Listening

As Quakers, we can tend to move pretty slowly. It is crucial for us that we are doing the will of God and not our own, so even the process of speaking can be slow and prayerful, as we are checking to make certain we are speaking the truth.

Thus, when something swiftly emerges like Occupy Wall Street has, it can take a moment to know how we feel called to engage. In this particular case, however, Friends were there quickly.

Hearing

Quaker minister Micah Bales called me up September 20th – 3 days before my album release date – to see if I wanted to go to Manhattan to witness the original Occupy Wall Street protest.

“Are you crazy?” I said (I was working nearly around the clock to get my new album out, and most people had hardly heard of Occupy Wall Street).

Micah wasn’t so crazy, as it turns out.

Acting

Quakers have been extremely present in the Occupy Philadelphia movement, as documented by Madeline Schaeffer’s episode of her “Friend Speaks My Mind” podcast. And Micah has been blogging about the emerging movement in DC.

And I have been praying, Friends. I knew that I was in solidarity with the movement but wanted to be certain that I was not co-opting or using the movement to attract attention to my music or my self.

After a month of not knowing, I received a call asking if I would play at Occupy DC (which I did… video here), and this song popped into my head. Within half an hour, it was fully written. When a song comes that easily to me, I know it’s a nudge. I played it live the following night (“stumbled” might a better description) and recorded it as soon as I had a day back in Philadelphia, with my friend Greg on sax.

And I filmed everything to make a videosong out of it! So now I humbly offer to you, to use as you will, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Your Life. Download it for free here. Lyrics here.

“The Burden of Vision”
from the album “Clothe Yourself in Righteousness”
by Jon Watts

Download the song

Produced by Jake Thro
Violin by Marina Vishnyakova

“Lifted Up”
from the album “Clothe Yourself in Righteousness”
by Jon Watts

Download the song

Lyrics

Produced by Jake Thro
Violin by Marina Vishnyakova

Solomon Eccles went naked through the Smithfield Market in London in the 17th century after the breakup of the famous Bull and Mouth Meetinghouse. All of the footage seen here is taken from the actual recording sessions for “Clothe Yourself in Righteousness,” a multi-media project about Quakers and Nakedness by Jon Watts and Maggie Harrison.

Download the song

“Smithfield Market pt 2″
from the album “Clothe Yourself in Righteousness”
by Jon Watts
Produced by Jake Thro
Violin by Marina Vishnyakova

The Changing Face of Art

Listen! Can you hear it?

That’s the sound of people all over the world uploading videos to Youtube. 48 hours of footage every minute.

While that number represents an unwatchable (and perhaps unfathomable!) amount of video, what it says to me is that we are interacting online in a new way. Video has become a standard and casual medium.

Involving Ourselves in the Conversation

Rather than passively sitting back and being entertained, we now interact with whatever we are watching… we share it on facebook, we comment on it, and we even make response videos. It is definitely a new world of media, sharing and entertainment.

But in some ways we are stuck in the past. When I released my first youtube video, some folks reacted as though I have some kind of monopoly over the internet dialogue, as one might have in a network television interview.

But it’s simply not the case. Anyone can create a Youtube channel, and the technology for making and sharing videos has become cheap and ubiquitous. So I now encourage Friends to create their own Youtube channel and respond with video. It’s easy! And its the nature of the conversation.

The Video Song

All of this shifting digital accessibility has created some very interesting new genres of art, one of which has seriously caught my attention.

Video songs are an emerging genre of video, pioneered by Jack Conte of Pomplamoose. The essential rules of a videosong are:

1. What you see is what you hear.
2. If you hear it, you’ll see it.

And I’ve added a 3rd rule, which is:

3. Break the first two rules.

CYiR Video Songs

My first foray into the videosong was with a guitar looper in a meetinghouse in Bucks county. It took me hours to set up, do lighting, convert and edit the footage, and post it online. All for a 3 minute doodle on the guitar.

I’m honestly a little surprised that I didn’t quit after that. How could this possibly be worth it? Wouldn’t I prefer to be just making music rather than meticulously documenting it?

But as with all things, I asked, I prayed and I listened. I was being called to learn something new, and it was going to be uncomfortable and a bit awkward. But worth it (?) in the end.

Lifted Up

The Burden of Vision