File under: Follow the concepts...Epiphany, the Beatific Vision, "God Told Me To," Kate Bush

Epiphany

Epiphany has come and gone, but we're still pondering the narrative that the Magi (Gentiles, also known as the Three Kings, the Three Wise Men) seeing and saluting the infant Jesus as a "god" (some say THE God") functioning as a "Messiah" entails revealing the child, Jesus' face to the three exalted and sage non-Jews. Epiphany generally celebrates this interaction (let's not start on the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, a whole other megillah) between human beings and a deity.  Human beings seeing a god. It's happened to others but usually with negative, incendiary results.

The Magi

Larry Cohen's "God Told Me To" (1976)

We caught Cohen's film this week, just by chance, on one of the Roku channel's we stream.  And there it was, again: seeing and interacting with a god-thing. We can't, here, go into all the questions this film raises. There are just too many.

 

Catching more than just a "glimpse of a god" in 

Larry Cohen's "God Told Me To."

Just watch it...

Kate Bush is "Suspended in Gaffa" (1982)

Six-years after Cohen released "God Told Me To," Kate Bush released the song, "Suspended in Gaffa." Here's what Kate had to say about the song:

"The idea of the song is that of being given a glimpse of 'God' - something that we dearly want - but being told that unless we work for it, we will never see it again, and even then, we might not be worthy of it. Of course, everybody wants the reward without the toil, so people try to find a way out of the hard work, still hoping to claim the prize, but such is not the case. The choruses are meant to express the feeling of entering timelessness as you become ready for the experience, but only when you are ready. (Kate Bush Club newsletter, October 1982)"

"She's an excuse and a witness who'll talk when he's called..."

"Not 'til I'm ready for you!"

So there, all for you: Kate Bush singing about the Beatific Vision. Sort of. And not surprisingly. It's one of our very very very favorite songs, period, in part because of it's subject matter. Our favorite line: "I caught a glimpse of a god, all shining and bright!" Not that we believe this song is autobiographical, but we'd like to believe that Kate caught a glimpse of something when she was a child, because it would certainly explain a lot about her exquisite body of work, don't you think?  Just for you, here's the Kate Bush-approved video of "Suspended in Gaffa" and some panto-performances on Euro tv:

Excuse us, now, while we pause to let a fairy pass. Until next time, we remain,

KNIVES IN KNOTS