Listening to Buffy Sainte-Marie on Radio Paradise

Buffy Sainte-Marie — God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot

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Avg rating:

2.5

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Total ratings: 41

Released: 0
Length: 4:44
Plays (last 30 days): 0

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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.

Posted 19 years ago by RParadise [ Reply ]

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.

Posted 19 years ago by larz [ Reply ]

hetchins wrote:

I love how hating this load of crap instantly means you hate all native americans everywhere.

Posted 20 years ago by Eul0gy [ Reply ]

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.

Posted 20 years ago by LD [ Reply ]

Posted 20 years ago by hetchins [ Reply ]

What astonishes me more than how this person can take herself so seriously and "sing" this crap is that somebody gave it a 10.

Posted 20 years ago by JCJ [ Reply ]

Easy to see why BSM lost out to Joan Baez and the rest as icons of folk. This is truly atrocious!

Posted 20 years ago by rulebritannia [ Reply ]

<-X FYI https://www.creative-native.com/

She's Canadian and deserves respect. Thanks to the intellegent listeners who have open minds and ears

Posted 20 years ago by moon_shadow [ Reply ]

dot pulls a quarter from behind steve's ear. dot.

Posted 20 years ago by Dotman [ Reply ]

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.

Posted 20 years ago by Eul0gy [ Reply ]

Omagod this sucks so badly!

Posted 20 years ago by gardener [ Reply ]

This is absolutely ghastly! Horrid!

Posted 20 years ago by drife [ Reply ]

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.

Posted 20 years ago by Platypus [ Reply ]

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.

Posted 20 years ago by mattcol99 [ Reply ]

I like it a lot. The lyrics are extraordinary. I even like the echo-y fade-in and -out.

Posted 20 years ago by phhht [ Reply ]

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.

Posted 20 years ago by Mot [ Reply ]

It is hard for me to express just how alarmingly horrendous this 'song' is.

Posted 20 years ago by thekid [ Reply ]

Wow, this is... something else. Gave it a two because I need to hear a song at least twice to rate it "sucko-barfo."

Posted 20 years ago by indigo_xia [ Reply ]

Crap is right. Where does one find something as bad as this?

Posted 20 years ago by ad4tise [ Reply ]

This is horrible.

Posted 20 years ago by KevinM [ Reply ]

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....

Posted 20 years ago by beelzebubba [ Reply ]

red5_bc wrote:

Seriously, what is this crap?

I think sucko-barfo doesn't even come close.

Posted 20 years ago by kimmer [ Reply ]

Warble warble, drone drone, monotone... yuck. Thumbs down.

Posted 20 years ago by skindy [ Reply ]

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.

Posted 20 years ago by the_jake [ Reply ]

Buffy the mood slayer!