Songs of the Mystic

[Guitar's Cry]

The lead singer of Kansas went into the gospel music business in the eighties. Kerry Livgren had a band called "A.D." I don't recall if they were any good, but I remember one cool album title: "Art of the State."

According to Wiki, they were influenced by the Urantia Book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Urantia_Book

 

[doppelganger]

According to Wiki, they were influenced by the Urantia Book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Urantia_Book

That's interesting. I'd never read that before. There's a Unrantian here at RF.

 

[EtuMalku]

Peter Gabriel's album / soundtrack ' Passion : Music for The Last Temptation Of Christ ' gets my vote.

 

[Pariah]

Oh, you must, must have listened to Kansas! "Dust in the Wind"? "Carry on My Wayward Son"?

I have heard Kansas' "Carry on My Wayward Son", but I didn't recognize the title of the song or the band. Not exactly what I consider "mystic", but meditation comes in many forms.

 

[wizanda]

Enlightening Music

 

[doppelganger]

This one never occurred to me as mystic for a long time. But now it's one of my favorites (hard to believe I didn't think of it before). It's called "Dela" by South African Johnny Clegg and his band Suvaka. The word "Dela" in Zulu translates to "the heart's perfect home" or "contentment."

One day I looked up and there you were
Like a simple question looking for an answer
Now I am a whale listening to some inner call
Swimming blindly to throw myself upon your shores
But what if I don't find you when I have landed
Would you leave me here to die on your shores stranded?
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon.
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon.

I say:
"Dela! Dela! Ngiyadela!
(Content, content I am content)
When I am with you!
Dela! Sondela mama! Sondela!
I burn for you!

I've been waiting for you all my life -- hoping for a miracle
I've been waiting day and night, day and night
I've been waiting for you all my life -- waiting for redemption
I've been waiting day and night
I burn for you

A blind bird sings inside the cage that is my heart
And the image of your face comes to me when I'm alone in the dark
If I could give a shape to this ache that I have for you
If I could find the voice that says the words that capture you
I think I know, I think I know, I think I know, I think I know
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon.
I think I know why the dog howls at the moon.

I say:
"Dela! Dela! Ngiyadela!
When I am with you!
Dela! Sondela mama! Sondela!
I burn for you!

I've been waiting for you all my life -- hoping for a miracle
I've been waiting day and night, day and night
I've been waiting for you all my life -- waiting for redemption
I've been waiting day and night
I burn for you

Dela! Sondela mama! Sondela!
I burn for you!

I've been waiting for you all my life -- hoping for a miracle
I've been waiting day and night, day and night
I've been waiting for you all my life -- waiting for redemption
I've been waiting day and night
I burn for you

Burn for you
I burn for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWmTJJSqYsI

 

[Guitar's Cry]

This one never occurred to me as mystic for a long time.

As is often the case with a new outlook, I have been reinterpreting songs that I have never seen as mystical before as such.

Led Zepplin's immortal "Stairway to Heaven" seems an obvious choice.


"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.

There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
O, it makes me wonder,
O, it really makes me wonder.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And she's buying a stairway to heaven."

 

[doppelganger]

As is often the case with a new outlook, I have been reinterpreting songs that I have never seen as mystical before as such.

Led Zepplin's immortal "Stairway to Heaven" seems an obvious choice.

Excellent. I hadn't heard or thought about that song in years. But you're quite right.

 

[doppelganger]

And then there are plenty of Joni Mitchell songs. But "The Circle Game" stands out:

Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, when you're older, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

[Chorus] And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and dawn
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we con only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town
And they tell him,
Take your time, it won't be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down

Chorus

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur
Coming true
There'll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through.

Chorus

 

[Willamena]

In Bob Marley's songs, I always find layers of significance, metaphor on metaphor. I've always seen this song in a number of lights: political, spiritual and personal.
Edit: Which, in all likelihood, are aspects of the same being to the rastaman. The fire that fuels personal righteousness is the same fire that brings about political reform, and the same fire that lifts consciousness out of the void to give it form.

Dready got a job to do
And he’s got to fulfill that mission
To see his hurt is their greatest ambition, yeah!
But-a we will survive in this world of competition

’cause no matter what they do
Natty keep on comin’ through
And no matter what they say-ay-ay-ay
Natty de deh every day. yeah!

Natty dread rides again,
Through the mystics of tomorrow
Natty dread rides again:
Have no fear, have no sorrow, yeah!

All and all you see a-gwan
Is to fight against rastaman.
So they build their world in great confusion
To force on us the devil’s illusion.

But the stone that the builder refuse
Shall be the head cornerstone
And no matter what game they play,
Eh, we got something they could never take away
We got something they could never take away...

And it’s the fire (fire), it’s the fire (fire)
That’s burning down everything:
Feel that fire (fire), the fire (fire)
Only the birds have their wings, yeah!

No time to be deceived.
Oh, brothers, you should know and not believe:
Jah say this judgement - it could never be with water,
No water could put out this fire (fire)
This fire (fire), this fire (fire)
This fire (fire), a yaga y’all! ride, natty, ride!
Go deh, dready, go deh

’cause now the fire is out of control,
Panic in the city, wicked weeping for their gold!
Everywhere this fiyah is burning,
Destroying and melting their gold,
Destroying and waisting their souls..

Go ride, natty, ride!
Go deh, dready! go deh!

Tell you what: now the people gather on the beach
And the leader try to make a speech,
But the dreadies understandin’ that it’s too late:
Fire is burning
Man, pull your own weight!
Fiyah is burning
Man, pull your own weight!

Natty dread rides again
And me say, go deh, dready! go deh! (go deh, go deh)
Oh ride, natty, ride!
And go deh, dready! (go deh, go deh)

Ridin’ through the storm,
Riding through the calm (go deh, go deh).
Oh ride, natty, ride!
Go deh, dready, go deh!
Ride, natty, ride!
Go deh, dready, do deh!

We riding thru the thick
We riding thru the thin
Ride natty, ride natty.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Special Revelation actually just reminded me of a Styx song that fits perfectly here.

Crystal Ball

"I used to like to walk the straight and narrow line.
I used to think everything was fine.
Sometimes I'd sit and gaze for days through sleepless dreams,
All alone and trapped in time.
All alone and trapped in time.
I wonder what tomorrow has in mind for me?
Or am I even in it's mind at all?
Perhaps I'll get a chance to look ahead and see.
Soon as I find myself a crystal ball."

 

[Willamena]

Teachers, by Leonard Cohen

I met a woman long ago
Her hair the black that black can go
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Soft she answered, No.

I met a girl across the sea
Her hair the gold that gold can be
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Yes, but not for thee.

I met a man who lost his mind
In some lost place I had to find
Follow me, the wise man said
But he walked behind.

I walked into a hospital
Where none was sick and none was well
When at night the nurses left
I could not walk at all.

Morning came
and then came noon
Dinner time the scalpel blade
Lay beside my silver spoon

Some girls wander by mistake
Into the mess that scalpels make
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to break.

One morning I woke up alone
The hospital, the nurses gone
Have I carved enough, my lord?
Child, you are bone.

I ate and ate and ate,
No, I did not miss a plate
Well, how much do these suppers cost?
We'll take it out in hate.

I spent my hatred every place
On every work on every face
Someone gave me wishes
And I wished for an embrace.

Several girls embraced me,
Then I was embraced by men
Is my passion perfect?
No, do it once again.

I was handsome, I was strong
I knew the words of every song
Did my singing please you?
No, the words you sang were wrong.

Who is it whom I address?
Who takes down what I confess?
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to rest.

Well, teachers are my lessons done?
I cannot do another one
They laughed and laughed and said
Well, child are your lessons done?

Are your lessons done?
Are your lessons done?

 

[jacquie4000]

I don't know if this would count but, Loreena McKennitt's The Mystic's Dream. (It at least has "mystic" in the title)

A clouded dream on an earthly night
Hangs upon the crescent moon
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
Where the heart moves the stones
It's there that my heart is longing
All for the love of you

A painting hangs on an ivy wall
Nestled in the emerald moss
The eyes declare a truce of trust
Then it draws me far away
Where deep in the desert twilight
Sand melts in pools of the sky
Darkness lays her crimson cloak
Your lamps will call me home


And so it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
Now I feel you move
And every breath is full
So it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
Even the distance feels so near
All for the love of you


A clouded dream on an earthly night
Hangs upon the crescent moon
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
Where the heart moves the stones
It's there that my heart is longing
All for the love of you

I as well like this. I also like Celtic Women.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Teachers, by Leonard Cohen

I met a woman long ago
Her hair the black that black can go
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Soft she answered, No.

I met a girl across the sea
Her hair the gold that gold can be
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Yes, but not for thee.

I met a man who lost his mind
In some lost place I had to find
Follow me, the wise man said
But he walked behind.

I walked into a hospital
Where none was sick and none was well
When at night the nurses left
I could not walk at all.

Morning came
and then came noon
Dinner time the scalpel blade
Lay beside my silver spoon

Some girls wander by mistake
Into the mess that scalpels make
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to break.

One morning I woke up alone
The hospital, the nurses gone
Have I carved enough, my lord?
Child, you are bone.

I ate and ate and ate,
No, I did not miss a plate
Well, how much do these suppers cost?
We'll take it out in hate.

I spent my hatred every place
On every work on every face
Someone gave me wishes
And I wished for an embrace.

Several girls embraced me,
Then I was embraced by men
Is my passion perfect?
No, do it once again.

I was handsome, I was strong
I knew the words of every song
Did my singing please you?
No, the words you sang were wrong.

Who is it whom I address?
Who takes down what I confess?
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to rest.

Well, teachers are my lessons done?
I cannot do another one
They laughed and laughed and said
Well, child are your lessons done?

Are your lessons done?
Are your lessons done?

Neat! I'll have to pnder some of the phrases.

 

[doppelganger]

Jethro Tull, "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day"

Meanwhile back in the year One --- when you belonged to no-one ---
you didn't stand a chance son, if your pants were undone.
`Cause you were bred for humanity and sold to society ---
one day you'll wake up in the Present Day ---
a million generations removed from expectations
of being who you really want to be.

Skating away ---
skating away ---
skating away on the thin ice of the New Day.

So as you push off from the shore,
won't you turn your head once more --- and make your peace with everyone?
For those who choose to stay,
will live just one more day ---
to do the things they should have done.
And as you cross the wilderness, spinning in your emptiness:
you feel you have to pray.
Looking for a sign
that the Universal Mind (!) has written you into the Passion Play.

Skating away on the thin ice of the New Day.

And as you cross the circle line, the ice-wall creaks behind ---
you're a rabbit on the run.
And the silver splinters fly in the corner of your eye ---
shining in the setting sun.
Well, do you ever get the feeling that the story's
too damn real and in the present tense?
Or that everybody's on the stage, and it seems like
you're the only person sitting in the audience?

Skating away on the thin ice of the New Day.

 

[YmirGF]

Kansas? Jethro Tull? *giggles* Different strokes fer different folks I guess.

The Moody Blues early works almost exemplify "mystical" music:

From "In search of the Lost Chord (1968)
- The Word - (Graeme Edge)

This garden universe vibrates complete,
Some, may get a sound so sweet.
Vibrations, reach on up to become light,
And then through gamma, out of sight.
Between the eyes and ears there lie,
The sounds of color and the light of a sigh.
And to hear the sun, what a thing to believe,
But it's all around if we could but perceive.
To know ultra-violet, infra-red, and x-rays,
Beauty to find in so may ways.
Two notes of the chord, that's our poor scope,
And to reach the chord is our life's hope.
And to name the chord is important to some,
So they give it a word, and the word is OM.


- OM - (Michael Pinder)

The rain is on the roof,
Hari high, and butterflies.
As clouds roll past my head,
I know why the skies all cry,

Om. Om. Heaven. Om.

The Earth turns slowly round,
Far away, a distant sound.
Is with us everyday,
Can you hear, what it says?

Om. Om. Heaven. Om.


From "Every good boy deserves Favor"
- My song - (Michael Pinder) 1969

I'm going to sing my song
And sing it all day long
A song that never ends
How can I tell you,
all the things inside my head.

The change in these past years
Has made me see our world
In many different ways
How can I tell you,
love can change your destiny.

CHORUS
Love can change the world
Love can change your life
Do what makes you happy
Do what you know is right
And love with all your might
Before it's too late

Where did I find all these words
Something inside me is burning
There's life in other worlds
Maybe they'll come to earth,
Helping man to find a way.

One day I hope we'll be,
in perfect harmony
A planet with one mind
Then I could tell you
All the things inside my head

I'm going to sing my song
And sing it all day long
A song that never ends
How can I tell you,
all the things inside my head.

I'm going to sing my song
A song that never ends.

 

[Willamena]

I danced to this today...
___________________

How many times did you call me
And I knew it was late
I left everybody
But I never went straight
I don't claim to be guilty
But I do understand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand

Now my heart's like a blister
From doing what I do
If the moon has a sister
It's got to be you
I'm going to miss you forever
Tho' it's not what I planned
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand

Now the deal has been dirty
Since dirty began
I'm not asking for mercy
Not from the man
You just don't ask for mercy
While you're still on the stand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand

I don't claim to be guilty
Guilty's too grand
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand

That's all I can say, baby
That's all I can say
It wasn't for nothing
That they put me away
I fell with my angel
Down the chain of command
There's a Law, there's an Arm, there's a Hand

The Law, Leonard Cohen

 

[methylatedghosts]

I think Ozzy Osbourne's "Dreamer" could fit:

Gazing through the window at the world outside
Wondering if mother earth will survive
Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her, sometime

After all theres just the two of us
And here we are still fighting for our lives
Watching all of history repeat itself, time after time

Im just a dreamer, I dream my life away
Im just a dreamer, who dreams of better days

I watch the sun go down like everyone of us
Im hoping that the dawn will bring a sign
A better place for those who will come after us this time

Im just a dreamer, I dream my life away, oh yeah
Im just a dreamer, who dreams of better days

Your higher power may be God or jesus christ
It doesnt really matter much to me
Without each others help there aint no hope for us
Im living in a dream, a fantasy
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah

If only we could just find serenity
It would be nice if we could live as one
When will all this anger, hate and bigotry be gone?

Im just a dreamer, I dream my life away, today
Im just a dreamer, who dreams of better days, ok
Im just a dreamer, whos searching for the way, today
Im just a dreamer, dreaming my life away
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah


Or "Over The Mountain"
Over the mountain take me across the sky
Something in my vision, something deep inside
Where did I wander, where dya think I wandered to
Ive seen lifes magic astral plane I travel through

Chorus:
I heard them tell me that this land of dreams was now
I told them I had ridden shooting stars
And I said Id show them how

Over and over always tried to get away
Living in a daydream only place I had to stay
Fever of a breakout burning in me miles wide
People around me talking to the walls inside

Chorus

Dont need no astrology its inside of you and me
You dont need a ticket to fly with me--Im free

Over and under in between the ups and downs
Mind on a carpet magic ride goes round and round
Over the mountain kissing silver inlaid clouds
Watching my body disappear into the crowd

Dont need no astrology its inside of you and me
You dont need a ticket to fly with me--Im free

 

[Willamena]

I feel I'm at this point in my exploration of mysticism.

The Captain, Leonard Cohen

Now the Captain called me to his bed
He fumbled for my hand
"Take these silver bars," he said
"I'm giving you command."

"Command of what? There's no one here
There's only you and me --
All the rest are dead or in retreat
Or with the enemy."

"Complain, complain, that's all you've done
Ever since we lost
If it's not the Crucifixion
Then it's the Holocaust."

"May Christ have mercy on your soul
For making such a joke
Amid these hearts that burn like coal
And the flesh that rose like smoke."

"I know that you have suffered, lad,
But suffer this awhile:
Whatever makes a soldier sad
Will make a killer smile."

"I'm leaving, Captain, I have to go
There's blood upon your hand
But tell me, Captain, if you know
Of a decent place to stand."

"There is no decent place to stand
In a massacre;
But if a woman take your hand
Go and stand with her."

"I left a wife in Tennessee
And a baby in Saigon --
I risked my life, but not to hear
Some country-western song."

"Ah but if you cannot raise your love
To a very high degree,
Then you're just the man I've been thinking of --
So come and stand with me."

"Your standing days are done," I cried,
"You'll rally me no more.
I don't even know what side
We fought on, or what for."

"I'm on the side that's always lost
Against the side of Heaven
I'm on the side of Snake-eyes tossed
Against the side of Seven.

And I've read the Bill of Human Rights
And some of it was true
But there wasn't any burden left
So I'm laying it on you."

Now the Captain he was dying
But the Captain wasn't hurt
The silver bars were in my hand
I pinned them to my shirt.

(And I sing this for the Captain,
whose ship has not been built
For the mother in confusion
whose craddle is unfilled
For the heart with no companion
for the soul without a King
For the prima ballerina who cannot dance to anything)

 

[Quagmire]

Reverie

Rollerblading down the boardwalk
Past the winos on the pier
Doing peruettes to music
That only she can hear

Dancing in the forest naked
Singing lovesongs to the trees
No one's certain what her name is
So we call her Reverie.

Reverie talks to the ocean
Gets her answers from the tides
Says the seagulls think she's crazy
But she takes it all in stride.

Got a labradour named Elvis
And a cat named Nat King Cole
Never has to walk or feed them
Cuz they're both invisible.

Reverie says that space and time
Are chains we make to bind our minds
Once you throw your mind away
The child inside comes out to play

"Lambs eat oats, and does eat oats
Row, row your boat now, gently down the stream"
So says Reverie.

Waved me over like she knew me
To some shade down by the stream
Then she started talking to me
Said she met me in a dream.

She said, "Lifes not complicated
We're just here to breath the air"
Told me "Love is what you make it"
So we made it then and there.

I must admit that life gets kind
Of crazy when you lose your mind
but...

Then again, "reality"
Aint all that it's cracked up to be
So,..

you can have your plans and schemes
I'm doing just fine now, living in a dream
Here with Reverie.

Takes the weight off of my shoulders
Puts my head up in the clouds
Can't remember when I hold her
What the fuss was all about.

We don't need to see the future
that would screw up the surprise
We're just living in forever
One day at a time.

I know she wont try to cage me
She'll never play me for a fool
Wont cast a spell to try and change me
Like some other witches do.

And when the incantations spoken
I guess there's nothing left to say
Her love's a spell that can't be broken
Wouldn't want to anyway...

Way down, deep inside
There's a place where Reverie resides
Don't care who's there next to me
She's the only woman I'll ever see.

She's the only lover I'll ever need
So what if she was just a dream

Oh well ****n' A, and Blessed B
That's my Reverie.