Getting Ready to Leave the Ground
Since the news broke a few weeks ago that Songs of Ascent is the next U2 album — due out (probably) in 2010 – several bloggers have started to unpack the title and wonder what’s in store for us listeners. So what I’m writing about here isn’t breaking news.
While trying to not get too ahead of ourselves as we anticipate the songs we haven’t heard, we could prepare our future powers of reception. There are a few things I think the band would like us to know. Three!
One: If it’s not already in you, get some jazz in ya’. Bono cited Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme as points of reference for where they are aiming with this next album.
Two: Go Sufi for a while. U2 and Co. didn’t go to Fez just to hear the swallows sing. Read up on it, listen to it, watch it. There are lots of resources out there; here’s one jumping off point. Also, an excellent posting on Sufi singing, Fez, U2 and “the sound” is the “Dhikr” post at U2 Sermons.
Three: Start with the original songs of ascent. That would be Psalms 120-134, which were traditionally the songs Israelites would sing as they traveled to Jerusalem for feasts, especially Passover. Some say these songs were sung along the way to Jerusalem, while others say the songs were chanted on the way up the stairs of the temple. Christians might meditate upon these psalms during Lent, and especially so during Holy Week.
U2 has been in the Psalms since their early years, even before they recorded “40″ for the album War. In 1999, Bono wrote this introduction to the Grove Press Selections From The Book of Psalms. Two quick snippets here, in case you don’t read the whole thing (but why wouldn’t you?).
“Explaining faith is impossible … Vision over visibility … Instinct over intellect … “
“‘Psalm 40′ is interesting in that it suggests a time in which grace will replace karma, and love [will] replace the very strict laws of Moses (i.e. fulfill them). I love that thought.”
In most English translations Psalms 120-134 are identified as songs of degree or ascent. In The Message, Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, they are called pilgrim songs. We know Bono is a fan of The Message, so it’s likely he would have read Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, a psalm by psalm commentary on these 15 pilgrim songs. A main theme of Peterson’s study is that a life of discipleship is more like climbing a mountain than a hill.
While we will have to wait to hear U2′s songs of ascent, and while we don’t know how the first ones sounded, we can listen to recent interpretations by others. Again, lots of resources out there, but you can get started here, here, here and here.
And after all of this, if you are so inspired (and can play the tuba) you might want to get the sheet music for jazz virtuoso Roger Kellaway’s Songs of Ascent for piano and tuba. (If you do, let me know!)
While we wait and prepare, we can track the news about this new album on @U2′s New Album Information page.
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Interesting, too, that Bono referred to himself in Boston last night as a “humble pilgrim.”
If Bono isn’t simply pulling another “The Edge is on Fire” when he talks about Songs being another Blue or Love Supreme, this could be monumental for the band and for music in general. I’ve owned both those albums since I was a teenager and play them regularly. They are the purest form of Miles and of Coltrane. They transcend the decades. Everyone who loves jazz and any music lover immediately knows them.
But that’s a mountain, not a hill. Let’s see if he means it.
Thanks for this amazing post
You are welcome, Moshepop!
Hey that National Geographic link has a virus attached to it thanks….
I am so excited about the description of this record, especially in RS where Bono called ‘Songs’ ‘a bit of a heartbreaker.’ I have long hoped that U2 would make a quiet, reflective, moody ‘blue’ album, in the tradition of selections from ‘The Unforgettable Fire,’ ‘Passengers’ and some of the more Eno-influenced songs from ATYCLB.
I think a handful of songs for NLOTH (Moment of Surrender, Fez-Being Born, White As Snow and Cedars of Lebanon) hint that the band could be moving in my dreamed-of direction. Those four gorgeous songs have me feeling very hopeful.
Thanks for the update and tying it all together.
I know the economy is bad, but because of U2 I have to say that this year has been a lovely one for me so far. I’ve been a fan for awhile, but never ridden the wave of anticipation like this before, and to have NLOTH fulfill all my hopes after all the hype was just incredible. Songs of Accent sounds like it could build on NLOTH in really meaningful ways, and I’m just thrilled. It sounds cheesy, but I am so glad to be alive in the U2 generation. I can’t wait to see them in concert for the first time.
a Name for a Girl, it doesn’t sound cheesy at all! I feel the same way, and I can’t wait to see them in Solider Field on September 12th for my first time also!!