Thursday Thirteen #6: Transported

It's time I got back on the horse with my Thursday Thirteen list!

The subject of art having a satisfying depth sent me on a quest to identify 13 songs that have that something extra that actually transports me as I listen. I hope there's a song in there that will either be one to which someone else can also relate, or discover one among the lesser-known titles that can transport them.


1. "Hold Dearly to Me"

This one has held the position as my favorite for years....hide me, drape me, closely and safely. The place of connection to God with all of our heart and mind is the safest one that we'll ever find. We have these comments from Mike on the 77s message board: "This song was a desperate prayer written at 3 AM in a very frightened frame of mind. For some reason, I decided to try and perform it as a Van Morrison "period piece" circa 1970-72, so the whole approach to the guitars sprang from that vision. I was fortunate enough to have seen Van's live show a number of times in the early 70's so I remember the vibe very clearly.The electric guitar part is pure John Platania, his guitarist from back then, while the acoustic strumming is a direct inspiration from Van The Man himself. The piano and horns were arranged and mixed accordingly."


2. "Carry on Wayward Son"

Besides being representative of Kansas' unusual and intricate arrangements, the song also carries an important message --in a very superficial world that puts pressure on you to put on your own charade, remember Whose opinion really counts in the end.


3. "Lean on Me"

It's another one of my all-time favorites. When I hear this one, I remember moments of give and take with friends that are the stuff that give life depth.


4. "Drift Away"

Dobie Gray performs one of the two songs that I've included that are directly on the subject of the power of music to lift the listener out of a dark state of mind. For me, it not only discussed but achieves that end.


5. "Jazzman"

Carole King does an extended live performance of "Jazzman" that describes the transporting quality of good music as a spiritual encounter. It's rather telling that she relates to scenarios from Christian revival meetings, which haven't to my knowledge ever been part of her own philosophical outlook.


6. "Baker Street"

The bridge, and really the arrangement as a whole, is a launch pad to some amazing place. The lyric is about the practice of "busking", or street performance. It's an interesting commentary on the uneven process of recreating hope from disappointment with ourselves and how our goals have materialized. It's a shame that Gerry Rafferty and Stealer's Wheel bogged down in legal battles--it gives a vaguely prophetic quality to the lyric.


7. "The Road"

The link contains the original lyrics by Terry Talbot and clips of a recorded version by our friend Kyle Knapp that illustrate the haunting quality of the music behind stories of offering Jesus to tired runaways that haven't found that for which they went searching.


8. "The Theme from 'Peanuts' "

I get happy every time I hear the opening bars of this piano piece.


9. "Love Like Gold"

I have some complicated mixed feelings on the subject of romance. I remember thinking the first time that I heard that song that I'd found some empathy. It gets me on a train of thought about what could be.


10. "Summer Breeze"

Here's another one on the simple joys of living in a romance that speaks to me even though I've never had the experience.


11. "Shine"

Besides the fact that it contains some really hot guitar licks in my humble opinion, it puts me much in mind of the search that's described in this passage in Acts 17:24-28:

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'


12. "Grace Like Rain"

Todd Agnew's takeoff of the classic "Amazing Grace" has afforded me an emotional connection to the acceptance communicated in the grace of God to us every time I've heard it. I thought that the set of slides on this video carried some compelling images.


13. "Do It for Love"

I wish I could find a sound clip for this one--it's full of contagious joy, and will really get a live show audience up and moving. It reminds me of Jesus' exhortation to the disciples to throw that net out just one more time, even though they were tired of trying. Sometimes we have to choose to grab onto hope again after a long dry spell, because we are well-loved.