7QT: When the saints go marching in

The Feast of All Saints' Day is this Sunday and in preparation for that I thought it'd be an interesting exercise to explore the different ways that sainthood is referred to in popular music. The cult of the saints has been a celebrated practice in Christianity for millennia, predating even the Latin descriptor "sactus", and the effects of this tradition has shaped both cultures and their art all around the world. In this day and age it is not uncommon for artists to self-canonize either their work or themselves (as in the case of St. Vincent or Saint Motel), but whether this is done in a sense of allegory or irony it speaks to the fact that the world as a whole still beholds the qualities of God as ideals to be revered, even if at times the One is not. But I would say that the way of the saint isn't so much disdained as it is misunderstood. As Venerable Fulton Sheen would say, "Not 100 people in the United States hate the Roman Catholic Church, but millions hate what they mistakenly think the Roman Catholic Church is.” So below are seven songs with subtle allusions to saints that I've dug up from my library and playlists.

1. "St. Louis Blues (W.C. Handy Cover)" by The Isley Brothers

Before the hockey team, this blues staple set in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, was originally composed by W.C. Handy at the turn of the 20th century and tells the tale of a spouse in dire straits over the absence of their partner. Although the venerated French monarch is not directly referenced to in the song, the city's name gives testimony to the grand tradition of invoking the intercession of a saint particular to a founding community's devotion by dedicating the place after them (many American examples are listed here, here and here). In regards to the song, there exist many different covers and this one by the Isley Brothers appears in the same album as their hit "Shout" and their take on "When the Saints Go Marching In".

2. "Dao of St. Paul" Third Eye Blind

From the 2009 album Ursa Major by alternative rockers Third Eye Blind, the protagonist of this song feigns indifference towards a woman he still has feelings for in an effort to exercise the Dao (or Way) of St. Paul, possibly alluding to his letter to Philippians which was penned in prison and includes the words "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!". And though I don't pretend to know much of anything concerning Daoism or any other Chinese philosophy, this podcast I recently listened to served as an approachable introduction.

3. "Saints of Los Angeles" by Mötley Crüe

Serving as comeback hit for glam metal veterans Mötley Crüe, the title track from the band's ninth album got it right about saints being persons worthy of imitation but missed the mark with regards to the behaviors that should be emulated. The good news is that the city has a new auxiliary bishop who does an excellent job in the leading-people-to-sainthood department.

7QT: We've got a hostage situation...

I decided to search the words "Stockholm Syndrome" into Spotify and was not disappointed. The phrase is named after a 1973 bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden and refers to the phenomenon wherein hostages develop feelings of empathy towards their captors, even to the point of defending them. This theme has extended to the realm of art and music and has been used as a tool to convey the inability for one of leaving a harmful relationship or situation because of the strong feelings attached to it. So below are my top seven picks of songs with the title "Stockholm Syndrome".

1. Muse

You can count on prog rockers Muse to deliver the intensity with equal parts groove and edge. My favorite song of the list and the one I've known the longest, there are multiple renditions of this song out there including the original, a live version (which borrows the riff that would be used in "Psycho", a song written 7 years later), a string quartet cover and a lullaby composition for toddlers.

2. blink-182

This song by blink-182 captured the essence of their eponymous record, revealing a more introspective and personal approach to songwriting than their prior pop-punk hits which would carry through to the respective band members' side projects (+44 and Angels & Airwaves) during their extended hiatus.

3. Yo La Tengo

For the longest time I was only aware of the above two songs sharing the title "Stockholm Syndrome" and then I stumbled across this gem by Yo La Tengo. Hearing their indie approach with tinges of 60s/70s open-air folk rock got me interested in discovering what other varied ways a song with this title could be expressed.

7QT: A New Wave

With fall in full swing all of my "real-world" responsibilities have ramped along with it. As a result, my blogging has fallen by the wayside and although I've been thinking a lot about what to write it unfortunately does not equate to writing a lot about what I think. So I'm going to take a cue from a notable female Catholic blogger and start a series of "7 Quick Takes Friday" posts where I summarize some interesting discoveries or concepts I stumbled upon in the last week.

1. Due Credit

My first exposure to "7 Quick Takes" was through Leah Libresco's blog Unequally Yoked. She's known in many internet circles for her very publicized conversion from atheism back in 2012 and though I can't speak for her past material I can say that I've enjoyed the unique melding of theology, ethics, mathematics and pop culture from her most recent posts.

2. Extra Credit

It was through three such posts from Leah's site (here, here and here) and two podcasts from NPR (here and here) that I was more or less being told that if I didn't listen to the original soundtrack from the new Broadway musical Hamilton that I would be one of those people who lived under a rock. Well, I can still see the sun and all I can say for the musical is that high school history teachers better be prepared for a lot of midterm research projects on the Revolutionary War.

"Cabinet Battle #1 (Live)" from Hamilton

3. Old Sounds

I'm not one to listen to re-runs of podcast, mostly because I have an exhorbinant number of subscriptions and it's a challenge to keep up with the weekly releases. But this week's From the Top episode was one of the first ones I ever heard, Show 303 from Interlochen, MI. Part of what kept me listening was that I was hoping that the introductory piece would be the one I was searching the name of for weeks. And lo and behold, it was! "Die Moldau" is a Czech symphonic piece composed in the 1870s by Bedřich Smetana and named after the great river that runs through the Czech Republic. This composition is also used in the intro sequence of the Symbolon series (as confirmed via Twitter).

"Die Moldau" by Bedřich Smetana

Party Like It's 1999

Well, sorta... I just recently got out of a YouTube bender looking up eurodance tracks from the mid-90s to mid-00s and this is what came up. If this happens to inspire any discotheque adventures, be sure to bring your best look.

10. "Believe" by Cher (1998)

This is the song that got me started down this rabbit-hole after it was featured in the Stuff You Should Know podcast on Auto-Tune.

9. "Heaven (Bryan Adams Cover)" by DJ Sammy and Yanou featuring Do (2001)

Speaking of podcasts and things worth having an understanding about, this song closed a recent episode of Catholic Stuff You Should Know while the original was used as its opener.

8. "Tubthumping" - Chumbawmba (1997)

I'm guessing this song was everyone's excuse for getting drunk during the '98 FIFA World Cup in France.

A Dance That Ended Too Soon

I first encountered Voxtrot while listening to the Smiths' radio on Pandora. Their song "The Start of Something" showed a surprising proficiency in creating an 80s jangle atmosphere with a modern indie pop structure which allotted the merit for the band to be placed in the same playlist as Moz and the gang. That song was from their first release, a 5-song EP in 2005, and it would be another two years until the band came out with their self-titled debut album. Tracks like "Kid Gloves" render the repressed romantic restlessness characteristic of Voxtrot's typical melodic and lyrical composition, which sounds like a page ripped from the diary of a dejected 20-something hipster.

Unfortunately, Voxtrot's fall from indie rockdom was as swift as its rise. After a number of disjointed single releases, lead singer Ramesh Srivastava announced the breakup of the band in 2010 and thereafter began a solo musical venture. As a result, their last recording, "Berlin, Without Return", can be considered the farewell to a journey which began simply as... the start of something. But with a line like "When I see you naked, I see more than the flesh" it's a shame that the music scene is indefinitely deprived of a band that can deliver the pensive and vulnerable poetry of those striving towards authentic love in an otherwise self-centered and relativistic world.

"Berlin, Without Return" by Voxtrot

Steady your ears,
Kelvin