In my last entry, I discussed hedonist Prince playing the part of some phosphorescent, purple pastor preaching a pile of pseudo-coherent beliefs he probably barely understood himself, beyond his own hyper-confidence in himself.
In this entry, I will discuss actual pastor Al Green, whose song "Let's Stay Together" couldn't differ more in philosophy and approach.
Prince was the player, Al Green was the preacher. We have to learn the difference.
Al Green's song is not a hyped series of grand statements about "life" or anything else. It is one of the most graceful, cool, beautifully written soul ballads of all time - those dawning choruses! And it shows us a man willing in every way to humble himself to the recipient of this song, with only one ideal in mind: to stay together. You could say it's a love song, but even that is a hyped version of what it is. It is a "staying together" song. It's a song about the compromise and respect that relationships require to persevere. It's the attitude of a balanced, spiritual man who accepts the ups and downs of daily life and sees the greater long-term beauty. This, it turns out, is love. Actual love, in action, not as a mission statement. Prince and his adrenaline-fueled, messianic ravings are not on the same planet.
The music itself: Can't we still occasionally track songs like this? There is such immediacy in the sound of the brass instruments, the voices, none of them polished in the echo that modern techniques would demand them to be. What happened to this simplicity? It creates an intimacy we don't know anymore in music recordings. Maybe it would just come off as affected these days, but I doubt it. Think of it as an Instagram filter for your songs.