Fearless

NPR's "All Songs Considered" features a band called Ambulance LTD doing a cover of a 1971 song by Pink Floyd called "Fearless." That is one of my all time favorite songs, and what got me thinking about it was the last few posts on religion. In the late 1970s at Archbishop Molloy High School in New York, one of the religion teachers asked all of us to bring to class a rock and roll record that we thought had something to do with religion (I brought in "Presence of the Lord" by Blind Faith with Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood). One student brought in "Fearless," in which he saw Christian symbolism. I'm still not sure I see that, but I loved the song then and still do. I find it soothing--the way some people experience angels ;-). Here's the original. And the lyrics:

You say the hill's too steep to climb
Just climb it
You say you'd like to see me try
Climbing
You pick the place and I'll choose the time
And I'll climb
The hill in my own way
Just wait a while for the right day
And as I rise above the tree lines and the clouds
I look down
Hear the sound of the things you said today

Fearlessly, the idiot faced the crowd
Smiling
Merciless, the magistrate turns 'round
Frowning
And who's the fool who wears the crown?
And go down in your own way
And every day is the right day
And as you rise above the fear-lines in his brow
You look down
Hear the sound of the faces in the crowd