the joubert singers, “stand on the word”
from:stand on the word, 1982
“That’s how he works,
That’s how
The good Lord, he works
That’s how he works,
That’s how
The good Lord, he works
That’s how the good Lord works,
That’s how the good Lord works,
That’s how the good Lord works,
That’s how he works
That’s how the good Lord works,
That’s how the good Lord works,
That’s how the good Lord works,
That’s how he works
We must not question the good Lord,
Have faith in God and trust his word,
We don’t know how, we don’t know when
To Jesus’ day
So we shall stand
Stand on the word
(The word of God)”
Following the David Champagne show at Preservation Worcester, Valerie and I were talking about the concept of “Agnostic Gospel”. During the show, David spoke of growing up with gospel music, and how he wanted to capture and convey its spirit in a more secular context. (Brian Eno, a non-believer, has also talked about his love of gospel.)It reminded me of “Stand on the Word”, which Larry Levan (one of the all-time great NYC DJs) played in his sets at the Paradise Garage in the 1980s, especially during the late/early morning winding down part that people called “Saturday Mass”. The song became widely known — especially in dance clubs — because of its adoption by Levan. So we have an earnest statement of faith — preachy, even — transcending its literal message to be embraced by party people for its pure joyousness. Maybe that’s a form of agnostic gospel
-Charlie Blaum-
““We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”.”