The 333 Best Pop Songs of the 2000s: #236

#236: "Bible Black Starless Sky" (2006) - Andy Fairweather Low

Andy Fairweather Low: lead guitarist and vocalist for the mid-to-late '60s British pop band Amen Corner. In 1969, they split and he spent the next eleven years recording solo or with his band Fairweather, altogether garnering a three Top 10 hits (and they're great records, too) in the process of adding a little blue-eyed soul to the pop market (where Low had been worshipped by British teens). He recorded his last solo album in 1980, and from then on, he devoted his career to session work. From the mid '70s onward for thirty years, Low has been a top session guitarist, recording and touring with (most notably) the likes of The Who, Roger Waters, Bill Wyman, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison.

Two years ago, Low returned to recording, producing (with Glyn Johns) his first album in twenty-six years: Sweet Soulful Music. That title aptly describes the songs therein, most of which are uptempo neo-soul joints, full of horns and soulful singing and swaying. It's a fun record. The best song on there, though, is much more subdued. "Bible Black Starless Sky" (it's title a rearrangement of a Dylan Thomas poem) is a gospel song in all intent and purpose, but it's white gospel--laid-back white gospel, and it is--as Lionel Ritchie once sang--as easy as Sunday morning (if one doesn't have children; if one does, then one knows that getting ready to go somewhere any morning with children is most definitely not easy, no matter the day of the week). The song bespeaks of the assurance and comfort of spirit that religious experiences can bring; it reminds me of long ago, of the positive feelings I had after church was over, walking outside to the warm sunshine and the warm greetings of the exiting congregation.

Now, you don't have to be religious to enjoy the song; heck, I'm not a churchgoer anymore, and I'm not very relgious, either, but I understand the spiritual peace of mind Low prays for here, and if you can't get that spiritual peace of mind from religion, then you can certainly get it from listening to Low's pleasant tenor (and the harmonies of the background singers), his tasteful and soulful guitar, and the space that produce Johns gives Low's song for us to fill with our own prayers (or hopes) that there will be peace in the valley for each of us, wherever that valley may be.

You can listen to a thirty-second sample of it here.