Transporters

Yes, thinking about (see previous post) the magical, sacred nature of music. I can hear that raucous sacredness everywhere. I hear it in R&R, Hip-Hop. It doesn't have to be "devotional" music, to evoke the sacredness. 

Play the Beatle's "Revolver" or Dylan's "Highway 61." Or the Stone's "Exile." Or Patti Smith's "Horses."

Raucous and sacred. 

Lately I've been listening to Dead Can Dance's "The Serpent's Egg." It's a knockout. Released in 1988. It's from another place and time. And it transports you.

To another world. And that other world is evoked now. Is alive now.

I never realized that Lisa Gerrard sings in an "invented language." But it deepens the meaning for me. Yes, "speaking to God." Speaking in tongues.

A profound, wordless sound. That works on you. Enters you. Transforms you.

Another record that does that for me is Sigur Ros' 1999 release "Agaetis byrjun." Most of it is sung in Icelandic. I have no clue what Jonsi is singing about, which just makes it that much more profound. He throws in some gibberish too. More speaking in tongues!

Over the years I have listened to this Sigur Ros record more than any other record I own. I used to take regular flights to California and this was the sound that carried me in the clouds. It brought me  closer to "God." No doubt.

These are wordless wonders. Transporters.