Singing the world into being with Taylor Swift…
If I had to make a list of the five most important things in my life, music would make the cut. Therefore, the Grammys are like my Super Bowl. I watch it every year with excitement and joy. I cry. I note the passing of time. I look for that Grammy moment that happens every so often that seems to change the zeitgeist of the times. And I am always on the lookout for new music to love. So of course I watched this years show and have thoughts to share.
Everybody is talking about the Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs performance of Fast Car, and deservedly so. The best take I saw was that this is the America we all want to see — where the first black (and also lesbian though what does that matter) woman to have a number one country hit and to win an American Country Music Award (36 years after the song was written!) sings alongside a white male country star and they love and respect each other. Imagine that! I cried.
Then there is Miley Cyrus winning her first Grammy ever — I mean how is even that possible? She’s been belting out hits since she was Hannah Montana. Seeing her joy at winning for a song that was about freedom and liberation for women was a beautiful moment. A Barbie moment, if you will. I cried again.
And then there was Joni. Also, What the Actual Fuck that she has never performed at the Grammys or won an award before this year? JEEZUS. When I was a senior in high school in 1979 I wore out my vinyl record of For The Roses by playing it over and over and over again. I still love it dearly. I cried again.
When I first saw Billie Eilish perform at Radio City Music Hall in her very early days I remember writing on Facebook, “I have seen the future of Rock and Roll and it is female.” (I borrowed from the famous first line of a review of Bruce Springsteen written by John Landau.) I got the usual male trolls griping and responding that I didn’t know what I was talking about. They were wrong. I was right. What I especially love about Billie is that she made it ok to perform in a way that was not “for the male gaze.” In her baggy shirts, pants and sneakers she wasn’t trying to be sexy or provocative to men. I FUCKING LOVE THAT! She paved the way for groups like Boy Genius, who I also adore with a hot fiery passion.
And then there is Taylor. Guys, you know I have loved her from her first album. And to see her become the first PERSON to win four album of the year awards (more than Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder) was just awesome. The icing on the cake. The cherry on top of a great night of music. Yes, Beyonce also deserves to have won record of the year (in 2023) and hopefully she will soon.
And it got me thinking. The ability to enjoy music and celebrate it is a special kind of freedom. It’s not a coincidence that strictly religious countries ban music and dancing. Or that even our own government forbid Indigenous Americans from using their drums. As I write about in Love Nature Magic, even today in North Korea shamanism is forbidden as is the drumming associated with it. People get executed in North Korea, Iran, and other countries for SINGING. Before the Grammy’s I watched 60 Minutes and there was a segment about all the thousands of Chinese people who are entering illegally through a hole in the fence that they learned about on TikTok. They asked one woman why she left her two small children and her business to come to America illegally and her answer, after a moment of uncomfortable silence, was one word: Freedom. Who knows what kind of abuse she was suffering from in China. But I realized then that the power of America isn’t Democracy, but Freedom. Real freedom. Freedom of religion. Freedom for women and people of color. Sexual freedom. Freedom to create, to work, to marry for love. Freedom to SING! Dance! and express ourselves through music. That’s also what was so beautiful about the Annie Lenox tribute to Sinead O’Connor. Through music, we can change the world. We can speak out. Sinead O’Connor was one of the first people to call out the Catholic Church for sexual abuse of children. She got viciously attacked for her “disrespect” of papal authority. She was right. By her speaking out and singing, she gave other people permission to tell their own stories. What a beautiful, essential and wonderful power. No wonder authoritarians are afraid of it!
I’m going to watch the Super Bowl next weekend. Not to see Taylor Swift. But because Travis Kelsey has shown me what a great man looks like. Sure, he’s charming and fit and has a great smile. But more importantly, he shows incredible respect to Taylor (and his mom) and he loves to DANCE! Also, more importantly, I will watch it because it’s a great excuse to make my baked buffalo wings and an assortment of snacks and dips. Because food makes my top five list too. For the record, here’s my top five list of most important things to me.
My family, and my love for them.
Nature.
Food.
Music.
The freedom to create.
What’s on your top five list?
One last note about music changing the world. I have heard, but haven’t had a chance to watch yet, that there is a new documentary on Netflix about the making of We Are the World. It was a song about the famine in Africa. But it was also playing on the TV in my brother’s hospital room when he died of AIDS in December of 1985. Being gay in 1985 was still a huge risk and many people were still “in the closet.” Now, not only is AIDS not a death sentence, but we can watch commercials that show two men kissing and cuddling on TV. Yes, there is still a lot of discrimination and problems around sexual liberation — for all humans. But the music made a difference and continues to make a difference. The courage of artists, musicians and performers to speak out and take a stand and join together to sing HAS changed the world.
As the fungi told me in Love Nature Magic, we sing the world into being. It’s true.
Very lastly, I was a bit sad that my audio book of Love Nature Magic, which I read myself, was not nominated for a Grammy. But Michelle Obama deservedly won. Whether we win or not, it’s important to do our best. I’m especially proud of my audio book because I overcame a major fear and sang for the first time ever. Overcoming my fear was incredibly liberating. There are all sorts of ways to win and we should be happy for everyone who has the courage to use their voice for good.
I love reading your stuff.
Freedom.
Sing.
Thank you Maria for this beautiful essay. And thank you Sinead O'Connor for calling out the abusers.