A Work of Genius and Beauty

A Work of Genius and Beauty

There have been a few times in my life when I have encountered a piece of art that made everything around it pale in comparison. I had this reaction with Yan Martel’s “Life of Pi” and David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest.” After reading these books I recall feeling sorry for the writers because I was sure they would never be able to write anything so special again.

I’m ancient enough to remember Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band coming out. Like many listeners I felt that this music changed everything. The Beatles had altered something important about the way music worked. The only other records that affected me this way were another Beatles record, Abbey Road, and Paul Simon’s Graceland.

I’m sure we all have experiences with art that moved us in a special way. This kind of reaction doesn’t (and shouldn’t) happen often. We are lucky to feel this kind of transcendence at all. As writers we can only hope to produce something so extraordinary.

I’ve recently been exposed to Paul Simon’s album Seven Psalms. I hate to admit that although the work is just over a year old, this is the first time I’ve heard of it. When I was younger, I subscribed to Rolling Stone magazine and was up on new releases from the world of rock and pop. In recent years I’ve become somewhat cynical about new music and felt little attraction to the overproduced, autotuned product that passes for popular music.

Seven Psalms is enough to restore one’s faith in the power of music.

Paul Simon was just over eighty when he recorded this album. He hadn’t written anything for two years when he had a dream telling him he should write a song called Seven Psalms. On subsequent nights he dreamed most of the words and music for the piece.

Simon is without question one of the great songwriters of the twentieth century. The words and music for pieces like Bridge Over Troubled Water, Sounds of Silence and Mrs. Robinson are rightly considered classics. 

With Seven Psalms, I believe he outdoes himself.

Perhaps some of the reason I am so moved by this work is that I can relate to it. This is music and poetry by an older man meditating on the meaning of life and death. These topics may be of special interest to those of us in our second half century, but the themes are universal. And what is successful art other than something the reader, listener or viewer can relate to?

Seven Psalms is about searching and doubting, something I think that all artists do. We look at the world and try to make sense of it through our words, sounds and images.

Seven Psalms is thirty-three minutes long and intended to be consumed in one sitting. It is serious work and requires clearheaded attention from the listener.

The poetry is sublime, and the music is breathtaking. It amazes me how one man can write such moving words and beautiful melodies. Simon’s acoustic guitar playing has always been underappreciated and, in his eighties, he plays as well as ever.

The album opens with the sound of a spinning chime and ends with the singing of the word amen. The sounds at the start prepare us for the meditation that is to come and the amen releases us from a wonderous spell. Between these two are some of the best words and music that I have ever heard.

I haven’t provided quotes from the lyrics or said much specific about the music. I will leave the delights of experiencing this wonderful work to you. If you aren’t familiar with Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms, I’d recommend that you take the time to have a careful listen. Wonderous pieces of art like this don’t come around often.