Oh how I love a good singer-songwriter – someone who paints magic with words and a guitar. Check out some of these lines and see if you don’t agree with me that Martyn Joseph is one of those…
Exhibit #1
“It’s the weight of the world
that gouges the land,
shrivels the sand,
praises the bland
And it’s the weight of the world
that frenzies our fears
so when hope disappears
we start sharpening spears”
Exhibit #2
“We ask virtue to defend us
but she’s got a new career,
selling pills to make us grateful
and time-shares for our soul.”
Exhibit #3
“Faith – The other side of knowing
and a thousand questions how”
Exhibit #4
“And all I really know is that kindness is better
than any sort of terror any kind of spite.”
Exhibit #5
“But that seems like the place we could start now
Ripping prayers through the open sky”
And that’s only the words! The music adds a whole other layer to that magic painting.
That’s just from his latest album. I’ve written about some of his older stuff before. He’s been my companion for many a melancholy day. Like the day that the abandoned tanks in Ethiopia made me cry. And the day after I found out my unborn nephew has a tumour on his back.
Everybody needs a good cd or two that’s just the thing you reach for when you’re torn between melancholy and hope.