Sweet Victory . . . and Sweet Forgiveness

Basketball Forgiveness The Cleveland Cavaliers won one for the ages when they came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Championship. In doing so, they became the first major professional team from the city of Cleveland to win a championship since the Browns won in 1964. There are so many great stories out of the basketball series, including the greatness of LeBron James and the epic story of his departure and return to Cleveland. But wrapped up in that story is the fact that Cleveland never would have won this championship were it not for some instances of forgiveness trumping pride.

The Break Up and Reconciliation

There’s no way that I could make up,
For those angry words I said.
Sometimes it gets to hurting,
And the pain goes to my head.
— Iris Dement, “Sweet Forgiveness”

James left the Cavs in free agency for the Miami Heat in 2010. He notoriously announced the departure on an ESPN primetime special, outraging many in Cleveland. James, who grew up in northeast Ohio, had brought so much hope to the championship starved area. But now he was walking away. Of course, James had the right to look after his own career. But Cleveland had a right to be heartbroken too, even if the city held him to an impossible standard.

After James’s “The Decision” special, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert posted a letter to the teams’s website. Gilbert referred to the star’s decision as a “cowardly betrayal” and worse. His letter, while angry, also reflected his dedication to the city of Cleveland. Meanwhile, many in the city burned their LeBron jerseys.

Some people outside the Cleveland area did not understand the animosity. But having lived in Cleveland and experiencing many of the infamous sports heartbreaks there, I understood completely.

But in 2014, James returned to Cleveland because he wanted to bring a championship to the city. This time, he announced his decision in a heartfelt letter to the fans on the Sports Illustrated website.

It would have been hard to blame him if he stayed in Miami or went elsewhere, especially after the way Gilbert and some fans treated him. Of course, there were ways it made sense for him to come back. The return would help seal his legacy if he could bring the city a basketball championship. And, yes, Cleveland benefited from the reunion too.

But in order for him to return, it also took a bit of forgiveness. When there is a breakup, nasty things are said that can make it difficult to reconcile. Even with all of the nastiness and anger, James and Gilbert put that anger aside. And James and the fans somehow found some love and forgiveness. In his Sports Illustrated announcement, he asked, “Who am I to hold a grudge?”

Championships are built on a lot of things like talent, skills, money, sweat, luck, and effort. But this one also was built on forgiveness.

Forgiveness in Song

Sweet forgiveness, dear God above.
I say we all deserve,
A taste of this kind of love.

There are not as many songs about forgiveness as one might expect. The first one that probably comes to mind is Don Henley’s “The Heart of the Matter” because of the way the song repeats the word “forgiveness”: “But I think it’s about forgiveness/ Forgiveness / Even if, even if you don’t love me anymore.” The song about a lover forgiving someone who broke his heart and moving on constitutes one of Henley’s greatest songs.

Another excellent song about forgiveness is my favorite song by Daniel Johnston, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances.” If you are not a fan of Johnston’s unusual voice, a cool version of the song by Clem Snide appears on The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered.

Johnston based the lyrics of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances” on several Biblical phrases in Ephesians 4. His song is both advice about not going to bed angry and encouragement to “keep that chin up.”

A more appropriate forgiveness song for the occasion is Iris DeMent’s “Sweet Forgiveness.” Like a lot of other forgiveness songs, “Sweet Forgiveness” seems to be about forgiving a lover or former lover. But it mainly is a tribute to the idea of forgiveness.

In the song, the singer is not the person doing the forgiving but the person being forgiven. The singer recognizes she is not deserving of forgiveness: “There’s no way that I could make up,/ For those angry words I said.”

Forgiveness often constitutes a first step toward healing. And it does not necessarily need to be earned to be given. That gift may accomplish a lot for the forgiver and the forgiven, because as DeMent sings, forgiveness is a “kind of love.”

We do not know for sure who first gave forgiveness in Cleveland, whether it was LeBron James, Dan Gilbert, or “the fans.” But forgiveness brought some love and joy. And it was a first step toward a world championship.

Below is a live version of Susan Tedeschi covering Iris DeMent’s “Sweet Forgiveness,” which first appeared on DeMent’s album Infamous Angel (1993).

Photo by Austin Bjornholt via Creative Commons. What is your favorite song of forgiveness? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Fathers, Birth, and Rebirth In Springsteen Songs

    Phoenix For Father’s Day weekend, we discuss two of Bruce Springsteen’s songs about adult life, fatherhood, rebirth, and birth: “Long Time Comin'” and “Living Proof.” Early in his career in songs like “Independence Day,” Springsteen explored the relationship between sons and fathers with a focus on his experience as a son. But later in his life, some of his songs, like the two discussed below, focused on the joys and fears of being a father.

    “Long Time Comin'” and “Living Proof” explore some similar themes connecting the singer’s rebirth to the birth of a child. But although they were written less than five years apart, the singer’s perspective changes significantly between the two songs.

    “Living Proof,” which appeared on Springsteen’s 1992 Lucky Town album, is about the joy and the celebration of starting a family. The singer tells us about his own struggles in life and about “crawling deep into some kind of darkness.” Through that, he sought some type of rebirth: “I went down into the desert city / Just tryin’ so hard to shed my skin.” Ultimately, he found faith and hope in his lover and the child she gave him.

    Well now on a summer night in a dusky room,
    Come a little piece of the Lord’s undying light,
    Crying like he swallowed the fiery moon;
    In his mother’s arms it was all the beauty I could take,
    Like the missing words to some prayer that I could never make;
    In a world so hard and dirty so fouled and confused,
    Searching for a little bit of God’s mercy;
    I found living proof.

    “Living Proof” was written after Springsteen’s future wife Patti Scialfa gave birth to the couple’s first child, a son, on July 25, 1990. As such, it reflects the happiness Springsteen was feeling at finding a happy family life following a period that included a divorce in 1988.

    “Long Time Comin'” officially first appeared on Springsteen’s 2005 solo album Devils & Dust. But Springsteen wrote the song much earlier around the time of his 1995 album, The Ghost of Tom Joad. Thus, he wrote “Long Time Comin'” within five years of the birth of his first son and around the time of the birth of his third child. Springsteen and Scialfa had a daughter born in December 1991 and a second son born in January 1994.

    “Long Time Comin'” is set somewhere in the Western United States (“The wind in the mesquite comes rushin’ over the hilltops”) out under the open sky. The singer in “Long Time Comin’,” like the singer in “Living Proof” is seeking rebirth: “Tonight I’m gonna get birth naked and bury my old soul / And dance on its grave.”

    Unlike “Living Proof,” the father in “Long Time Comin'” focuses more on the future of his children, and he fears what his children may face. The singer is happy, but he worries that he will transfer his own failings to his children.

    Thus, with a few more years with experience being a father, the songwriter of “Long Time Comin'” creates a character who wonders about his own abilities as a father. It is a weariness earned by experience.

    Well now down below and pullin’ on my shirt,
    Yeah I got some kids of my own;
    Well if I had one wish for you in this God forsaken world, kid,
    It’d be that your mistakes will be your own,
    That your sins will be your own.

    The lyrics written by Springsteen-the-father contrast with the lyrics written by Springsteen-the-son in his earlier song “Adam Raised a Cain,” which appeared on Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978). In the song from Springsteen’s early years, the singer concluded, “You’re born into this life paying,/ For the sins of somebody else’s past.” Additionally, recalling his father’s pain, the singer warned, “You inherit the sins, you inherit the flames.” That son’s understanding of his own father’s burdens resulted in the son’s hope not to pass on those sins and flames.

    In the end, the father of “Long Time Comin'” looks at his two kids in sleeping bags, and then he looks at his pregnant wife, promising that he will do better this time around (even using the f-word for the first time on a Springsteen record). It’s one of the most touching and honest moments in the singer-songwriter’s expansive catalog of songs full of honesty and faith.

    Image of rebirth of Phoenix via public domain. What are your favorite songs of birth and rebirth? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Ewan MacColl: “My Old Man”

    My Old Man

    English folksinger Ewan MacColl, who was born January 25, 1915, wrote a number of great songs like “Dirty Old Town” and “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.” One of his most touching songs combines his political work with a personal story about his father, “My Old Man.”

    In “My Old Man,” MacColl sings about his father. Socialist parents raised MacColl, who was born with the name James Miller, and their own activism surely influenced their son’s political work.

    MacColl’s father was a Scottish foundry worker who was blacklisted by most factories because of his union activity. In “My Old Man,” MacColl uses his song to indict the capitalist system that can destroy human lives.

    In “My Old Man,” MacColl also reveals his fondness for the man who helped bring him into the world. But he also reconsiders his father’s life: “He abandoned hope and the will to live / They killed him, my old man.” And he sees the life as a warning that he can pass on to his own son: “And my advice to you, my son,/ Is to fight back while you can.”

    “My Old Man” is a tragic story and a touching song about fathers. I first heard the song during a performance by folksinger Charlie King.

    MacColl’s performance of “My Old Man” below was made for Grenada Television in 1984. It features MacColl’s usual style of singing while cupping his ear. The recording was made only about four years before MacColl died in October 1989.



    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    They’re Selling Postcards of the Hanging: The Real Lynching in Dylan’s “Desolation Row”

    Lynching Photo

    On June 15, 1920, residents of Duluth, Minnesota lynched three African-American circus workers: Isaac McGhie, Elias Clayton and Elmer Jackson. An 8-year-old child named Abraham Zimmerman lived in Duluth at the time.  And he grew up to have a son named Robert, who would later become famous with the name Bob Dylan. So, the lynching that Zimmerman witnessed eventually played a role in what American Songwriter has called Dylan’s sixth greatest song of all time.

    Abe Zimmerman reportedly taught his son about the lynching.  The lesson was similar to the way Woody Guthrie’s father told him about a lynching he had witnessed (that similarly inspired Guthrie to write an excellent song). Zimmerman’s story of the lynching in Minnesota and its aftermath eventually provided the imagery for the opening of Dylan’s “Desolation Row.”

    The Crime and Arrests

    In 1920, McGhie, Clayton, and Jackson worked with the John Robinson Circus as cooks or laborers. On the morning of June 15, James Sullivan called the police.  He told them that one night earlier his eighteen-year-old son and his son’s nineteen-year-old companion Irene Tusken had been held at gunpoint. Sullivan reported that his son told him that Tusken had been raped.

    Reportedly, there was no physical evidence of the rape.  But the Duluth police rounded up around 150 circus workers.  Then, the police asked the teens to identify the attackers among the circus workers.

    Six African-American men were arrested — including McGhie, Clayton, and Jackson.  Then, tensions rose in the community. Newspapers reported on the arrests and rumors spread around town.

    The Lynchings

    Eventually, a mob of 6,000-10,000 stormed into the jail.  They met little or no resistance from the police. They broke into the cells where they could, and they took McGhie, Clayton, and Jackson.

    First, the mob beat and hanged Isaac McGhie from a lamp post, despite the objections of a priest. Then, they similarly beat and hanged Elmer Jackson and Elias Clayton.

    The Minnesota National Guard arrived the next day to protect the three remaining prisoners.  But they were too late to help McGhie, Clayton, and Jackson.

    Three men in the mob were convicted of rioting.  Each served less than 15 months in prison. Nobody was convicted of murder.

    Seven of the remaining circus laborers were indicted for rape, and one man was convicted. Further, eventually it came out that Sullivan’s teen-aged son had made up the story of the rape that had set everything in motion.

    Dylan Desolation Row As was the case with many lynchings of African-Americans during the early twentieth century, photos of the lynching were taken and sent as postcards. The photo features Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie, both shirtless, hanging from the street light with Elias Clayton’s body on the sidewalk,.  Members of the mob lean in to be part of the photo. Part of the photo is at the top of this post, but you may see the entire photo postcard here (warning: graphic image).

    Desolation Row

    Bob Dylan was born only 21 years after the lynching, and so he may have seen the photo postcards that circulated in the area. Thus, he begins his epic song “Desolation Row” with a reference to these photographs.

    They’re selling postcards of the hanging;
    They’re painting the passports brown;
    The beauty parlor is filled with sailors;
    The circus is in town.

    The song continues, perhaps with “the blind commissioner” being a reference to the failures of the police to protect the three men. Of course, it is generally impossible to interpret every line of a Dylan song.

    Yet, it is clear that the lynching is the jumping off point as Dylan delves into a number of themes.  “Desolation Row” continues with references to the circus imagery that provided the setting for the Duluth lynching.

    Here comes the blind commissioner,
    They’ve got him in a trance;
    One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker,
    The other is in his pants;
    And the riot squad they’re restless,
    They need somewhere to go;
    As Lady and I look out tonight
    From Desolation Row.

    Recordings of “Desolation Row”

    “Desolation Row” originally appeared on Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited in 1965. More recently, alternate versions from the original recording sessions were released on The Best Of The Cutting Edge 1965 – 1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12.

    Additionally, there are various live versions of the song, many where Dylan changes up the lyrics. One great live version appears on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The “Royal Albert Hall Concert.” Below is an early live version from 1965.

    “Desolation Row” features some of Dylan’s greatest images, including the opening about the postcards of the hanging. In the book Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, Oliver Trager describes the song as “science fiction noir where mythology and history’s heroes and heels lurk in the shadows of every alleyway.” He concludes that the song “is perhaps the the most nightmarish vision in Dylan’s canon.”

    Legacy

    It remains a mystery whether the three lynched men had committed any crime or whether the story was completely fabricated by the teen-aged boy. Race played a significant role in the lynching, and even today in typical criminal cases we know that eyewitness testimony is generally unreliable.

    The 1920 lynching, either way, was certainly a tragedy.  Mob mentality and racial animosity took the lives of the three men.

    Historically, lynchings occurred most often in the South against African-American men.  But it was not unusual for lynchings to take place in the North. There were at least 219 people lynched in northern states from 1889 to 1918. Although times have changed, we still see echoes of these acts of racial violence in the news today.

    The Duluth lynching, in particular, has haunted those connected to it in various ways. The great-grandson of one of the Duluth lynchers wrote a book several years ago called The Lyncher In Me.

    And Dylan’s “Desolation Row” is another kind of postcard of the hanging.  In the song, the lynching image mingles with other pictures that continue to haunt old and new listeners.

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    Partial photo of lynching via public domain. Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Where Are You Now My Handsome Billy?

    one candle The shooting early this morning in an Orlando nightclub became the deadliest single-day mass shooting in the history of the United States. There are no words for the tragedy, even while the media tries to sort through the gunman’s motivations when he singled out the Florida gay nightclub for his horrible act.

    The politicians will have many words in the upcoming weeks, connecting the shooting to their issues, rightly or wrongly. We will hear more about the shooter’s affiliations and we will again debate a killer’s ability to gain access to weapons. And most likely, they will fail to agree on a solution.

    At times like this one, it can sometimes be helpful to turn off the TVs and seek comfort in music. Maybe eventually there will be some hope that will lead us to songs like Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.” But today, we can only think about the victims.

    Along those lines, one of the sweetest songs about losing someone comes from Bruce Springsteen’s “The Last Carnival.” While the song was written about the loss of E Street Band member Danny Federici, it still seems appropriate for a wider meaning.

    Moon rise, moon rise, the light that was in your eyes is gone away;
    Daybreak, daybreak, the thing in you that made me ache has gone to stay;
    We’ll be riding the train without you tonight,
    The train that keeps on moving.

    It’s black smoke scorching the evening sky;
    A million stars shining above us like every soul living and dead
    Has been gathered together by God to sing a hymn
    Over the old bones.

    Photo by Chimesfreedom. What is your favorite song of comfort? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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