Psalm 114, Text by David Rosenburg, sung to an improvisation on Psalm Tone 5.
Psalm 114, Text by David Rosenburg, sung to an improvisation on Psalm Tone 5.
Some of you have asked me about the recent music projects I’ve been posting. The texts are from David Rosenburg’s A Literary Bible. David Rosenburg is a former editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society and a poet. He’s also the author of the well-known Book of J, which, along with A Literary Bible, are his translations of core texts from Hebrew Scripture and efforts to honor disparate and diverse voices from the texts which he feels are often flattened in modern translations for the sake of a unified style. As for the music, my guitar broke last month, so I’m experimenting with vocal-only music for Lent- this is the way I used to sing last year when I’d take my plainsong psalter to Far Rockaway beach for an afternoon of screaming into the waves, or up to the top of Twin Peaks during CPE when I needed to shout at the sky for a while, and I’m recording it now (at a slightly lower volume) with my recently acquired Yeti THX mic! The tracks are all improvisations on the texts, hopefully hearkening back to Medieval chant origins in its embellishments on the tones and harmonies in the droning, with secret aspirations to be torch songs. Call it neo-plainsong-soul if you feel so inclined, and be sure to tell me what you think of it.
Psalm 101, Text by David Rosenburg, set to a variation on Tonus Peregrinus
The dirty clothes and unread books
and coffee cups obscure your absence,
like a scab. Clearing them away serves
only to unmask the chair you do not sit in,
and alarm wells up the scrape of floor
where you do not tie your shoe, blood
rising yet again to the injury you left it:
knowing what it is to live without you.
Psalm 90, Text by David Rosenburg, set to a variation on Psalm Tone 4
Time converts me:
the burden of some birds
of wisdom who have perched for years
on my weak ledges
lifted when they fly away
one day,
and some new piece of me
finally gives in
and crumbles
to the sea.
Psalm 82, Text by David Rosenburg, set to a variation on Psalm Tone 7.3
Psalm 30, Text by David Rosenburg, set to a variation on Psalm Tone 3.4
Psalm 1, text by David Rosenberg, set to an adaptation of Psalm Tone 5
Holy, Holy
Dust off this straw hat of mine
Spit on these boots until they shine
Shake out the sleep from my wings
Take a swig of whisky and remind my voice to sing
Holy, Holy, Oh my Lord
Holy, Holy, Oh my Lord
Break up this ground like a blade
See all my old friends rising tall along the way
Wiping dirt out from their eyes
To see a rose horizon that the sun’s about to climb
Holy, Holy, Oh my Lord
Holy, Holy, Oh my Lord
And then a riot in the sky
A peal of angels with their arms twirling high
And they are dancing, they are laughing, they are free
Dressed up in their pearls just like the faggots used to be,
screaming:
Holy, holy, holy Lord
God of power and might
Heaven and Earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest
Blessed is the One
Who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest
Blessed is the One
Who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest
Holy, holy, holy.
Alright, OK (now w/ more moaning)
Get on this train, its pulling out
Get on my back, get off the ground
Forget your bag, leave it behind
I’ll pay for dinner and we’ll cancel
All your credit cards online
I have enough for you
I’ll split everything I own in two
I will feed you from my side
I will hold you close to me
And tell you all shall be
alright, OK? Alright.
Come here and curl up in my coat
This train is twenty stops away
From anywhere we want to go
I’ll wake you up when we get there
I’ll kiss your forehead while you sleep
And keep my fingers in your hair
The night is dark, the city wide
Eight million stars to flash and fade
Upon a bed, a sun to rise
And I will bring you into mine
I’ll hang your coat up in my hall
I’ll put our boots out back to dry
I have enough for you
I’ll split everything I own in two
I will feed you from my side
I will hold you close to me
And tell you all shall be
alright, OK? Alright.
Get on this train its getting late
And all we need are whole lives long
To have, to hold, to be awake.
Alright, OK
Get on this train, its pulling out
Get on my back, get off the ground
Forget your bag, leave it behind
I’ll pay for dinner and we’ll cancel
All your credit cards online
I have enough for you
I’ll split everything I own in two
I will feed you from my side
I will hold you close to me
And tell you all shall be
alright, OK? Alright.
Come here and curl up in my coat
This train is twenty stops away
From anywhere we want to go
I’ll wake you up when we get there
I’ll kiss your forehead while you sleep
And keep my fingers in your hair
The night is dark, the city wide
Eight million stars to flash and fade
Upon a bed, a sun to rise
And I will bring you into mine
I’ll hang your coat up in my hall
I’ll put our boots out back to dry
I have enough for you
I’ll split everything I own in two
I will feed you from my side
I will hold you close to me
And tell you all shall be
alright, OK? Alright.
Get on this train its getting late
And all we need are whole lives long
To have, to hold, to be awake.
