MP3 of the MONTH
Released 2010
"Kingdom Come (live at Passim, April 2010)"
This month's track is a live version of "Kingdom Come," with Zack Hickman on upright bass. I wrote this song as part of the Darwin Song Project, and found myself most drawn to the task of writing songs in Darwin's "voice." Many of the lyrics myself and my collaborators came up with were direct quotes or re-wordings of phrases we gleaned from Darwin's books and letters. "Kingdom Come" had its (pardon the pun) genesis in the tales of how Darwin was constantly forced to defend his theory from those who felt it offended their religious sensibilities, be they bishops and politicians, or just everyday folks who wrote him beseeching letters.
By all accounts, Darwin was a prodigious letter writer and rarely stooped to the level of animosity or disdain peddled by some modern writers in the defending or explaining his beliefs. As I understand it, he would sometimes quote particularly gruesome examples of animal biology (e.g. parasitism) as evidence contrary to the existence of a benevolent God. Other times, he would sidestep the question, demurring that it was to be answered by men wiser than he. It is hard to overstate the degree of humility he displayed in defense of his theory. I would try and make some modern day comparison, but there is simply no current analog because no one alive today has changed the world so profoundly as Darwin did.
I am a little relieved that Darwin did not have to see all the things people would write about him on blogs. I am from the "any press is good press" school, but I admit that I wish this song was not so misunderstood. Specifically, I wish I wasn't confused with the protagonist in the song as much as I am. I might write about a down-and-out divorced father drinking by the pier in "Five Beer Moon," but I'm happily married. I might write about a father dying in "Man Of The Family," but my dad's alive and well. You get the point...not all these songs are "me" and it shouldn't be assumed that my personal thoughts on religion can be divined by listening to "Kingdom Come."
"Kingdom Come" is available as a free download for the month of September. Enjoy!
written by Mark Erelli, Stu Hanna & Rachael McShane
