Holiday Coverfolk: All Saints Day
(Saints in Song, from Augustine to Theresa)
November 1st, 2012 — 03:09 pm
Members of a New York Police Department tactical team rescue Haley Rombi, 3, in the Dongon Hills neighborhood of the Staten Island borough of New York, Oct. 30, 2012. (Michael Kirby Smith/The New York Times)
I try to avoid sharing two thematic posts in a row. But Halloween has come and gone with nary a fanfare in our town, making it All Saints Day – and though having grown up Jewish, I don’t really have a coherent sense of the role of the saint in the everyday life, I do know that if there is such a thing, many friends on the East Coast could use a few right now.
I remember our own saints, though they called themselves angels: those that opened their hearts and homes to the distraught and homeless when the tornado came through our town last year, and when the October snowstorm that followed brought its second round of darkness and disaster. And though the religion classes I took my freshman year in college are but a haze in the brain, I remember, too, that saints are humans, first: that the helping hand is canonized, and that God, if there is one, works through us.
And so we offer a quick mid-week tribute to the songs of the saints: that cry for heavenly assistance, and curse the absent savior; that praise the human instinct to assist or suffer. All find relevancy in a world where help is needed, and offered, and accepted gratefully. May those who need find solace, and hope, in the small kindnesses of others. May those who rise from our midst offer miracle enow.
- Denison Witmer: Prayer of Saint Francis (trad.) [2006]
- Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem: Farewell to Saint Dolores (orig. Dave Carter) [2003]
- John Doe: I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine [2007]
- Dirty Projectors: I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine (orig. Bob Dylan) [2010]
- Thea Gilmore: St. Stephen’s Day Murders (orig. Elvis Costello) [2009]
- Mary Black: The Moon and St. Christopher (orig. Mary Chapin Carpenter) [1995]
- Scott Kelly: St. John, The Gambler (orig. Townes Van Zandt) [2012]
- Suzanne Vega: St. Claire (orig. Jack Hardy) [2011]
- Elbow Jane: St. Theresa (orig. Joan Osborne) [2008]
- David Thomas Broughton: St. Patrick (orig. James Yorkston) [2008]
- James Vincent McMorrow: Saint Augustine (orig. Band of Horses) [2010]
- Nanci Griffith: St. Olav’s Gate (orig. Tom Russell) [1986]
- Wake The Dead: St. Stephen / The Old Bush / The Tattoo (orig. Grateful Dead) [2007]
- Bess Rogers: Little Saint Nick (orig. Beach Boys) [2010]
- Ira Gonzalez: St. Judy’s Comet (orig. Paul Simon) [2008]
- Pete Special: St. James Infirmary [2006]
- Rickie Lee Jones: St. James Infirmary [2012]
- Cabinet of Natural Curiosities: St. James Infirmary (trad.) [2005]
Looking for your own path to sainthood? Cover Lay Down is a public service, connecting artists and fans for the betterment of both; we accept no ads, and pay for server and bandwidth out of our own meager pockets. Donate to Cover Lay Down any time in the month of November, and we’ll not only send you a link to download all 18 of the songs above in one convenient zip file, we’ll also re-gift 20% of that donation to the NEA Closing The Achievement Gaps Initiative, which supports local children and families by funding home visits and parent engagement programs.