1971
DRY BONES IN THE VALLEY * THE INTERNATIONALS * SPRING 122 * USA
The Internationals recording is a great cover of the Reverend C. L. Franklin's song, there's a power-house male vocal singing lead with a terrific female backing chorus and clapping, stomping, and general excitement for good measure. The song is from (of course) the bible and the 'dry bones' refer to Ezekiel's spectacular vision of the dry bones coming alive! This, now largely outdated, aspect of Christianity was/is central to its hold on the imagination and desires of the multitude being a presumption everlasting life to the adherent. Today's promise of immortality is propagated as being potentially in the remit of science, and is presented in an equally cryptic way but is none the less an important component in the meta narrative of state control and capitalist oppression. Obviously both myths are equally fallacious yet with the inherent inability of human kind to deal with the reality of death these and other hopeless straws offer an unction to the troubled and terrified mind.