Deep Convictions of Ben Harper...

Editor's Note: This article is currently running in Issue 28 of RELEVANT, which hits newsstands this week. "I can change the world with my own two hands,” Ben Harper sings, the veins in his neck bulging as he prowls the front of the stage, pushing his palms up toward the black Kansas night sky. “With my own, with my own two hands.” Up go his palms again, and 12,000 ecstatic fans mimic him, as if joining a giant musical game of Simon Says. Following the amazing show at Wakarusa Festival in Lawrence, Kans., Harper and I talk backstage in a discussion that will last until 3 a.m. While his passion for music is evident, Harper’s commitment to improving the world around him is the driving force behind our conversation. I wish more people I admire would do this, talk about these things, because others are listening; I’m listening,” he says. “I need to be inspired and motivated. It’s like [Bob] Dylan sang in ‘Ballad of a Thin Man’: Oh, my God, am I here all alone? We need to encourage each other.” Faith is another source of inspiration for Harper. In his song “Blessed to Be a Witness,” he affirms, “Only by the grace of God go I,” while declaring, in “Power of the Gospel,” that Christ’s message “is the eyes for the blind and legs for the lame.” While Harper’s skills as a songwriter and musician make all his songs compelling, the sincerity and tenderness of his gospel tracks set them apart. “I wasn’t raised in the Church, but I’ve always had a church deep in my heart,” Harper says. I ask Harper if the creative process for his gospel songs differs from his approach to other music. “It’s just what comes out in waves, and I write it because that’s what’s there,” he says. “I’ve never sat down and thought, ‘I’m going to write a gospel song now,’ but it runs with itself and drags me until the end. It’s not denominational; it’s just wherever it takes me.” Much like with his songs that focus on political and social themes, Harper is sometimes concerned that his spiritual music will be misconstrued. Thankfully, for him and his fans, these doubts are fleeting. “I thought at one point, when I’d just finished ‘Picture of Jesus’ and ‘Blessed to Be a Witness’ [both on the album Diamonds on the Inside], are people going to think this or that about me?” Harper says. “But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. These songs come from a pure source.” A similar purity is evident to Harper in the natural world. “I love the concept that nature walks us at one with God,” he says. “When I stand in front of the General Sherman tree and the sequoias in California, I feel in touch with a greater power. There’s no question that there is a higher power. I just don’t want it to be exclusive to me.” Exclusivity is one of the concerns that Harper has about organized religion, which he believes is often as divisive and polarizing as politics. “I think if Jesus were on earth now He’d be a little frustrated with the Church,” Harper says. “I’m disturbed by some of the things I see, such as the documentary Deliver Us from Evil, which goes in depth about the problems in the Catholic Church. It’s one of the most astonishing pieces of film I’ve seen, and I’m a documentary junkie. I sat there with my mouth open.” Despite these misgivings, Harper is confident that a fresh wave of enthusiasm and vigor among people of faith will help those who believe in God to rise above the problems that often tarnish the reputation of the Church. “I’m excited that there is a new perspective and a fresh outlook on how young people define the Spirit in their lives without it having an archaic anchor,” Harper says. “That excites me. I’ve taken the liberty of that enthusiasm, to be uninhibited when I sing gospel music.” This freedom is most apparent in Harper’s work with gospel legends the Blind Boys of Alabama. On Harper’s Pleasure and Pain DVD, the music’s emotive power is encapsulated in the tears running down the Blind Boys’ faces as they sing backup vocals for Harper’s resplendent “I Shall Not Walk Alone.” In 2004, Harper went back into the studio with the Blind Boys, planning to record two songs. In the ensuing eight days, they laid down 11 tracks that comprise the double Grammy-winning album (Best Pop Instrumental Performance, for “11th Commandment,” and Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album) There Will Be a Light. Harper learned many musical lessons from recording There Will Be a Light, and credits his seven-day completion of Lifeline to the Blind Boys’ old-school recording ideals. The true value of the experience, though, cannot be fully represented on a CD. “I discovered a lot about God and feel I got closer to God through working with the Blind Boys, and I carry that with me,” Harper says. “They’re almost proof of God. You know, these guys could well have been basket weavers in the South. They could’ve died young, but they exceeded the odds. Their story is evidence that there is a God; they’re living proof of something divine.” It’s 3 a.m., and Harper has to call his wife. Before I leave, I have one last question for him: “Do you think there will be a light, and if so, what does that mean?” “Yes, because if I didn’t I wouldn’t have written it,” Harper says. “I’m thinking, hoping, knowing, believing that it’s the next phase. That light is attainable in this world. It’s enlightenment, the fulfillment of compassion. It’s not only the step we take beyond this world and into the next, but it’s also the step we take here, toward each other and ourselves and therefore toward God.”

Author: Phil White Phil White is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to RELEVANT