, including The Joke, which is an anthem for the marginalized It won the 2019 Grammy for Best Roots song, and more than a few believe her performance of it, was the most powerful of the night. The song gives you new eyes for the books and the books for the song. And I have practical suggestion as well. Try it! Take up a daily practice of morning devotionals that includes both the Bible and country music. Don't think you have to be "religious" or believe the Bible is a perfect book. Just let it be a book that might teach you something. This page provides a springboard for one such devotional. It also introduces you to Brandi Carlille if you happen to be new to her. For my part, I was introduced to her many years ago by a young student wrestliing with her sexuality, who found Brandi's out of the closet example an inspiration for her as well -- along with Brand's unabashed commitment to helping the "least of these" through her foundation: The Looking Out Foundation. My student also appreciated the fact that Brandi is a woman of faith, a Christian. I do, too. I appreciate the same of Lady Gaga, who likewise is a woman of faith and a champion of the marginalized. See Imagining the Faith of Lady Gaga. I"m half hoping Brandi will spot this page and share it with other Christians who, like perhaps Brandi herself, want to link Bible study with a love of music. for the sake of the forsaken and neglected and forgotten. Esther and Ruth and Brandi -- sounds kind of good, doesn't it? Can't the loving heart of the universe, the one in whose heart all stories count, speak to us through country songs, too? Jay McDaniel (2/11/2019) |
A Morning Devotional
Brandi Carlile's liberating roots music -- progressive country -- gives voice to
the unwelcome, the unloved, the forgotten, the vulnerable, and the forsaken.
Along with her wife, Catherine, she is the mother of two children. She knows
the realities of family life as well as the problems of the broader world.
Born into a Baptist household, her spirit today is nourished by a
a generous, non-fundamentalist appreciation of the Bible and Christian faith.
Watch the official video for The Joke and then read the paragraphs below
by Robert Williamson on the Books of Esther and the Song of Songs.
Give yourself a few minutes to reflect prayerfully on how the three --
the two paragraphs and the song -- enrich each other.
Then grab an envelope and jot down one practical thing you'd like to do today
to be a friend to the friendless, even if that person happens to be yourself.
* Dr. Robert Williamson: Forgotten Books of the Bible: Recovering the Five Scrolls for Today.
Interviews with Brandi Carlile
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Acceptance Speech at 2019 Grammy's
“Americana music is the island of the misfit toys [and] I am such a misfit,..I came out of the closet at 15 years old, when I was in high school, and I can assure you that I was never invited to any parties....I never got to attend a dance,.. To be embraced by this enduring and loving community has been the dance of a lifetime. Thank you for being my island.”
Brandi Carlile's Faith and Theology (glimpses)
"There are so many people feeling misrepresented...So many people feeling unloved. Boys feeling marginalized and forced into these kind of awkward shapes of masculinity that they do or don't belong in... so many men and boys are trans or disabled or shy. Little girls who got so excited for the last election, and are dealing with the fallout. The song is just for people that feel under-represented, unloved or illegal." |
"Well, my Christian faith has always been incredibly important to me. I find myself more or less focused at times in my life, depending on what I’m choosing to put my energy into. But it’s always there in a really consistent way. What attracts me to church in general is my belief in fellowship and community...I’ve gone through difficult times finding acceptance and fellowship at different points in my life because I’m gay. As with any plight, I’ve known that I’ve needed to remain persistent and faithful. I feel really lucky to be a part of the church I’m involved with now and to get to bring my music and perspective of equality to my community."-- Brandi Carlile, Richmond Times Dispatch, Jjne 28, 2012 |
Biblical Friends to Carlile's Spirit
read Williamson's book and the texts themselves for more
The Book of Ruth:
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The Song of Songs:
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Afterthought: Roots in What?
The Joke is one example of roots music. So what are its roots? The answer depends on how far back you want to go. In American culture we have two alternative and competing American dreams:
The first dream is “rooted” in the economic aspirations of many European settlers as they left the “old world” and came to a “new world” for the sake economic prosperity. The second dream is rooted in the visions of equality and justice found in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as transformed into contemporary terms that include gender and race as well as class. Brandi Carlile’s The Joke is rooted in the second dream. It is not rooted in that side of American culture which is greedy, narcissistic, patriarchal, bullying, dominating, and “strong” in a unilateral king-on-a-throne sense. It is rooted in that side of American culture which says “yes” to the abandoned, forsaken, neglected, isolated, bullied, or forgotten. The books of Esther and Ruth, and The Joke by Brandi Carlile, are invitations to live into the second dream. (Jay McDaniel)
- the dream of upward mobility, where people climb a ladder of “success” based on the values of appearance, affluence, and marketable achievement, on the one hand,
- the dream of what Martin Luther King. Jr. called beloved community, where people take care of one another and (so we add now) the larger web of life, with no one left behind.
The first dream is “rooted” in the economic aspirations of many European settlers as they left the “old world” and came to a “new world” for the sake economic prosperity. The second dream is rooted in the visions of equality and justice found in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as transformed into contemporary terms that include gender and race as well as class. Brandi Carlile’s The Joke is rooted in the second dream. It is not rooted in that side of American culture which is greedy, narcissistic, patriarchal, bullying, dominating, and “strong” in a unilateral king-on-a-throne sense. It is rooted in that side of American culture which says “yes” to the abandoned, forsaken, neglected, isolated, bullied, or forgotten. The books of Esther and Ruth, and The Joke by Brandi Carlile, are invitations to live into the second dream. (Jay McDaniel)
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Lyrics to the JokeYou're feeling nervous, aren't you, boy? |