Marc Cohn flew to Memphis, Tennessee, to make a connection. He thought he wanted to connect with what many call “the home of the blues.” But he found so much more.
It’s likely you’ve sung or hummed along to his catchy hit song “Walking In Memphis.” And just as likely: You don’t know all the lyrics. Sure, most of us can belt out the chorus—it’s in the title—and maybe something about “the pouring rain.”
Perhaps, between not knowing the lyrics and discovering it’s about a blues pilgrimage to Memphis, we can be forgiven for not hearing Marc sing:
They've got gospel in the air.
It turns out Marc was also on a spiritual journey while walking in Memphis. He realized there was more to the place than just its music, emphasizing how a pilgrim would be welcomed “When you haven't got a prayer.”
“But, boy, you've got a prayer in Memphis.”
What came next was equal parts exhilarating and sad. Marc incorporated something into the lyrics that actually happened to him while visiting the city. One night at the famed blues joint Hollywood Cafe, he heard well-known pianist and gospel singer Muriel Wilkins perform—as she did every Friday night for many years. Marc was asked if he would perform a duet with her. What musician could pass that up?
And I sang with all my might.
She said
“Tell me are you a Christian child?”
And I said, “Ma’am, I am tonight.”
That’s about the last we hear of his spiritual journey: his one-night claim to a relationship with Jesus.
Music is powerful. It pulls us, drives us, fills us in ways nothing else does. Can it be any wonder that the gospel message found its way into music? And when the Blues meets Gospel? Magnetic!
All of this makes me wonder if our Memphis walker experienced something akin to David in this week’s Psalm 27. In the midst of all the worldly matters crowding in on him, David could be forgiven if he thought, “I haven’t got a prayer.” But instead, he seems to shout out “I will sing and make melody to the LORD!” He knows that music is a great way to celebrate his relationship to God, especially when life is handing him the “blues.” He takes courage knowing he can rely on his steadfast God.
Marc finished the song by walking, walking, walking in Memphis, endlessly wondering: “Do I really feel the way I feel?” Perhaps he had glimpsed what David calls “the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” All I know for certain is this: the duet they sang that night?
Amazing Grace.
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PHOTO: “Rainy Night On Beale Street” by Steve Orr
Here’s Marc Cohn’s song, with lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2t8oVH3qao
A great story about Memphis, Muriel, Marc, The Hollywood Cafe, and how he came to write the song):
Just for fun: the blues scene from “Adventures in Babysitting (“Nobody gets out of this bar without singing the blues!”)
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There is no Lectionary Breakfast this Friday. It’s Spring Break in Texas, y’all! See you in a week.
Blessings,
Steve
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35 or Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)
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