I went to hear Alison Krauss and Robert Plant in concert a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I’ve been an Alison Krauss fan for a while, but when the Krauss-Plant CD came out last year, I didn’t buy it and, frankly, didn’t have much interest. I’m not sure why--perhaps because I was never a huge fan of Led Zeppelin.

I was given the disc before the concert, though, so i gave it a listen. It’s wonderful. It’s everything I like about music--a melding of different styles while taking fresh approaches to traditional songs. One of the songs on the disc is a spiritual and that got me wondering about what goes through Robert Plant’s mind when he sings a song like this.

That thought really hit me as I watched him sing back-up when she sang “Down by the River to Pray,” a song she sang on the “O Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack and a beautiful invitation to, among other things, baptism. (The scene where this song is played during the movie is also one of my all-time favorite scenes).

As I watch him singing, I’m thinking, This is Robert Plant. Robert Plant. I can’t even begin to imagine his life when he was on tour with Led Zeppelin in the 1970s. Here he is now singing back-up to lyrics like: “As I went down in the river to pray/Studyin' about that good ol' way/And who shall wear the Robe and crown?/Good Lord show me the way”. Do these words affect him at all? Or at they just lyrics to a song? i wondered also about the people around me listening to this haunting song. Do these words have an impact? Does Alison Krauss want them to?

They did for me. It turned out to be a Spirit-filled evening.

By: Pastor Chris At 06/27/2008 - 5:03pm |  |  |