Kris Kristofferson's Stark 2009 Ode to 'Sister' Sinéad, and a Song of Sojourner Truth
Music matters in pursuit of societal and planetary sustainability.
You probably know by now that I'm a singer and songwriter behind my decades of journalism. Because of that, and because of the need to defend truth tellers, I'm sharing Kris Kristofferson's remarkable ode to his friend Sinéad O'Connor, who endured waves of hatred after her potent 1992 rebuke of the Catholic Church on Saturday Night Live, and now is gone. (Read this excellent appraisal of that incident and O’Connor’s career by New York Times pop music and TV critic Jon Caramanica.)
Kristofferson’s song was released in 2009 on his aptly titled album "Closer to the Bone." But the lament is sadly all too relevant this week with O’Connor’s untimely passing at age 56. The recording is stunningly simple. Wait for the wry, emotional chuckle at the end.
Sister Sinéad, by Kris Kristofferson, 2009
I'm singing this song for my sister Sinéad
Concerning the god awful mess that she made
When she told them her truth just as hard as she could
Her message profoundly was misunderstood
There's humans entrusted with guarding our gold
And humans in charge of the saving of souls
And humans responded all over the world
Condemning that bald headed brave little girl
And maybe she's crazy and maybe she ain't
But so was Picasso and so were the saints
And she's never been partial to shackles or chains
She's too old for breaking and too young to tame
It's askin' for trouble to stick out your neck
In terms of a target a big silhouette
But some candles flicker and some candles fade
And some burn as true as my sister Sinéad
And maybe she's crazy and maybe she ain't
But so was Picasso and so were the saints
And she's never been partial to shackles or chains
She's too old for breaking and too young to tame
Musical truth tellers
There’s a gap in the world when such a unique figure is taken too soon. Luckily, many other truth tellers, including Kristofferson, endure.
I attended an event in Blue Hill, Maine, last night supporting the Bagaduce Music library (a huge library of sheet music) and the nonprofit organization Americans Who Tell The Truth, an education project built around the growing array of portraits of American social and environmental activists painted by Robert Shetterly.
There, Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul and Mary and the organization Music to Life) joined with the singer, storyteller and professor Dr. Kim Harris in an evening of songs about progress seekers in troubled times.
Here’s Harris singing “Ain’t I a Woman,” her musical setting of an 1851 speech on women’s rights by Sojourner Truth, who was born into slavery in New York State in 1797, but made her way to freedom with her infant daughter in 1827 and became a leading abolitionist and campaigner for African-American and women’s civil rights.
Here’s the recorded version from the wonderful album “Steal Away - Songs of the Underground Railroad” by Kim and Reggie Harris. Reggie, a close musical friend from my Hudson Valley days, is Kim’s former husband and remains a touring partner. He was supposed to be with her for this Maine event but is currently hospitalized in Austria with a persistent infection.
We all wish him a speedy return to health!
Here’s a wonderful Sustain What show from back in the day with Reggie, the poet Irene O’Garden and the Irish peace seeker and poet Pádraig Ó Tuama, exploring words as weapons or peace pathways: