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Buffy Sainte-Marie — God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot
Album:
Avg rating:
2.5

Your rating:
Total ratings: 41









Released: 0
Length: 4:44
Plays (last 30 days): 0
God is alive; Magic is afoot
God is alive; Magic is afoot
God is afoot; Magic is alive
Alive is afoot.
Magic never died.

God never sickened;
many poor men lied
many sick men lied
Magic never weakened
Magic never hid
Magic always ruled
God is afoot
God never died.

God was ruler
Though his funeral lengthened
Though his mourners thickened
Magic never fled
Though his shrouds were hoisted
the naked God did live
Though his words were twisted
the naked Magic thrived
Though his death was published
round and round the world
the heart did not believe

Many hurt men wondered
many struck men bled
Magic never faltered
Magic always led.
Many stones were rolled
but God would not lie down
Many wild men lied
many fat men listened
Though they offered stones
Magic still was fed
Though they locked their coffers
God was always served.

Magic is afoot. God rules.
Alive is afoot. Alive is in command.
Many weak men hungered
Many strong men thrived
Though they boasted solitude
God was at their side
Nor the dreamer in his cell
nor the captain on the hill


Magic is alive
Though his death was pardoned
round and round the world
the heart did not believe.

Though laws were carved in marble
they could not shelter men
Though altars built in parliaments
they could not order men
Police arrested Magic
and Magic went with them,
for Magic loves the hungry.

But Magic would not tarry
it moves from arm to arm
it would not stay with them
Magic is afoot
it cannot come to harm
it rests in an empty palm
it spawns in an empty mind
but Magic is no instrument
Magic is the end.

Many men drove Magic
but Magic stayed behind
Many strong men lied
they only passed through Magic
and out the other side
Many weak men lied
they came to God in secret
and though they left him nourished
they would not tell who healed
Though mountains danced before them
they said that God was dead
Though his shrouds were hoisted
the naked God did live

This I mean to whisper to my mind
This I mean to laugh with in my mind
This I mean my mind to serve 'til
service is but Magic
moving through the world
and mind itself is Magic
coursing through the flesh
and flesh itself is Magic
dancing on a clock
and time itself the magic length of God
Comments (28)add comment
mattcol99 wrote:
She sounds like the sort of person that sits at the bottom of the stairs at parties, reading her own poetry.
Actually, the lyrics are by Leonard Cohen, someone who is generally well regarded on this site.
hetchins wrote:
Wow! What vitriol! You guys got something against Native Americans or what? What have you managed to achieve so far in your own life? Won that Oscar yet? Got your Ph.D.? Elvis ever record any of the songs you wrote? Read Buffy Sainte-Marie's bio at: https://www.creative-native.com/biograp.htm
Boy, are you a dumbass.
hetchins wrote:
Wow! What vitriol! You guys got something against Native Americans or what? What have you managed to achieve so far in your own life? Won that Oscar yet? Got your Ph.D.? Elvis ever record any of the songs you wrote? Read Buffy Sainte-Marie's bio at: https://www.creative-native.com/biograp.htm
I love how hating this load of crap instantly means you hate all native americans everywhere.
Back in the day (early 1970s) there was a thing called Quadrophonic Stereo. It used 4 channels and of course 4 speakers. Each channel generally got equal weight. It wasn't normally a configuration where there were 2 front speakers that carried the main tracks while the back speakers carried some ambient sounds to make the sound fuller. Anyway, this albumn was one of the first and (since Quad died) only issued in that format. I remember hearing this at a college friends place who had a Quad receiver. The "song" was mixed so that it faded in and out of all four speakers and sort of twirled around the room. It was supposed to be enjoyable after a night of partying. Can't say it was ever a big favorite of mine, but hearing it did bring back some memories. And it did at least sound more interesting in the Quad format whirling around the room after a night of partying.
Wow! What vitriol! You guys got something against Native Americans or what? What have you managed to achieve so far in your own life? Won that Oscar yet? Got your Ph.D.? Elvis ever record any of the songs you wrote? Read Buffy Sainte-Marie's bio at: https://www.creative-native.com/biograp.htm
What astonishes me more than how this person can take herself so seriously and "sing" this crap is that somebody gave it a 10.
Easy to see why BSM lost out to Joan Baez and the rest as icons of folk. This is truly atrocious!
<-X FYI https://www.creative-native.com/ She's Canadian and deserves respect. Thanks to the intellegent listeners who have open minds and ears
dot pulls a quarter from behind steve's ear. dot.
I've seen better poetry on an angsty surburban teenager's weblog. Sad thing is... I can hear potential here... but I can also hear it being murdered by ego.
Omagod this sucks so badly!
This is absolutely ghastly! Horrid!
mattcol99 wrote:
She sounds like the sort of person that sits at the bottom of the stairs at parties, reading her own poetry.
funny, that scene from Animal House where Bluto smashes the guy's guitar came to mind when i first heard this. it's almost painful.
apressman wrote:
Buffy the mood slayer!
She sounds like the sort of person that sits at the bottom of the stairs at parties, reading her own poetry.
I like it a lot. The lyrics are extraordinary. I even like the echo-y fade-in and -out.
The meaning of the term music is lost on this person. Ironically, this comes from a "best of" compilation. Some record producers apparently have way too much time on their hands. Or else too much Gin in the board room.
It is hard for me to express just how alarmingly horrendous this 'song' is.
Wow, this is... something else. Gave it a two because I need to hear a song at least twice to rate it "sucko-barfo."
Crap is right. Where does one find something as bad as this?
This is horrible.
Oh my gawd, my mom used to listen to this all the time.....Uber-liberal 60's-70's earth mother crap.....total bad mood....
red5_bc wrote:
Seriously, what is this crap?
I think sucko-barfo doesn't even come close.
Warble warble, drone drone, monotone... yuck. Thumbs down.
I think I will listen again to this song before rating. Somewhat mono-tonal is my first impression. Somebody had ranked this a 10 as soon as I came into the comments section on its first playing. My ranking won't go that high, but I will hold my judgement for now. I have learned that this artist has a lot more history than I had known. But I still can't appreciate her musical talents. Her message is lost on me with the presentation being weak at best.
Buffy the mood slayer!
Please make it stop!!!!!!!
Seriously, what is this crap?