strict joy

gray skies, cool breeze...a day when the city seems to be muffled by clouds. i have the whole day off and i intend on doing nothing but sleeping, reading, writing and eating. ahhhhhhhhh.

perfect day to listen to the swell season's most recent album, 'strict joy.'

glen hansard and marketa irglova of the swell season were thrust into the limelight after the unanticipated wild success of the movie (and soundtrack) 'once'. as much as i love the 'once' soundtrack, i am head-over-heels enamored by 'strict joy'. besides the sheer musical brilliance and lyrical poignancy of the songs, the whole theme of the album is compelling. the name of the album of comes from a poem penned by irish novelist and poet james stephens. the poem is called "strict care, strict joy!", which you can read in full here.

my favorite stanza from the poem:

For, as he meditated misery

And cared it into song—strict care, strict joy!

Caring for grief he cared his grief away:

And those sad songs, tho' woe be all the theme,

Do not make us grieve who read them now

—Because the poet makes grief beautiful.

the basic thread of the poem is the outworking of grief, sorrow and disappointments into things of beauty and gold. the album follows the same strain--the transformation of sorrow into joy, the intentionality that it takes and the willingness to address the sorrow and not bypass or stifle it. for a great brief explanation about the album, click here.

it's the thrust of life, isn't it? how we as broken, fallen creatures so desperately crave for wholeness. how we long for our mourning to turn into gladness and our weeping into dancing. how we desire to go through the fire and come out on the other side not destroyed but refined, made stronger and purer as finest gold.


cups of coffee: 1 1/2

mood: recuperating