I have been listening to Peter Gabriel ALOT lately! He has an amazing voice, the music is intelligent, and there is just something about the emotion that I sense he puts into the music that I can relate to. I feel emotional listening to him. One of the best live concerts I own on CD is his concert called "Secret World Live." So damn good!!! The eleven plus minute version of "In Your Eyes" is worth it alone! I have always wanted to see this guy live, but have not. I guess I bring this whole thing up, because Peter Gabriel makes me think of not only maybe a love of mine once, but my best friend Bram.
When I was a senior at Concordia, Bram had transferred to Moorhead State, and stayed there for a year. It was the best year I had of college. But, I remember Bram telling me about how he had heard this CD from Peter Gabriel and that I had to hear it, own it, and take it in. It was called "Passion." The music was written for the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ." So, because I was a big Peter Gabriel fan even then, I knew there wasn't much to lose, so I went to Media Play, and bought the CD. Called him up, and he came over. We were listening to it, and when the track "Passion" began to play, I noticed Bram close his eyes. And as the vocalist's voice becomes more and more emotional almost to the point of being painful, I saw Bram's eyes close tighter, it was if he could feel the pain of the vocalist singing this cry. The voice trails off and you begin to hear this undercurrent of rhythm and vocals build. I too closed my eyes then, and felt the death of Christ come through this song. Bram and I felt the music that day. We felt something beyond the music. It was if we were seeing the death of Christ together...
If there was one thing that alot of people may not have seen in Bram, it was that he was a very spiritual person. He and I had those transcendent moments that really surround and comfort the questions of why or how. I remember seeing him pray, seeing him lead worship, seeing him lead hundreds of kids in singing songs as loud as possible, seeing him take communion, sharing the roles of being Pharisees together, putting my arm around him and staring into a fire not saying a word, and seeing him close his eyes tightly while listening to a song depicting the death of Christ. Those are some of the wonderful faith-forming moments that make me thankful about what I do, and why I do it.
I love Peter Gabriel because his music takes me to a place that this world cannot touch, it doesn't understand, it fights me for, and wants to sanitize. I guess I want to hold onto that emotional innocence I feel connected with Gabriel's art. By this, I can see my life sharply contrasted by the loss of my childhood in the very death of my best friend who lived and died the same years Christ himself lived and died. I never want to lose a sense of myself because I grow old and scared to live a full life. I know Bram never lost himself to the world, to fear, to age. When I think of Bram, I think of Peter Gabriel giving the two of us the sense to feel emotion in music, in life, in spirituality. For a moment, that sense was as close to me as my blood inside. I wish I could feel that moment in its entirety once again. More later...
When I was a senior at Concordia, Bram had transferred to Moorhead State, and stayed there for a year. It was the best year I had of college. But, I remember Bram telling me about how he had heard this CD from Peter Gabriel and that I had to hear it, own it, and take it in. It was called "Passion." The music was written for the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ." So, because I was a big Peter Gabriel fan even then, I knew there wasn't much to lose, so I went to Media Play, and bought the CD. Called him up, and he came over. We were listening to it, and when the track "Passion" began to play, I noticed Bram close his eyes. And as the vocalist's voice becomes more and more emotional almost to the point of being painful, I saw Bram's eyes close tighter, it was if he could feel the pain of the vocalist singing this cry. The voice trails off and you begin to hear this undercurrent of rhythm and vocals build. I too closed my eyes then, and felt the death of Christ come through this song. Bram and I felt the music that day. We felt something beyond the music. It was if we were seeing the death of Christ together...
If there was one thing that alot of people may not have seen in Bram, it was that he was a very spiritual person. He and I had those transcendent moments that really surround and comfort the questions of why or how. I remember seeing him pray, seeing him lead worship, seeing him lead hundreds of kids in singing songs as loud as possible, seeing him take communion, sharing the roles of being Pharisees together, putting my arm around him and staring into a fire not saying a word, and seeing him close his eyes tightly while listening to a song depicting the death of Christ. Those are some of the wonderful faith-forming moments that make me thankful about what I do, and why I do it.
I love Peter Gabriel because his music takes me to a place that this world cannot touch, it doesn't understand, it fights me for, and wants to sanitize. I guess I want to hold onto that emotional innocence I feel connected with Gabriel's art. By this, I can see my life sharply contrasted by the loss of my childhood in the very death of my best friend who lived and died the same years Christ himself lived and died. I never want to lose a sense of myself because I grow old and scared to live a full life. I know Bram never lost himself to the world, to fear, to age. When I think of Bram, I think of Peter Gabriel giving the two of us the sense to feel emotion in music, in life, in spirituality. For a moment, that sense was as close to me as my blood inside. I wish I could feel that moment in its entirety once again. More later...
2 comments:
i was actually listening to peter gabriel at work this morning around 9 a.m. then the song "i grieve" came on. oh. mi. god. so beautiful, so painful.
and yes, The Passion is an amazing soundtrack. amazing. as wonderful as it is aching.
"i grieve" is indeed one of the songs that came to my mind when reading this post. One of the things that brings me back to Peter Gabriel again and again is the fact that his music is so universal. In my work as a ranger, I use universal concepts to help forge connections and here is man who does it instinctually and sets it to music no less.
It doesn't surprise me in the least to hear of Bram's love of his music and the passion that he had for the passion and sprituality within it. That was something that Bram always wore on his sleeve throughout high school.
-Miriam
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