My heart is grieved over Joe Cockers passing. What a talent he had. I especially love his song “You are so Beautiful”. It is so simple and yet it resonates so powerfully with the gratitude that I feel about Christ and what he has done for me through the Gospel. The song was originally penned as a romantic love song by Billy Preston in 1972. The arrangement of the original however was unbearably ridiculous. In 1974, the song was truly written when Joe Cocker captured the essence of “You are so Beautiful” and re-released a slowed down, intensely soulful version. The song skyrocketed to number 5 on the Billboard Top 100 and the rest is history. Yet, no matter what the human artists intended, in my eyes, You are so Beautiful is indeed a worship song. In fact, I feel that the wild popularity of the song has everything to do with its powerful, intense, worship-filled lyrics. Think about it. The song shouldn’t work. The structure is not complex at all. The musical score requires nothing more than a single piano or guitar. Joe Cocker’s voice is like a bowl of gravel poured out on pavement. And Cockers appearance holds nothing that pleases the eye. Yet, when Joe sings it, the song eerily moves below the surface of our consciousness. You are so Beautiful. Somehow, that lyric gets under my skin and embeds itself in my soul, inviting me to contemplate the Beauty of Christ. And when I am drawn to dwell upon Christ’s beauty, I don’t need much else. That seems to be enough in itself. Christ’s beauty transcends my circumstances. Even my sorrows become joy. “You are so Beautiful to me,” it says. It’s personal. I did not always see Christ’s beauty. In fact, there was a time I found him repugnant. Yet the God saw fit to bring heaven’s gift to me. He opened my eyes so that now I can see what others might not see. I can see the beauty of Christ. And when I see this beauty, my soul is satisfied and I am filled with joy. You are so Beautiful. Everything I hope for. Everything I need. So often we Christians feel that in order to worship Christ, all the setting must be perfect. The variables must all line up. The music must not be off key. The organ must not be too loud. The worship leader must be attractive, but not distracting. Our neighbors must be in a perfect condition, not too noisy or smelly or strangely dressed. We must have stained glass or a worship band or whatever else. Yet, in truth, we must only see Jesus. Hes everything we need. He is so Beautiful! So Beautiful. And when we see Him, when we behold his glory, we will worship. For as Charles Spurgeon said, When we see Jesus, everything else becomes beautiful. Even a barn will seem like a cathedral. Even our sufferings become joy. The particular video below is from a Joe Cocker concert in Germany in the 1990s. I especially like this version of You are so Beautiful because it showcases Billy Preston’s original second verse which gives even greater weight to the worshipful nature of the song. It also features the acoustic guitar as primary accompaniment instead of the piano, which seems to give the song an even better ‘simple factor‘. RIP Joe Cocker. youtu.be/wlDmslyGmGI
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 13:03:43 +0000
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