Sanctify Yourself
Simple Minds
~~*~~
Is this the age of the thunder and rage?
Can you feel the ground move round your feet?
If you take one step closer, it'll lead to another
The crossroad above is where we meet
I shout out for shelter, I need you for something
The whole world's out, they're all on the street
Control yourself, love is all you need
Control yourself, in your eyes
Sanctify yourself, sanctify (sanctify!)
Be a part of me, sanctify (sanctify!)
Sanctify yourself, sanctify (sanctify!)
Sanctify yourself, set yourself free!
In pictures of living, in bloodshot a vision
Sweet miracles and strange circumstances
I see the sun up, the showdown, the cool winds that blow down
On the big beat that lifelong romance is
You've got a gun in your hand, you're makin' self-plans
Stay with me all through the night
Control yourself, love is all you need
Control yourself, open up your heart!
Sanctify yourself, sanctify (sanctify!)
Be a part of me, sanctify (sanctify!)
Sanctify yourself, sanctify (sanctify!)
Sanctify yourself, set yourself free!
You can't stop the world for a boy or a girl
Sweet victims of poor circumstances
But you can pour back the love, sweeping down from above
Givin' hope and makin' more chances
Well I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll come back down here and show me the way
Control yourself, love is all you need
Control yourself, open up your heart!
Sanctify yourself, sanctify (sanctify!)
Sanctify yourself, sanctify (sanctify!)
Sanctify yourself, sanctify (sanctify!)
Sanctify yourself, set yourself free! (sanctify!)
(Sanctify!)
(Sanctify!)
(Sanctify!)
~~*~~
A song of unrestrained praise from one of rock n' roll's
greatest unsung bands, Simple Minds.
Unfairly pigeonholed as a U2 knock-off,
Simple Mind's distinctive sound and oftentimes
spiritual lyrics, like those above,
go unnoticed in favor of their superstar Irish neighbors.
That has been, and will remain always, a big mistake.
I have kept up with Simple Minds for decades now;
their music is as uniquely potent today as it was in the mid-80s
when this powerhouse tune first hit the airwaves.
Personally, this song means more to me today than it ever has,
due to personal circumstances that have challenged
my very mortality, my sense of being, my soul.
2022 was the year I was born again,
not in any religious sense, but in the deepest spiritual one.
There's an enormous difference between the two.
Coming into your own in this day and age,
the most heinous in human history,
when bovine indifference, conformity, rank consumerism,
total climate destruction, superstition and cultish behavior,
abject nationalism and bootlicking fascism
rule virtually every aspect of every life on the planet,
is a challenge beyond challenges,
not for the light of heart.
Most beg off.
Going along and getting along is always easier,
is always more financially lucrative,
is always more socially acceptable,
is always more attention-grabbing.
True nonconformists hear this song and know it's
a monumental challenge being sung to them.
The rest of you hear this song; you consume* it
and think,** "Oh, yeah! This is the group that sang that song
that's on that 80s flic with those kids
in the library! I didn't know they had other songs!"
(if you fucking do even that),
and then promptly forget about it, and them, utterly.
My advice?
Sanctify yourself.
Now. Please.
------
*Never once considering that there are other ways to interact with it,
not to mention with everything and everyone else.
**Do you? Have you--ever?
~~*~~
Photo Manipulation: Upon Sight by yours truly
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