I'll Take You There: Pop Music And the Urge for Transcendence

Though often dismissed as ephemeral or, worse, demonic, popular music has given voice to this quest for transcendence since its beginnings. Pop singers are rarely as outwardly spiritual as, say, their gospel counterparts; theyre forever pointing beyond themselves, though, be it to some better future, some higher ideal, or to some vision of deliverance. Fontella Basss "Rescue Me," the Four Topss "Reach Out (Ill Be There)," Jimmy Cliffs "Many Rivers to Cross," Afrika Bambaataas "Looking for the Perfect Beat," and U2s "I Still Havent Found What Im Looking For" are but a handful of popular recordings from the past few decades that express a longing for something more. What, other than transcendence, is Jimi Hendrix talking about in "Purple Haze" when he shouts, "scuse me, while I kiss the sky"? Or Van Morrison, in "Caravan," when he implores us to crank our radios and sail away with him into the mystic? Heard in the right light, secular and even carnal records have the power to speak to transcendental concerns, galvanizing their historical and cultural moments.

Regardless of their spiritual leanings, all of the subjects discussed in this book (including Public Enemy, Madonna, Sleater-Kinney, Tricky, Johnny Cash, Nine Inch Nails, Moby, Marvin Gaye, Eminem, Polly Harvey, Bruce Springsteen and Sly & the Family Stone) make music that expresses a basic striving for transcendence. Artists stories and personalities inform these discussions, but only in as much as they illuminate the struggles and concerns that run through their music. Ill Take You There is a beautifully written, wide-ranging and illuminating examination of some of the most potent popular music ever recorded.