#aggressivelyhappy — Public Fediverse posts

Simple, Yet Profound

A few years ago, I read the book Aggressively Happy: A Realist’s Guide to Believing in the Goodness of Life by Joy Marie Clarkson. After each chapter, the author included a page of resources to READ, to SEE, to LISTEN and to PONDER. It was on one of these pages that Clarkson recommended the song, “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet” by Jars of Clay. In the preceding chapter, she had explained the backstory of the song. It was originally arranged by Gavin Bryars in 1971 while he was scoring a soundtrack for a documentary on homelessness in London. He had stumbled across some film of a homeless man, “in his right mind, peaceful, singing a familiar-sounding and yet unidentifiable hymn.” Bryars decided to layer the chorus with simple strings and repeat it in a loop. One day, he left the track playing while he went to get a cup of coffee. When he returned, his coworkers were listening to it, “somber, struck silent, the eyes of some swimming with tears. Something about this piece of music was true, profound, inexpressible.” (Clarkson, 2022, pp. 160-161)

After reading that, I downloaded the Jars of Clay version of the song onto my phone. Every time I listen to it, I feel a wave of peace and comfort wash over me. If I have trouble sleeping at night, when those anxious thoughts fill my mind, all I have to do is sing this song in my head. It feels like I am swaddled in music with the lyrics holding me fast.

Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
Never failed me yet,
Never failed me yet,
Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
This one thing I know
That He loves me so

https://youtu.be/JyUTozGepyc?si=FLbEGxeqznBJECOo

Simple, Yet Profound

A few years ago, I read the book Aggressively Happy: A Realist’s Guide to Believing in the Goodness of Life by Joy Marie Clarkson. After each chapter, the author included a page of resources to READ, to SEE, to LISTEN and to PONDER. It was on one of these pages that Clarkson recommended the song, “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet” by Jars of Clay. In the preceding chapter, she had explained the backstory of the song. It was originally arranged by Gavin Bryars in 1971 while he was scoring a soundtrack for a documentary on homelessness in London. He had stumbled across some film of a homeless man, “in his right mind, peaceful, singing a familiar-sounding and yet unidentifiable hymn.” Bryars decided to layer the chorus with simple strings and repeat it in a loop. One day, he left the track playing while he went to get a cup of coffee. When he returned, his coworkers were listening to it, “somber, struck silent, the eyes of some swimming with tears. Something about this piece of music was true, profound, inexpressible.” (Clarkson, 2022, pp. 160-161)

After reading that, I downloaded the Jars of Clay version of the song onto my phone. Every time I listen to it, I feel a wave of peace and comfort wash over me. If I have trouble sleeping at night, when those anxious thoughts fill my mind, all I have to do is sing this song in my head. It feels like I am swaddled in music with the lyrics holding me fast.

Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
Never failed me yet,
Never failed me yet,
Jesus’ blood never failed me yet
This one thing I know
That He loves me so

https://youtu.be/JyUTozGepyc?si=FLbEGxeqznBJECOo