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Artist Cosmo Sarson stands besides a giant mural of Jesus breakdancing that he has painted on the 28 foot wall beside The Canteen in Stokes Croft and is being officially unveiled this evening, on June 11, 2012 in Bristol, England.No word yet as to when a similar "work of art" about Mohammed will appear. When pigs fly, I guess.
I kinda like it.
ReplyDeleteHere's where he got the idea.
ReplyDeleteThose nutty Catholics
____________ The Lord of the Dance ____________
ReplyDeleteI danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon and the Stars and the Sun
I came down from Heaven and I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)
I danced for the scribe and the pharisee
But they would not dance and they wouldn't follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James and John
They came with me and the Dance went on:
I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body and they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance and I still go on!
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that'll never, never die!
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me ––
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
~ Sydney Carter (1915-2004)
The brilliant musical satirist and former Professor of Mathematics at Harvard, Tom Lehrer, who I was glad to learn is still very much alive, produced the classic response to the link Ducky provided. I hope you enjoy it in the spirit in which it is presented.
ReplyDelete"Another big news story of the year concerned the ecumenical council in Rome, known as Vatican II. Among the things they did in an attempt to make the church more accessible to Modern Man was to introduce the vernacular into portions of the Latin mass, and to widen the range of music permitted in the liturgy, but I feel that if they really want to sell the product, in this secular age, what they ought to do is to redo some of the liturgical music in popular song forms. I have a modest example here. It's called:
_______ The Vatican Rag ________
First you get down on your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!
Do whatever steps you want, if
You have cleared them with the Pontiff.
Everybody prays on
Kyrie eleison,
Doin' the Vatican Rag.
Get in line in that processional,
Step into that small confessional,
There, the guy who's got religion'll
Tell you if your sin's original.
If it is, try playin' it safer,
Drink the wine and chew the wafer,
Two, four, six, eight,
Time to transubstantiate!
So get down upon your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!
Make a cross on your abdomen,
When in Rome do like a Roman,
Ave Maria,
Gee it's good to see ya,
Gettin' ecstatic an'
Sorta dramatic an'
Doin' the Vatican Rag!
~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
If you've never experienced The Vatican Rag before, the following link will connect you to a performance by the master, himself, from 1967.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f72CTDe4-0
If anybody wants to take offense, I hope he enjoys being shocked, hurt, sour, bitter and furious half as much as I enjoy listening to incomparably brilliant satire of this sort.
I have it on good authority that God loves Tom Lehrer very much, and is having a special nightclub-style recital hall built for Tom's exclusive use when Tom, who is now 86 years old, finally steps through the The Pearly Gates.
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ReplyDeleteThe painting by the way is rather beautiful. It reminds me of Michelangelo.
ReplyDeleteWhoever spread the idea that "religion" ought to be prim, prudish, wary, narrow, stuffy, boring, and dismally constrained did a great disservice to God and to His Son, Jesus Christ.
Mistaken ideas of what constitutes "proper" piety have gone a long way toward killing God's Church.
The idea of doing continual PENANCE for no other reason than having the unmitigated gall to be alive is the antithesis of what Jesus sacrificed Himself for.
He came to FREE us not enslave us to a drab existence marked by a continuous exercise of haughty, self-righteous contempt for others regarded as "sinners" and "outsiders."
The very LAST thing Jesus wanted was to beget and perpetuate yet another set of Scribes and Pharisees.
If we are not GROWING, we are DYING.
I am not offended. I should think that Jesus would communicate in any manner he thought useful.
ReplyDeleteNo value to an enlightened society, break dancing has. No surprise, it originated in New York City.
ReplyDeleteNot offended whatsoever. But like most 'art', I'm not really sure what it's trying to communicate either.
ReplyDeleteCanardo, eventually you will have to face the truth. Our minds and souls travel along parallel lines, and if I have anything to say about it, they always will.
ReplyDeleteIf we could see ourselves as others see us, I have little doubt humanity would extinguish itself in act of mass suicide.
One of the most pitiable aspects of your personality is your apparent inability to recognize friendly support when you get it.
I doubt if any greater example of Obsessive-Compulsive Negativism exists anywhere on the planet.
I don't dislike you, but I find you pathetic in the resolute way you deprive yourself of so many opportunities to experience joy and good humor through broadening your appreciation of reality.
In that regard you have a great deal in common with fundamentalists. Really you do.
"No word yet as to when a similar "work of art" about Mohammed will appear. When pigs fly, I guess."
ReplyDeleteHow about a 50'X 50' mural depicting Mohammad slow dancing with an 800 lb slobbering pig?
FT,
ReplyDeleteI just watched the YouTube video of "The Vatican Rag."
Quite the satire there. Does it offend Roman Catholics? I rather imagine that some Protestants like the satire.
I am familiar with "Lord of the Dance," a Shaker hymn with the same tune as "Simple Gifts." YouTube offers many different renditions of "Lord of the Dance."
Here is how I view the matter of this dancing-Jesus mural....I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. As such, He can protect Himself and doesn't need the protection of a puny mortal.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't buy a reproduction of the mural, frame it, and hang it in my home. But I really don't care much about the mural otherwise -- except, of course, wondering how the mural was funded.
I do want to point out that any such image of MTP or Allah would make Islamomaniacs go off in fits of rage. Remember the cartoonifada?
Islam has nothing to do with this, AOW. Why portraying Christ as someone capable of enjoyment and levity (he was human, no?) is offensive escapes me.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Farmer, I think it's fun and good for the soul.
FT, does get agitated when someone questions him. I've never found anything of serious merit in Lehrer and you FT are all about merit so long as it conforms to your rules. "Fiddle with your rosary?" I'm surprised both you and AOW have such a cheap attitude toward prayer.
What really bugs me about the no talent Lehrer is a little clip on youtube about folk music which has this lamer saying most folk music is terrible because it was played by "the people".
Hmmm,
Eck Robertson
Clarence Ashley
John Hurt
Robert Johnson
Doc Watson
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Denis McGee
"Bois Sec" Ardoin
Maybelle Carter
Roscoe Holcomb
... how many names who could play with true inspiration and blow his punk no talent ass off the bandstand do you need?
Makes you want to hear that punk try to keep up with the Louisiana Playboys at the old China Ball Club.
Duck,
ReplyDeleteI don't see the need for a rosary. Remember that I am not Roman Catholic.
On the other hand, it doesn't bother or worry me that Roman Catholics rely on using the rosary.
What really bugs me about the no talent Lehrer is a little clip on youtube about folk music which has this lamer saying most folk music is terrible because it was played by "the people".
You know full well that I don't agree with THAT? Remember my fondness for Jimmie Rodgers (sp?) and "Hobo Bill"?
As for Islam, well, you know me well enough to know by now that one of my big gripes is that so many Muslims cannot stand for any satire of their belief system. They need to get over that! Religious beliefs of all ilk are wide open for satire.
PS to Duck: I'm not fond of the Nashville sound. I prefer "the Appalachian sound." You are an aficionado of folk music, so I'm sure that you know exactly what I mean.
ReplyDeleteMy preference might go back to hearing my grandmother, who sang "I'm in the Jailhouse Now." Know that one?
Duck,
ReplyDeleteThe original Carter Family and a sound very familiar to me!
AOW, I know you enjoy some folk. I was referring to Tom Lehrer and wondering why FT has such admiration for such an opinionated lightweight.
ReplyDeleteIn the matter of prayer beads you are in a distinct minority. Hindu, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Buddhist, Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican ... the tradition is extensive.
It's incredible to see the ease with which doltish individuals, who imagine they are clever, flamboyantly expose their lack of depth and intelligence on these blogs.
ReplyDelete------------> Katharine Heartburn
Katharine,
ReplyDeleteWell, it is the blogosphere, after all. What a place, huh?
"... O, Judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
ReplyDeleteAnd men have lost their reason. Fie on it!
O, fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden. Things
Rank and gross possess it merely. ..."
----------> Katharine Heartburn
Most threads are revealing in ways unimagined by their creators. This one was exceptionally so.
ReplyDeleteWhat it reveals, however, is infinitely sad and depressing.
Just PITIFUL.