Song for Advent #21: Marley and Marley - Muppets Christmas Carol

What a great film based on a great story with an Advent challenge to focus on what really matters because one day there will be an accounting. Now where did we put the DVD?

 

Song for Advent #13: I believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake

Yesterday came the sad news that Greg Lake had died. That's two members of the mighty ELP we've said goodbye to in 2016. Greg Lake wrote many great songs and then there was the ubiquitous I Believe In Father Christmas his rather jaundiced take on the Christmas season. Interesting to note that when the film About A Boy came out in 2005, with the premise of a central character who lives off the royalties of his father's Christmas hit, someone wrote to The Guardian asking if it was possible to live off the royalties of such a song. Lake penned the following reply:

In the film About a Boy, the man played by Hugh Grant never has to work another day in his life because of the proceeds he receives from a Christmas single his father released. Could one really make a living in this way?

In 1975, I wrote and recorded a song called I Believe in Father Christmas, which some Guardian readers may remember and may even own. It was a big hit and it still gets played on the radio every year around December, and it appears on more or less every Christmas compilation going. So I can tell you from experience that it’s lovely to get the old royalty cheque around September every year, but on its own, the Christmas song money isn’t quite enough to buy my own island in the Caribbean.

I’m on tour at the moment and the Christmas song is as well received now as it was 30 years ago – maybe even more so. If Guardian readers could all please request it be played by their local radio stations, maybe that Caribbean island wouldn’t be so far away – and if I get there, you’re all invited.

U2 did a cover of the song a few years ago and tweaked the lyrics, changing the song into a more positive affirmation of faith by altering a couple of lines. You can hear their version here. On hearing the cover Greg Lake approved commenting: 

In some ways, “I Believe in Father Christmas” is a very quirky song. It was never written with the intention of it becoming a hit single but was written, rather, as an album track making quite a serious comment about how Christmas had changed from being a celebration of peace on earth and goodwill to all men, into one huge and disgusting shopping orgy.

Although the basic song is very simple, the internal musical structure is actually quite complex and contains elements of classical music and folk music, and just about everything else in-between. It is not an easy song to cover without sounding either as if you were vamping out the original version but not quite as well, or doing some kind of “out there” arrangement purely for the sake of being different. In a way you are sort of damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

The clever thing about the U2 version is that it manages to capture both elements, the original and the inventive without really falling on one side or the other and in this way it is definitely unique. The guitar part is very clever and the vocal, as always with Bono, sounds sincere. That is the mark of a great singer.

Well done chaps! It is great to see the song serving such a worthy cause.

Here are the original lyrics with the U2 changes alongside in italics:

They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the virgin birth
I remember one Christmas morning
A winter's light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that Christmas tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire

They sold me a dream of Christmas
They sold me a silent night
And they told me a fairy story
'Till I believed in the Israelite (But I believe in the Israelite)
And I believed in father Christmas
And I looked to the sky with excited eyes
'Till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise (I saw him through his disguise)

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave new year
All anguish, pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
Hallelujah, Noel be it heaven or hell
The Christmas we get we deserve

Here's Greg Lake performing the song with Ian Anderson accompanying on flute around 2006.

Song for Advent #7: Prepare Ye (the way of the Lord) - Godspell

Of the various musicals made about the life of Christ my favourite is Godspell, not least because I've played drums for it on occasions. At the time Godspell was seen as controversial because it portrays Jesus as a clown but it is much more faithful to the gospels than say Jesus Christ Superstar. In this opening scene John the Baptist calls for people to prepare for the Lord's coming and although the film is very dated I love the exuberance of both the song and the baptisms in a Central Park fountain. The figure of Jesus is glimpsed briefly on the edge of the action. John the Baptist is one of the key Advent characters calling on people to get ready for the Lord's coming. John's call to prepare was radical, challenging and dangerous as Luke chapter 3 makes clear.

Wrath

Every now and again the Christian corner of social media goes into meltdown over the singing of Stuart Townend's In Christ Alone. The line causing so much consternation is 'Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied'. I now have a much bigger problem with the song thanks to a family argument this evening. Over a heated debate about how wrath should be pronounced one of the family said it should be pronounced like Wrath of Khan - the best of the original Star Trek film franchise. So that's the song now ruined for me, I'll never be able to sing it again without thinking of Ricardo Montalban with a mullet haircut shouting:

He tasks me. He tasks me, and I shall have him. I'll chase him round the Moons of Nibia and round Antares Maelstrom and round Perdition's Flames before I give him up!... Prepare to alter course.

John Lewis' Frankenstein

John Lewis has released this year's Christmas advert, far too early, and again it reminds me of a horror story. 2012's 'The Journey' advert reminded me of Jo Nesbo's 'The Snowman' about a serial killer who leaves snowmen outside the houses of women he's murdered. Read the book and you will never look at a snowman the same way again.

This year's advert features a boy with a penguin. The narrative is that the penguin longs for a partner to love. Now it just so happens that last week while travelling we listened to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. What many people forget is that the reason the monster destroys everything that Frankenstein holds dear is because his creator has refused to make a partner for him to love. I wonder what the John Lewis penguin would have done if he hadn't got his Christmas wish?

simply Marvellous

Every now and again I come across a film  that lifts the spirit. Once is such a film and Marvellous is another. Last night Kate and I were looking for something to watch on T.V. and I had seen a trailer for Marvellous, thought it looked interesting, so persuaded Kate to watch it. The film is a biopic of the life of Neil Baldwin and it is glorious. Neil is someone who many have dismissed as having 'special needs' and yet his life affirming attitude to situations and people demonstrates that time and again he is the one ministering to the needs of others.

Marvellous follows Neil's exploits as a circus clown, his work at Keele University and his time as kit man with Stoke City during the tenure of manager Lou Macari. Neil's relationships with his mother, clergy, friends and footballers are explored with humour and humanity. The subtitle of this blog is 'reflections on faith, family, film and football' and in a sense that is what Marvellous is all about. Neil is a Christian and his faith is portrayed with a sympathetic touch, rarely seen on television or in film, as is the vicar with whom Neil develops a lasting friendship. There is some gentle ribbing about the Anglican Church but it is portrayed in a positive, even affectionate, light.

Neil's mother is the rock who sustains him through life and the portrayal of the relationship is beautifully judged, particularly his mother's fears for Neil as she approaches the end of her life. Some of the moments between the two are heart-rending, not least when Neil is visiting his mum in a care home.

The film experiments with format in a way reminiscent of Dennis Potter. In several scenes the masterful actor Toby Jones, who plays Neil, is in character in dialogue with the real Neil Baldwin. There are also scenes with Lou Macari, then manager of Stoke City, commenting on some of the incidents portrayed in the film. These never interrupt the narrative flow and enhance our understanding of Neil's character and relationships. There are several moments reminiscent of Woody Allen's Zelig.

Football is central to the film as it is to Neil's life. A committed Stoke City supporter, Neil strikes up an extraordinary relationship with Macari leading to his appointment as kit man. At one stage Macari even plays Neil in a testimonial game against Aston Villa and later comments that Neil is the best signing he ever made at Stoke City. There is plenty of cruel banter from some of the footballers and at one stage a player calls Neil a 'Mong', however, Neil gives as good as he gets and there is an hilarious incident when Neil takes his revenge with the players' underpants. A favourite moment is a scene recounting an incident when Macari is interviewed about a new signing he has made. The genuine video on which the scene is based is embedded at the end of this post and I defy you not to laugh.

A recurring theme is the way that Neil mentions famous people who he knows. Others dismiss his fantasising only to discover that he really has met these people, can count some as genuine friends and has the pictures and signatures to prove it. In the end you feel that these people felt privileged to have known Neil rather than the other way round.

Marvellous is a wonderful account of a life well lived and enriching the lives of others. Kate summed the film up when she commented at the end that it was everything Ricky Gervais's Derek tries but fails to be.

And here's that video as promised:

Loving the alien

Sorry folks, this isn't a post about Susan Sarandon's revelation that she had an affair with David Bowie during the filming of The Hunger. Yesterday I was reading a report on Lord Sacks' comments about social media when I caught sight of an article informing me that Aliens can't be saved according to creationist Ken Ham.

Ham's argument is as follows:

"You see, the Bible makes it clear that Adam's sin affected the whole universe,"    

"This means that any aliens would also be affected by Adam's sin, but because they are not Adam's descendants, they can't have salvation." 

"Jesus did not become the 'God Klingon' or the 'God Martian'!" he wrote.  "Only descendents of Adam can be saved.  God's Son remains the 'Godman' as our Savior.  In fact, the Bible makes it clear that we see the Father through the Son (and we see the Son through His Word). To suggest that aliens could respond to the Gospel is just totally wrong." 

It strikes me that Ham has a very limited soteriology. He argues that Adam's sin affects the whole universe but Christ's salvation only affects humanity. In other words Ham is suggesting that Adam's work is much greater than Christ's. Well I'm with St Paul on this one when he declares:

'In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth'.      Ephesians 1:7-10 

As Tom Wright comments:

'God's plan is for the whole cosmos, the entire universe; his choosing and calling of us, and his shaping and directing of us in the Messiah, are somehow connected with that larger intention... the point is that we aren't chosen for our own sake, but for the sake of what God wants to accomplish through us.' Paul for Everyone - The Prison Letters p.9

This is what I understand to be a universal Gospel; Good News for the whole creation. So if I happen to come across these characters on the underground it will be my duty and my joy to share with them the love of God made known in his son the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Slogging up to Arras

A couple of weeks ago we sat down as a family and watched the film War Horse, both my children had already read Michael Morpurgo’s book, and then we chatted about the First World War.

I learnt about the horrors of war not in my history lessons but in English. The War Poets captured, in a way no historian could, the horror and waste of life on the front line during  the ‘war to end all wars’. Of course the ‘Great War’ didn’t signal an end to conflict, its outcome doomed Europe to a period of instability which was the seed bed of the Second World War and so many of the tensions and conflict which followed in Europe. On this day, when we remember all those who died as a result of these conflicts, I turn to one of those great writers of the early part of the last century to glimpse again something of what so many went through at such great cost.

‘Good-morning; good-morning!’ the General said 
When we met him last week on our way to the line. 
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of ’em dead, 
And we’re cursing his staff for incompetent swine. 
‘He’s a cheery old card,’ grunted Harry to Jack
As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.
But he did for them both by his plan of attack.

The General: Siegfried Sassoon

And then a sonnet for this day called Silence by Michael Guite:

listen to ‘Silence; a sonnet’ on Audioboo

RIP Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn

Yet another legend departs the stage as the death is announced of bass player Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn. Thanks for some great music and for The Blues Brothers.

passion

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?

Roll on December 2012!

 

Can’t wait.

h/t Dave Meldrum.

Tom Selleck's Moustache

Well it made me smile.



h/t Andy Campbell

United 93 - remembering 9/11

There has been a plethora of programmes and films on T.V. over the last few days to mark the anniversary of 9/11. By far the best I have seen so far is United 93, a powerful film about the flight of the United Airlines plane that crashed before reaching its designated target. The film was shown on ITV and to their credit they showed the film without the interruption of adverts.

United 93 is a docudrama by British film maker Paul Greengrass and based on recordings, interviews and testimonies from many of those involved in the unfolding horror of 9/11. Several of the participants in the events play themselves in the film, giving the unfolding narrative authenticity and avoiding the melodrama of offerings like Oliver Stone’s World Trade Centre. The story begins with the hijackers preparing to depart for the airport and passengers going through the mundane process of checking in for an everyday internal flight. Knowing what is to come, there is genuine tension from the start in watching as late passengers check in and people make routine phone calls before take off. The flight is backed up due to heavy air traffic and there is a real possibility that it won’t take off before news comes in of the other terrorist attacks. The short glimpses of passengers reactions when the plane finally takes to the air are truly poignant because the viewer knows what is to come.

The film depicts the reactions to the unfolding horror from several perspectives; the passengers and crew of the plane, air traffic controllers and the military . What emerges is the chaos and confusion as well as the inability to comprehend what is happening and how to respond. Some of the most effective scenes are the reaction shots as controllers watch the second plane crashing into the World Trade Centre; no one can quite believe what they are watching and all are struck dumb as the fireball envelopes the top of the tower.

The later half of the film focuses on the events inside United 93 during its last few minutes in the air. There is a certain amount of speculation as to exactly what happened but much of the story is pieced together from the phone calls to loved ones made by the passengers. It gradually dawns on the captive passengers that this is not a straightforward hijacking as they hear news of the Trade Centre attacks and the explosion at the Pentagon. The decision to try and retake the plane is no gung-ho act of bravado typical of Hollywood blockbusters, but the hesitant conclusion drawn by terrified men and women who see no alternative course of action. The last few moments are harrowing as the passengers almost succeed in over powering the hijackers before the all too familiar final event.

From start to finish United 93 maintains an almost unbearable tension, remarkable for a film in which the ending is so well known. The routine of the flight, the ordinariness of the passengers, the disbelief and confusion of those responding to the unthinkable, the breakdown of communication between the authorities and uncertainty about how to react, all effect a realism seldom achieved on the big or small screen. United 93 comes as close as any film can in creating a fitting tribute to those caught up directly in the tragedy of 9/11.

I first posted this review in September 2009 and I still maintain it is the best film or documentary I have seen on the subject.

Marriage ( for @RevdLesley )

Congratulations to Fellows blogger Lesley who is getting married to Alan today. In celebration here is a short reminder of that other great wedding a couple of months ago. With thanks to Peter Cook and The Princess Bride.

The President’s Speech

Here’s an early front runner for next year’s Oscars. Probably about as accurate as The King’s Speech according to Christopher Hitchens!



h/t Chris Newlands.

5 soundtrack songs meme

I thought this one up while walking the dog in the rain. List 5 songs used to great effect in a soundtrack for T.V. or film.

1. The West Wing - Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits: This track is used at the end of The Two Cathedrals (The West Wing series two finale) and underscores the poignancy and tension of the whole episode.
2. American Gigolo – Call Me by Blondie: The song and accompanying opening shot of Richard Greer driving sets the film up perfectly.
3. American Beauty – Don’t Let It bring You Down by Annie Lennox: Well judged use of a gorgeous rendition of Neil Young’s classic.
4. To Live and Die in L.A. – Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung: Don’t know why but this just works with Friedkin’s underrated thriller capturing the 1980s West Coast zeitgeist. Wang Chung were also commissioned to write the score.
5. The Wire – Way Down in the Hole by The Blind Boys of Alabama: Each series of The Wire uses a different version of Tom Waits’ classic for the opening credits and this is my favourite.

You are tagged if you want to have a go.

Right diagnosis, wrong prescription

There is an interesting article in Christianity Today suggesting that it is time for Christians to reassess their perpetual outrage. The author, Christopher Hays, argues that many artists court attention by producing offensive material in the hope that people will respond and therefore generate valuable publicity. Hays rightly argues that Christians are too quick to react with outraged comment and this simply serves the purposes of those they attack:

To rise above the billowing waves of culture, the latter-day Voltaire need only to offend a small-but-vocal subset of Christians. But unlike Jonathan Edwards's angry God, the Christian culture rages ineffectually, merely providing sound bites for the familiar stories in the mainstream media.

By overreacting when some hack misrepresents the biblical story, however, we send the message that the misrepresentation is more surprising and controversial than the genuine article.

Though I think Hays’ gets the diagnosis right, that Christians too readily take offence and then take to the blog, Facebook page or tweet, I believe his prescription for the problem misses the mark. Hays’ argues that Christians should simply ignore the controversial:

A thought experiment: Imagine if every Christian leader who was invited to comment on the next Dan Brown book simply said, "Why are you calling about this? You know his books are fictional, they're boring to anyone informed, and they're kind of poorly written." No facts, no offense taken—no story.

While many Christians crave the catharsis of rebuttal, a passage from Proverbs balances this sentiment against the wisdom of stoical restraint: "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes" (26:4-5).

While this might be a good response for some attention seekers, I want to argue for a more creative response. Not to protest and condemn, nor to ignore, but to positively engage with the controversy. Take Philip Pullman whose novel The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ Hays specifically cites. When the book was published Christians reacted creatively by reviewing the book and noting it’s strengths and weaknesses. The Archbishop of Canterbury’s review of the book is a good example of this more positive approach and is more powerful for its measured tone. ++Rowan has been happy to discuss Pullman’s Dark Materials work with the author, taking the opportunity to respectfully challenge the caricature of Christianity presented by Pullman. In fact, it was in response to ++Rowan’s observation that the church in Pullman’s trilogy had no Jesus and cross that Pullman wrote The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.

For several years I have been involved with colleagues in running a series of courses reflecting on how Christians engage with controversial portrayals of Christianity and Jesus. We have sought to explore the opportunities afforded by engagement rather than protest. Partly this is because many Christians in their swiftness to react have missed the point; the Life of Brian and The Last Temptation of Christ are a couple of notable examples we examine. Primarily we are keen to show how the more controversial works raise issues and questions that give the church a tremendous opportunity to engage and witness. When Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code came to the screen many churches used it as an opportunity to invite people to explore the claims made by the film and to present an alternative understanding of the issues, including the nature of the gospels, the formation of the canon of scripture and early church history.

So yes, Christians should be slower to react with predictable outrage. But rather than ignore the controversies, I would encourage Christians to engage with the issues raised and explore creatively alternative responses.

The Social Network

Not since Closer have I seen a film with such an unpleasant cast of characters, only this time the film was worth watching.

The Social Network recounts the origins of Facebook and the legal wrangles over who invented and contributed to developing the social media phenomenon. The genius of Aaron Sorkin’s script and David Fincher’s direction is that such an obnoxious group of individuals could make compelling viewing. The story of Facebook is recounted in a non-linear montage of scenes mainly focusing on legal depositions between the protagonists. This could have been both confusing and boring, however, no one makes people talking at breakneck speed in small rooms more interesting than Sorkin. We are taken into the world of Facebook from three different perspectives and the ambiguities about who is telling the truth and what really went on are never resolved and the viewer is left to draw their own conclusions.

The central performances from Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg and Andrew Garfield playing his best (only) friend Eduardo Saverin are convincing and the recognition coming the way of the actors is well deserved. Justin Timberlake is impressive with his portrayal of Sean Parker, founder of Napster, and he commits wholeheartedly to making Parker as unpleasant as possible. The supporting actors are all up to the mark and Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss twins, who claimed Zuckerberg had stolen their idea, captures a sense of arrogant entitlement perfectly. All of this simply reinforces feelings of admiration and disgust that such a group of individuals could have made themselves so unimaginably wealthy.

At the end of a very enjoyable couple of hours I was left with one overriding thought that we forget at our peril. Everyone involved in Facebook is looking for the best way to make the product as successful and ubiquitous as possible. So those of us who complain when Facebook changes privacy settings, location information or links to other companies, products and services need to remember that these guys aren’t in it to serve our interests. Zuckerberg and co. aren’t interested in creating a social network, they are interested in making Facebook the biggest beast in the digital jungle and the message of the film is that they are prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve that end.

Now I’m off to double check those privacy settings on my Facebook profile.

Changing attitudes

Some people may have already seen this but I thought it was worth posting. A group of engineers in Stockholm got together to see if they could change people’s behaviour. They wanted to reverse the percentage of people choosing the escalator rather than the stairs and the result was 66% chose the stairs. Of course the whole thing is really an advert for a certain car manufacturer. One wag commented that an easier way to do it would be to simply switch off the escalator but where’s the fun in that?



The video reminded me of my favourite scene from the film Big.



Now what can we learn from this about encouraging people to explore the Good News we have to share?

h/t Chris Newlands and Sandra Sykes

Ramshackle prophet

It is easy to forget how extraordinary some events were when we first experienced them. Last night I watched When Harvey Met Bob a BBC film about the events leading up to Live Aid in 1985. The 1985 concert was amazing.  I had just graduated from university, dad had got hold of a video recorder and I still have the original tapes (VHS not Betamax thankfully). We’ve had a steady stream of these jukebox charity concerts since Live Aid, including Live 8, but none match the magic of that first event.

The film depicts the unfolding relationship between Bob Geldof, who had the vision for the concert, and Harvey Goldsmith, the concert promoter who helped Geldof make the vision a reality. Domhnall Gleeson’s portrayal of Geldof is superb; he nails the accent, the slouch, the haunted look, the bloody mindedness and the hair. It seemed to me the hair was a visual metaphor for Geldof’s emotions. The more upset and frustrated he became, the wilder his mop of hair, until by the day of the concert when it was completely out of control. Gleeson gives us the ramshackle prophet, not the plaster saint, raging against the plight of millions facing starvation while the world shrugged its shoulders in apathy.

I wasn’t as sure about Ian Hart’s portrayal of Goldsmith. The concert promoter is no shrinking violet and he didn’t convey the force or energy of the man, nor the character required to make such an event happen and reign in Geldof’s wilder notions. It was a pity that Midge Ure didn’t even get a mention, apart from a snatch of his hit Vienna, given that he was Geldof’s partner in the recording of the Band Aid charity single which kicked the whole thing off.

The most striking aspect of the film is the reminder of just what a seat of the pants enterprise Live Aid was. Geldof, blustering and blagging his way through press conferences, promising performances from artists who’d never heard of the concert, making commitments without a clue how they would be delivered. The interviews and documentaries I’ve seen about Live Aid over the years confirm that this is an accurate picture. Even at the last moment, with Live Aid well under way in both London and Philadelphia, it looked like the event would fail in its purpose. People were watching the bands but weren’t committing their money and so in a desperate effort to drum up donations Geldof did a live interview. Part way through he loses his temper and makes an expletive ridden demand for money. I remember the jolt of electricity hitting me as I heard his words at the time and I remember the response as the cash began to flood in.

Geldof has plenty of critics and I’m sure he’d be the first to admit his faults, but there are many people alive today because of what he and Goldsmith achieved with Live Aid.

No apologies for showing one of my favourite clips…