I was listening to the Iris Dement album Infamous Angel, and it occurred to me that what we Pastafarians need are some good songs. Rastafarians have reggae, and Protestants have gospel, and Catholics have Gregorian chant. So I was thinking how the wobblies took gospel songs and changed the words to suit their own ideas, and it seemed to me that we could do the same. And easily. All we have to do is substitute the word "noodly" wherever it fits. An example, from a song on the above-mentioned album: "...Lord lift me up, and let me stand my faith on heaven's noodly land, A higher plane than I have found, Lord plant my feet on noodly ground. My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay, Though some may dwell where these abound, my prayer my aim is noodly ground..." Next time you're at a revival meeting or Baptist church and they start to sing, just toss in a few noodlies here and there.
On top of Spaghetti, a nice foamy beer, Romano and meatballs, and give a big cheer. Look up in the heavens, to glance a fly-by, The great FSmonster, will wink his one eye. Then open your mouth wide and take a big swig, You know who to thank as...you eat like a pig.
Hey! Camp songs are great songs. They have the weight of history. And more people know the tune. So I suppose "Roll out the pasta and the volcano of beer" is out?
What about; I got a girl called bony Moroni do do do-do doo do-do-do do She's as skinny as a stick of macaroni ... Sorry, that ain't gospel.
Onward pastafarians, marching with their beer, With the FS monster flying ever near, Sprinkle the romano, meatballs we will eat, Eat and drink and eat and drink and pass the TUMS for treats. Onward pastafarians, marching with their beer, With the FS monster flying ever near,
Camp songs are great at camp. And silly songs are fun. But gospel songs make you want to throw out all reason and believe in things that make no sense. The song I used above from the Iris Dement album (actually sung by her mother) is really beautiful and moving, whether you believe in that crap or not. A person on the fence could fall off on the wrong side and join the church after listening to that. "Roll out the beer volcano," is funny, and maybe even fun. But we want to make people believe in the FSM, not just have an excuse for a pasta-and-beer party. This is a struggle for the hearts and minds of a generation. This is serious! Bobby Henderson's problem was that he didn't take himself seriously. He wrote a silly book. You don't create a mass-movement religion by writing a silly book. You create it by touching peoples' emotions, and one way to do that is with songs that move the heart.
Deep noodles. My home is a volcano. Deep noodles. I want to cross over into pasta. Sorry. Just doesn't translate to the FSM very well. I think song forms are inherently tied to the inspiration of faith. You can't hijack one for another. Gospels are deeply inspiring in a Baptist Church. In my Lutheran church they're also wonderful, but I get more inspired by homophonic hymns. I love chant, but in a Catholic Cathedral more than in a little white country church. Daniel. I guess you're going to have to develop your own noodle-inspired musical form.
Find a Utah Phillips album. The wobs took gospel songs and created great and inspiring labor songs out of them. That's what I'd like to see Pastafarians do.
Oops. I had the album name wrong. I really like her attitude in the title song, but "Infamous Angel" is my favorite song on the album. Thus my inadvertent error. I love both her voice and the music. I do interject "noodly" when I sing along. I have no problem enjoying music that expresses beliefs I do not share.
