Candlelight in Central Park
I saw a quote from a poster on the internet recently who enthusiastically stated that Richard's life reflected his music. Believe me, I get the enthusiasm. To clarify, however, based on what I know of Rich Mullins and his creative process, it would have been the other way around. His life was not authentic because of the music he wrote: rather, his songs are authentic because they reflected pivotal events that touched his own life. In order: ethics first, life next, songs last.
Since we were both artists, Richard and I spoke about creativity and the process frequently. He broke down some of the facets of his songwriting process for me. He said he deliberatey chose words for his lyrics that could carry the greatest possible number of applications to his audience. To a songwriter, the more ambiguous the lyrics, the better. As a result, interpretations of songs are as numerous and varied as the birds of the air. The glory of song is that can touch everyone who hears it in a diffferent way, while the music of the song binds all those who hear it in a common emotion.
Like all his songs, "Elijah" has many interpretations, and none of them are wrong. He wrote "Elijah" a few years before before the last time we met in 1984. Richard consistently named this as his favorite of his own songs. I can't speak for him, but I do know some of the things he was going through when he wrote it. In turn, these events might help us understand what the song could have meant to him.
John Lennon had been assassinated in December of 1980. Richard found himself very moved by this event. There was a Candlelight memorial service in Central Park following Lennon's death that drew 400,000 fans.
Richard's great-grandmother, who had first taught him to play piano, had recently passed away.
When he wrote the song, Rich Mullins had just become known in Nashville as Amy Grant's up and coming new songwriter. He had not yet signed with a management company. The Nashville music machine and Rich Mullins were not a match made in heaven. Any money making corporation likes a sure thing better than a gamble, and any ethical artist prefers self-expression to commercialism. Richard's first success had come from a lively, upbeat praise song, "Sing Your Praise to the Lord." He was being pressured to go on producing money-making songs like his first one. As successful as he continuted to be with praise tunes, Richard knew that he had a much greater range to offer.
Praise is the desination, but a Psalm frequently starts in a dark place and brings us on a journey before it lifts us into the light of praise. Richard knew his audience was on that very human journey, just as he was.
Some have speculated that this song is a prophecy of his death on the highway. Although he stated several times he had premonitions of an early death, and I have reconsidered my ideas of how God speaks to us, I still don't believe Richard intended this song as prophecy.
Richard never used the word "death" or "die" in this song. In fact, Elijah never died. To "go out like Elijah" is to live on deathlessly. Like any artist, Richard hoped his songs would live on after his death. His creative ethics demanded that he leave behind the best songs he had to offer, not the biggest money-earners. Regardless of his popularity or lack of it, he knew what he had to do. Simply do his best to be true to his own experiences in his songs, whether they would be popular or not. Four hundred thousand candles would be great, but the stars would do just as well.
"When I look back on the stars, it'll be like a candlelight in Central Park. And it won't break my heart to say goodbye. . ."
Excerpt from Let the Mountains Sing @ Pamela Richards
Since we were both artists, Richard and I spoke about creativity and the process frequently. He broke down some of the facets of his songwriting process for me. He said he deliberatey chose words for his lyrics that could carry the greatest possible number of applications to his audience. To a songwriter, the more ambiguous the lyrics, the better. As a result, interpretations of songs are as numerous and varied as the birds of the air. The glory of song is that can touch everyone who hears it in a diffferent way, while the music of the song binds all those who hear it in a common emotion.
Like all his songs, "Elijah" has many interpretations, and none of them are wrong. He wrote "Elijah" a few years before before the last time we met in 1984. Richard consistently named this as his favorite of his own songs. I can't speak for him, but I do know some of the things he was going through when he wrote it. In turn, these events might help us understand what the song could have meant to him.
John Lennon had been assassinated in December of 1980. Richard found himself very moved by this event. There was a Candlelight memorial service in Central Park following Lennon's death that drew 400,000 fans.
Richard's great-grandmother, who had first taught him to play piano, had recently passed away.
When he wrote the song, Rich Mullins had just become known in Nashville as Amy Grant's up and coming new songwriter. He had not yet signed with a management company. The Nashville music machine and Rich Mullins were not a match made in heaven. Any money making corporation likes a sure thing better than a gamble, and any ethical artist prefers self-expression to commercialism. Richard's first success had come from a lively, upbeat praise song, "Sing Your Praise to the Lord." He was being pressured to go on producing money-making songs like his first one. As successful as he continuted to be with praise tunes, Richard knew that he had a much greater range to offer.
Praise is the desination, but a Psalm frequently starts in a dark place and brings us on a journey before it lifts us into the light of praise. Richard knew his audience was on that very human journey, just as he was.
Some have speculated that this song is a prophecy of his death on the highway. Although he stated several times he had premonitions of an early death, and I have reconsidered my ideas of how God speaks to us, I still don't believe Richard intended this song as prophecy.
Richard never used the word "death" or "die" in this song. In fact, Elijah never died. To "go out like Elijah" is to live on deathlessly. Like any artist, Richard hoped his songs would live on after his death. His creative ethics demanded that he leave behind the best songs he had to offer, not the biggest money-earners. Regardless of his popularity or lack of it, he knew what he had to do. Simply do his best to be true to his own experiences in his songs, whether they would be popular or not. Four hundred thousand candles would be great, but the stars would do just as well.
"When I look back on the stars, it'll be like a candlelight in Central Park. And it won't break my heart to say goodbye. . ."
Excerpt from Let the Mountains Sing @ Pamela Richards