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Sacred and Profane

LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
edited December 2010 in Strut Central
Some of my favorite performers have walked the tightrope between the sacred and the profane.
Johnny Cash, Al Green and Prince all added excitement and tension in their music by blending sexuality and god.
Same could be said for Aretha and Ray Charles, but lets not include every singer who brings their gospel back ground with them.

What I am talking about are songs that invoke religious and sexual feelings.





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  Comments

  • dukeofdelridgedukeofdelridge urgent.monkey.mice 2,453 Posts
    KELLZ
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    MBDTF
  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    I can't really think of anyone present day, so it's hard to not be influenced by what I know about artists beyond their music.

    http://www.wat.tv/video/reverend-lee-roberta-flack-1fr99_2flz3_.html
  • strataspherestratasphere Blastin' the Nasty 1,035 Posts
    I think Marvin Gaye would fit the mould perfectly.
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    stratasphere said:
    I think Marvin Gaye would fit the mould perfectly.

    wasn't that the underlying theme of the david ritz bio "divided soul"?
  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    Two things that seem tangentially related to the topic:

    One, I saw some Jamaican festival footage a few years back where Beenie Man was exhorting some dancers to "Shake that booty that Jesus gave you!"

    And two, back in college when I bought Call Me on cd at Schoolkids' Records in Athens, Ohio, the dude who rang me up was some sort of UK expat, and when he saw what I was buying, began enthusing very wink-wink-nudge-nudgingly: "Ohhhhh, I see, I see--good choice, mate. Good one for the ladies, that one. You've heard of The Belle Album, right? Well consider this The Bell End Album, you get me?" I didn't, but it's probably better that way.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    faux_rillz said:
    MBDTF

    pussy and religion is all I need
  • rootlesscosmorootlesscosmo 12,848 Posts
    Isn't Sam Cooke the ultimate example of this?

    He sang church music and had girls wanting to take their clothes off.
  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    There's nothing inherently interesting about a horny religious person.

    Post a song that embodies both.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    edit - meh - I was kinda babbling there.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    rootlesscosmo said:
    Isn't Sam Cooke the ultimate example of this?

    He sang church music and had girls wanting to take their clothes off.

    Thanks people, keep them coming.
    We can see that blending the sacred and profane is not a rarity.
    The tension that it creates, to me, increases the excitement in the music.

    Yes, Sam Cooke, especially in his gospel years, and Marvin Gaye, are some of the ultimate examples.

    Casting way back, in Grapes Of Wrath, Preacher Casey talks about how the better he preaches, the more the holy spirit enters a woman, the more she wants to have sex with him after.
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