Hey there! It's Tuesday and we find ourselves on the last day of February 2023. We now stare down March with its time change, spring break, and St. Patrick's Day, and wonder what happened to Groundhog Day, St. Valentine's Day, and President's Day? Did we miss them? Did we nap through them? Did we fall through a time portal and transport ahead 1 hole month? (see what I did there...portal...hole...they say it isn't amusing if you have to point it out...)
So, we say goodbye to February on its last day and prepare to embrace a new month with its moments of Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall all rolled up into a meteorological smorgasbord
So, we say goodbye to February on its last day and prepare to embrace a new month with its moments of Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall all rolled up into a meteorological smorgasbord
Let's face it. If you were going to experiment with music, the 1960s were the decade in which to do it. Some of those musical experiments were so successful that they remain relevant today. The Who (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Water" (The Who), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Baba O'Riley" (The Who), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "My Generation" (The Who)), The Rolling Stones (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Sympathy For The Devil" (The Rolling Stones), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "You Can't Always Get What you Want" (The Rolling Stones)), and The Beach Boys (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Be True To Your School" (The Beach Boys), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "I Get Around" (The Beach Boys)) all continue to make new music, tour, and see the successful execution of their individual undertakings.
Longevity and success were not the cases for literally thousands of bands and musicians who attempted to make their mark on the musical landscape of the 1960s. If the band wasn't commercially successful quickly, they were dropped from their label, they would break up, and their members would go be a part of a different group or go on as a solo act. This was the case with the band The Velvet Underground a band from the 60s that surprisingly had very little commercial appeal in their time.
The Velvet Underground was formed in 1964 as a musical answer to some of the Avante-Garde happenings in the literary and art world at the time. Its founding members were singer/songwriter and instrumentalist Lou Reed, singer/songwriter and instrumentalist John Cale (who ironically was in America to study Classical Music on a Leonard Bernstein scholarship), guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. This makeup of the group would last for 1 year when MacLise would leave and be replaced by Maureen "Moe" Tucker, forming the "classic" lineup for the band.
In 1965, visual/pop artist Andy Warhol, became the band's manager, included them in his art show "Exploding Plastic Inevitable", and produced the album in which today's featured song appears, the self-titled Velvet Underground & Nico. At Warhol's insistence, German singer Nico was featured on the debut album of the band. The sales performance of the album was poor by industry standards. Warhol's influence over the band was felt only through providing funding for their future projects. With the poor performance, lineup changes for the band became the status quo as the decade progressed and continuity became an issue. From 1967 to 1973, The Velvet Underground would release 5 studio albums. None of these albums would see huge sales but because of their experimental nature and lyrical subject matter, they were reviewed positively for being cutting-edge and standards for their time.
"Sunday Morning" is a stand-out track on the record as it provides a rare contrast with its upbeat musical experience on the record, even though lyrically it is about the subject of paranoia. While it appears as the first track on the album, it was recorded and produced last. Nico was the intended lead vocal on the track and performed the song many times live but wound up as a background vocalist as Reed would assume the frontman position on the track. It is far less "busy" instrumentally and production-wise than any of the other offerings on the album and winds up as a fascinating, but fitting offering for the "all-over-the-place" pace of the album, introduction to The Velvet Underground.
While The Velvet Underground & Nico failed to make substantial sales results upon its release, it is regarded as an iconic example of the music of the 60s and is heralded as a benchmark for music in general. Because of this, The "classic" lineup of Velvet Underground was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Their first four albums are listed on "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - Rolling Stone Magazine, September 22, 2020. The influence of the band on music history affords them the distinction of being listed at #19 on "100 Greatest Artists" - Rolling Stone Magazine, December 3, 2010. That isn't too bad for a band that wasn't very popular in their own time...seems reminiscent of a continual legacy from another figure who wasn't accepted well at His time...
"Sunday morning, brings the dawning..."
Here we see all of the Gospel writer's consistent retelling of the events of the Sunday after the crucifixion and death of Jesus. The Bible tells us that on the morning of the first day of the week, Sunday, women who were disciples of Jesus came to the tomb that had been provided by Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus' body had been taken down and quickly prepped for burial because of the looming Sabbath on Saturday. These women brought spices as they were concerned that the haste by which the body had been prepared had not been sufficient to honor Jesus or preserve His body. Their concern also included the fact that the stone had been rolled in front of the tomb. How were they going to be able to get to Jesus' body?
What they found sent shock waves of emotion that are still existing today! The stone was rolled away, the tomb no longer contained Jesus' body, and angels were there to assure the sorrow-filled women that Jesus had done exactly what He had said He was going to do! "He has risen, He is not here..." They immediately went to tell the apostles what they had witnessed. Remember that the apostles had scattered at Jesus' arrest. We only have a record of Peter and John being close by the proceedings of Jesus' trial, and only a record of John being at the crucifixion. On the way to tell the apostles, Jesus meets them and comforts them that the things they had heard from the angels were indeed true. Jesus calms their fears and instructs them to tell the apostles. The women make it to Peter and John and recount all that they had seen and heard. The two men bolt to the tomb and upon their arrival, John first and then Peter, confirm everything that the women had told them.
Flash sideways and you see the tomb guards fearful for their lives. They had a supernatural experience and their dead prisoner was no longer where they had seen Him placed. "...It's just a restless feeling by my side..." They report all of this to the chief priests, the religious ruling authority who had secured the crucifixion of Jesus. The priests bribed the guards into perpetrating the rumor that Jesus' disciples had taken the body. They also assured the guards that they would smooth things over with the governor, the guard's ultimate authority, in the event the governor asked questions or heard about the incident. "There's always someone around you who will call it's nothing at all..."
As the day continues, Jesus is seen by two men as they are traversing from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They are conversing about the events that happened over the weekend when Jesus appears with them. While they don't immediately recognize Him as the risen savior, they do know that something is very different about their situation as He joins them. Jesus reveals Himself to them and then vanishes. These witnesses would later in the day recount their encounter with the risen Lord to the disciples in Jerusalem as they go back to reinforce the fact that Jesus was alive.
As the day is drawing to a close, the disciples, once scattered, are gathered together listening to the men who had seen Jesus retell their story and Jesus appears to all of them. Notably absent is Thomas. The Bible doesn't indicate where he is at this time, yet his absence sets up a special moment that is the topic for another day.
Jesus begins his interaction with the disciples with "Peace be to you." As you would imagine, this was a tumultuous time in the disciples' lives. They were still concerned about being arrested for their association with Jesus, they now hear that His body is no longer in the tomb, and then they begin listening to eyewitness accounts of having seen Jesus alive. Peace is exactly what they needed at this moment. In their astonishment, Jesus affirms his physical presence by allowing them to touch Him as He requested something to eat. Affirm the physical nature of His body, He ate the broiled fish, and then Jesus showed them the Scripture in their new reality. He showed them how the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms were all fulfilled in Him. Luke recalls that Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Remember how many times the disciples and apostles had seemed confused by what Jesus was attempting to show them through parables and His teaching? Jesus clarifies everything that His followers can handle at this moment. He speaks to them about forgiveness and redemption and instructs them to testify about everything they were seeing.
In the coming days, more folks will witness the risen Jesus. But on this early dawning, Sunday morning, it is enough that the tomb is empty. It is enough that Jesus is seen by His followers and their minds are opened to what Scripture has pointed to all along...Jesus is God in flesh! Jesus is the King of all Kings!! Jesus has conquered death and the grave!!! Jesus tells us to have peace about it all because He is the fulfillment of Scripture and is the risen sacrifice once and for all.
Still a little unsure about all of this rising-from-the-dead stuff? Here are a couple of videos that may provide some surety...
Jesus continues to live! The Bible says that He is preparing a place for those who believe what Scripture says about Him. This is a place believers will be with Him forever. So what do you believe friend? As the videos attest, there is evidence that this Sunday morning occurred. They show that this Sunday morning that we will celebrate in the coming months is meant to commemorate more than baskets, bunnies, eggs, and candy. It is a day to have great joy as we worship the physically risen Jesus.
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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