James Taylor, 'Shed a Little Light'

James Taylor, ‘Shed a Little Light’

MusicAugust 2010 • Views: 3,142

Let us turn our thoughts today
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women
Living on the Earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood
That we are bound together
In our desire to see the world become
A place in which our children
Can grow free and strong
We are bound together
By the task that stands before us
And the road that lies ahead
We are bound and we are bound

There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist
There is a hunger in the center of the chest
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
And though the body sleeps the heart will never rest

(Chorus)
Shed a little light, oh Lord
So that we can see
Just a little light, oh Lord
Wanna stand it on up
Stand it on up, oh Lord
Wanna walk it on down
Shed a little light, oh Lord

Can’t get no light from the dollar bill
Don’t give me no light from a TV screen
When I open my eyes
I wanna drink my fill
From the well on the hill

(Do you know what I mean?)
- Chorus -

There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist
There is a hunger in the center of the chest
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
And though the body sleeps the heart will never rest

Oh, Let us turn our thoughts today
To Martin Luther King
And recognize that there are ties between us
All men and women
Living on the Earth
Ties of hope and love
Sister and brotherhood

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57 comments

Killgore Trout Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:07:06pm

Epically awesome.

Almost Killed by Space Hookers Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:07:53pm

Thank you for posting that.

Killgore Trout Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:09:19pm

Engie should take the reverb off Jame's voice. He doesn't need it.

elbruce Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:09:23pm

Martin Luther King autotuned:

Youtube Video

Autotuning is often done horribly, but this a pretty good version, more like Autotune The News and less like T-Pain.

abolitionist Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:09:57pm

All that survives is how we live our lives.

I think it was a line from one of Taylor's songs.

jjmckay1216 Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:11:40pm

Thanks for the new thred Charles. It was getting a little rough below. How about them TEXANS!!

Gus Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:15:31pm

From Martin Luther King, Jr. -- "I Have a Dream"

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Jeff In Ohio Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:16:19pm

Nice song.

When it comes to King, I have a particular affection for this version of the Dick Holler tune Abraham, Martin and John as song by the one and only Marvin Gaye.

Youtube Video

elbruce Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:16:41pm

The original MLK speech. In case my post at #4 left a bad taste in your ears, this should fix it.

Youtube Video

Kragarghazi Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:18:32pm

re: #4 elbruce

Autotuning is ~~often done~~ horrible

fixed

Jeff In Ohio Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:23:29pm

And while we're on the vibe, here's my hero Fred Neil doing the spiritual The Water Is Wide.

Youtube Video

Jeff In Ohio Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:31:56pm

When I was a teen ager, the story was told to me that Pete Seeger sang We Shall Overcome for Dr.King in the back of a car in Mississippi and a movement song was born. I suppose I could use the google fu to find out, but I like stories.

It's a song I've heard Pete sing a number of times. At the Newport Folk Festival when it had moved to Saratoga Springs, The Clearwater Revival on the Hudson. In Central Park. On the National Mall. It's been overused and even misused, but still a song that resonates with a great many people, including me.

Youtube Video

Fat Bastard Vegetarian Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:34:09pm

JT's is so good live.

Killgore Trout Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:34:47pm

re: #13 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

JT's is so good live.

Lost his hair but kept his voice.

Cato the Elder Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:36:36pm

I suspect that James Taylor is a Unitarian.

Beware the Unitarian Jihad! We are everywhere, and will impose reasonableness on your prejudiced ass, whether it pleases you or not!

Jeff In Ohio Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:36:47pm

Hey you kids get out of my thread.

Jeff In Ohio Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:39:09pm

And sometimes I feel like I'm almost gone.

Youtube Video

Cato the Elder Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:39:17pm

Brother Mailed Fist of Equanimity says: "If you don't start playing nice, I'm going to impose a voluntary timeout!"

Fat Bastard Vegetarian Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:39:41pm

re: #14 Killgore Trout

Well, it isn't just that. He (or his people) are able to pull in back-up vocalists that blend very well with his.

Every time I hear him, it is sublime.

Can't tell a great guitar player from a good one, but vocalists... yeah. I've got that.

elbruce Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:48:05pm

Anti-Flag: One People, One Struggle

Youtube Video

Fat Bastard Vegetarian Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:51:26pm

re: #20 elbruce

Maybe I'm old...

Cato the Elder Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:53:00pm

re: #17 Jeff In Ohio

And sometimes I feel like I'm almost gone.

There is no superseding that song.

Still, I humbly offer this:

Youtube Video

ProGunLiberal Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:57:10pm

To the thread of good music, I offer this selection from Queen.

Youtube Video

Dancing along the light of day Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:57:23pm

re: #21 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Maybe I'm old...

WE are all old.
It's just what we are.
Hope your daughters BF is doing well!

Dark_Falcon Sat, Aug 28, 2010 7:58:46pm

I'll throw in some U2:

Youtube Video

SteveC Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:01:30pm

re: #24 Floral Giraffe

WE are all old.
It's just what we are.

Doggone right! Drove to Atlanta this week for a checkup, I swear that it feels like someone moves that city 100 miles further away every six months!

Kragarghazi Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:03:40pm

If you're going to have a music thread, then let there be rock.

Youtube Video

Dancing along the light of day Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:04:00pm

re: #26 SteveC

Congratulations! You are now, officacilay old!

Dancing along the light of day Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:05:05pm

re: #27 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

If you're going to have a music thread, then let there be rock.

[Video]

You are BEYOND old!
And into the Kragaristan!

Gus Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:06:34pm

Gil Scott Heron - Winter In America

Youtube Video

elbruce Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:07:55pm

re: #25 Dark_Falcon

I'll throw in some U2:

If we're going to throw in U2 in a thread about songs honoring MLK, it should be this one:

Youtube Video

Cato the Elder Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:08:06pm

Music thread on a Saturday night! I'm so moved and happy about all the good stuff here.

Here's one that I've posted here before, but, dammit, I'm going to post it again:

Youtube Video

This is a truly perfect example of the Portuguese fado, my favorite! Honi soit qui mal y pense.

P.S. Do not ask me what the jellyfish mean. I have no clue.

SteveC Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:09:32pm

News and notes, mainly OT -

Joshua is better! He's off the vent and the only medication he's getting is something to control his blood pressure. No one's said anything about when he might get to come home, but he is improving!

I went to Atlanta for a checkup with my Adult Congenital Cardiologist. An Echocardiogram showed that my heart is 6 mm smaller than the last scan! (This is a very good thing!) But I do have high levels of Uric Acid in my blood and leg pain... possible Gout! So I got a script for a little allopurinol and have to cut back on a couple of things, but should be just fine.

I got a "Good for Another 100,000 Miles!" sticker stamped on my backside! Ya'll wanna see? *drops pants*

ProGunLiberal Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:10:19pm

Off topic, but Washington D.C. and Obama may have another problem next week. A big one.

[Link: www.wunderground.com...]

jaunte Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:10:28pm

Buddy Guy & John Mayer - Damn right I've got the blues

SteveC Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:10:59pm

re: #27 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

If you're going to have a music thread, then let there be rock.

And there was Rock, and it was good. And the morning and evening was the eighth day.

William Barnett-Lewis Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:11:48pm

Tonight's contribution to the music, an interesting group from my hometown of Eau Claire, WI. Bon Iver.

Flume

Dark_Falcon Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:12:29pm

re: #31 elbruce

If we're going to throw in U2 in a thread about songs honoring MLK, it should be this one:

[Video]

Hell yes, that's a great song! But that "Bullet the Blue Sky" live vid came up up as a YouTube suggestion and I decided it would be a good contribution.

Kragarghazi Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:12:35pm

If I'm high on hill, she'd still be looking down me

Youtube Video

Fat Bastard Vegetarian Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:13:08pm

re: #33 SteveC

Gout sucks.

SteveC Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:14:51pm

re: #40 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Gout sucks.

Quoted for truth!

Fat Bastard Vegetarian Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:15:42pm

Esperanza Spalding is on Austin City Limits right now.

I had never heard of her.

Holy shit! She's great!

Dancing along the light of day Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:18:04pm

re: #39 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

If I'm high on hill, she'd still be looking down me

[Video]

If Kragar was on a hill, he'd be hunting fishies in a barrel!
So cute, is he!

HappyBenghazi Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:18:28pm

Taylor is good. Recently burned the Live at the Troubadour for my folks that he did with Carole King.

Spare O'Lake Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:21:55pm

Here's a little taste of 1968. Black Day in July, by the great Canadian folk artist Gord Lightfoot, was banned by many US radio stations as being too controversial.

Youtube Video

Dancing along the light of day Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:22:23pm

re: #33 SteveC

I don't (ahem) want to see your dropped pants.
BUT, i am glad you are dropping them & enjoying the results!
WOOT!

elbruce Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:24:07pm

re: #38 Dark_Falcon

Hell yes, that's a great song! But that "Bullet the Blue Sky" live vid came up up as a YouTube suggestion and I decided it would be a good contribution.

Love that one too. Here's an oldie:

Youtube Video

swamprat Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:24:59pm

The Reverend Dr. (doctor of divinity) Martin Luther King;

I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.

If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive.

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

Science investigates religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power religion gives man wisdom which is control.

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be... The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

abolitionist Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:27:36pm

re: #45 Spare O'Lake

Here's a little taste of 1968. Black Day in July, by the great Canadian folk artist Gord Lightfoot, was banned by many US radio stations as being too controversial.

[Video]

At 1:30 into that video, I think, Robert Kennedy can be seen visiting the troubled area. Brave man.

elbruce Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:30:11pm

Time for some moonbat rock:

Youtube Video

I heard so many moonbat Naderites around here (PDX) claiming that Bush and Gore were the same person and it didn't matter which one won. But as we've seen, it would have made a hell of a lot of difference. And the election was close enough that those moonbat Naderites could have swung it.

Still some badass music.

elbruce Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:32:00pm

re: #48 swamprat

The Reverend Dr. (doctor of divinity) Martin Luther King;

The Mountaintop:

Youtube Video

Spare O'Lake Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:36:02pm

re: #49 abolitionist

At 1:30 into that video, I think, Robert Kennedy can be seen visiting the troubled area. Brave man.

Yes he was, and cut down in cold blood on the verge of his destiny by the infamous Sirhan Sirhan who is still alive today.

Kreuzueber Halbmond Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:39:18pm

re: #48 swamprat

There aren't too many people left like that who can bring a little sanity into a world where everybody's nuts.

Dark_Falcon Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:43:42pm

re: #52 Spare O'Lake

Yes he was, and cut down in cold blood on the verge of his destiny by the infamous Sirhan Sirhan who is still alive today.

Bobby's standing in support of Israel in the Six Day War was Sirhan's trigger. Thus, Bobby Kennedy can be seen as the first prominent American to be killed by Arab terrorism.

elbruce Sat, Aug 28, 2010 8:51:01pm

re: #54 Dark_Falcon

Thus, Bobby Kennedy can be seen as the first prominent American to be killed by Arab terrorism.

How many prominent Americans have been killed by Arab terrorism? That sounds like a fairly arbitrary category.

Dark_Falcon Sat, Aug 28, 2010 9:07:00pm

re: #55 elbruce

How many prominent Americans have been killed by Arab terrorism? That sounds like a fairly arbitrary category.

At least one other: Barbara Olsen. You could also put Pat Tillman in that category as well, since it was the terrorist ambush that lead to the friendly fire that killed him.

elbruce Sat, Aug 28, 2010 10:43:31pm

re: #56 Dark_Falcon

You could also put Pat Tillman in that category as well, since it was the terrorist ambush that lead to the friendly fire that killed him.

There's far more to be laid at the feet of the U.S. Military regarding Pat Tillman's death than anybody else. I'm sorry, but we completely revoked any right we had to complain about the other side leading to his death in any way when we tried to cover it up.

Maybe if there had been no cover-up you could say "some terrorists made us kill him." Also if he hadn't specifically stated that he was afraid of his life from his own unit. But as things stand, fuck no.

Burning his body armor, uniform and diary in order to keep his impressions on what was going on pretty much takes any responsibility off of anybody else.

Spy Mode Auto

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James Taylor, ‘Shed a Little Light’

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