Playlist for the Resistance (M83, Stevie Wonder, Alabama Shakes, and more...)

image courtesy thera (sxc.hu)

Whatever helps you Seed the Hope and Resist the Sleep during Advent, these ideas are, indeed, the work of this season. If there's anything that the unspeakably sad events of yesterday teach us, is that our desire for good cheer at Christmastime comes with no guarantees, and that we must stay awake and alive to one another, hoping and working forward into a better way of living together in God's world.


This week we've been soliciting your reflections on what songs help you Seed the Hope or Resist the Sleep and here's the playlist that resulted:


We start with Ern, who writes, 

"Okay, this is from a Broadway play about Jesus, so maybe a little obvious. But, this song gives me such hope - the hope that even in the mess around us, God is still at work, and calls us to work with him (her?) to help build the kingdom here on earth. This line is particularly meaningful to me when I feel just so overwhelmed by all the horrible things in life (and in churches):

You can give up, bitter and battered, or you can slowly start to build."

Beautiful City perf. Hunter Parrish 

And then from Sarah,

"Advent this year has been a lot about re-calling what it means to belong for me while existing in a new space. The song helps me grieve homesickness with force." -- Sarah Davelaar

Rise to the Sun by The Alabama Shakes

Ireney says,

 "My song that seeds hope in this season is called "There's Still My Joy" by the Indigo Girls. I'm just highly aware of the grief and loss this season brings to so many -- and yet there's still our joy for Christmas day."

There's Still My Joy by The Indigo Girls

Laetitia offers, 

"The song that gives me seeds of hope this season is "As" by Stevie Wonder. I love these lyrics and listening to this song gives me JOY! There is a lot of grief in my community but this song definitely speaks to my spirit and gives me hope!"

As around the sun the earth knows she's revolving
As the rosebuds know to bloom in early May, 
Just as hate knows love's the cure
...
Just as all is born anew,
Do know what I say is true:
That I'll be loving you always.

As by Stevie Wonder

One that I (Anna) wanted to have as a part of the Music Project this year, but couldn't find a way to make it a whole post:

M83's Midnight City is a song that caught my imagination every time it came on the radio in the past year. I've loved the austere sound of his work for a while, but there a warmth, an energy, and a hopefulness pushing this song forward even as the lyrics talk about mundane waiting and watching. This song helps me Resist the Sleep of pretending 'all's well' this season with its starkness and driving force, and it helps me Seed the Hope with the rays of light bubbling up from the electronic blips and chorus of voices in the background. There's a restlessness that remind me that part of my waiting must always be DOING, and part of my doing must always be WAITING.

Midnight City by M83

Finally, Elsa offers,

"This song has brought to mind how, intentionally or unintentionally, we choose to 'blur through' our own lives using busy-ness both as an excuse and as a means of distracting ourselves from the sometimes painfully vivid life around us. This song reminds, "You must know life to see decay," and, that when we "remember our own land," we remember what we live for. I hear a calling to Resist the Sleep, to be more present to the life that I have been given in both its difficulty and delight."

Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot
...
And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh, no more.
That's why I hold
That's why I hold with all I have
That's why I hold.

After the Storm by Mumford and Sons

May you Resist the Sleep and Seed the Hope not just today, but each day of Advent and onward.