Seems like I never really know what most songs from my era were about. Ive always like Crystal Blue Persuasion but only sang along with the words I knew...Im sure youve been there :) The origin caught me by surprise... (From Wikipedia) Crystal Blue Persuasion is a 1969 song originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells and composed by Eddie Gray, Tommy James and Mike Vale. A gentle-tempoed groove, Crystal Blue Persuasion was built around a prominent organ part with an understated arrangement, more akin to The Rascals sound at the time than to Jamess contemporary efforts with psychedelic rock. It included melodic passages for an acoustic guitar, as well as a bass pattern, played between the bridge, and the third verse of the song. In a 1985 interview in Hitch magazine, James said the title of the song came to him while he was reading the Biblical Book of Revelation: I took the title from the Book of Revelations [sic] in the Bible, reading about the New Jerusalem. The words jumped out at me, and theyre not together; theyre spread out over three or four verses. But it seemed to go together, its my favorite of all my songs and one of our most requested.[1] It has also been suggested that this song was also inspired by a book James had read called The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovahs Witnesses). The book gives information about the future of mankind based on Scripture, and has a blue cover. With an appropriate lighting scheme, the 2000s edition of Tommy James and the Shondells perform Crystal Blue Persuasion However, according to Jamess manager, James was actually inspired by his readings of the Book of Ezekiel, which (he remembered as) speaking of a blue Shekhinah light that represented the presence of the Almighty God, and of the Book of Isaiah and Book of Revelation, which tell of a future age of brotherhood of mankind, living in peace and harmony.[2] Many listeners thought Crystal Blue Persuasion was a drug song advocating the use of crystal meth (Methamphetamine), while on the West Coast. At the time of the songs release there were several popular types of high quality blue-colored LSD tablets in circulation—some listeners generally assumed James was referring to acid. In 1979, noted music writer Dave Marsh described it as a transparent allegory about James involvement with amphetamines.[3] youtube/watch?v=Dn5Pbug5nRw
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 02:10:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015