“We Pray"
Coldplay’s “most Christian” song, or its most political?
Those who know me best know I have a voracious appetite for music and its meaning. I feel deeply September’s shift to a new season, which calls to mind “Samba da Bençao,” “Samba of the Blessing,” penned by Sergio Mendez, about which I’ve written before.
The lines that best capture the Brazilian notion of “saudade” and the wistfulness of the shift to the autumn are these:
To make a samba is not like telling a joke
And who makes samba like this is worth nothing
The good samba is a kind of prayer
Because samba is the sadness that sways
And sadness is always hopeful
Of one day not being sad any morevia Sergio Mendes – Samba Da Bencao (Samba Of The Blessing) Lyrics.
But today, I focus on a rhythmically compelling one that just dropped from Coldplay.
In trying to figure out the references to “Virgilio” and “Baraye,” my DuckDuckGo search turned up the article “‘We pray’ is Coldplay’s most Christian song yet” on Premier Christianity, self–described as “The UK’s Leading Christian Magazine.” Beyond the imperial theology of the “one true God,” here’s the actually useful part.
“We’ll be singin’ ‘Baraye’” references the song ‘Baraye’, which became an anthem in Iran after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year old Iranian woman, died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.
In the first verse, “Pray Virgilio wins” refers to the case of Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, a teen migrant from Guatemala accused of causing the death of a Florida police officer. Charges against him were later dropped.
Joining Coldplay on this track are Little Sims, Burna Boy, Elyanna, and TINI. Little Simz and Burna Boy are of Nigerian origin. Elyanna is a Palestinian–Chilean singer, and TINI is an Argentine actress and singer. These globalized choices are more a reflection of Martin’s “altheism” than some sort of Christianity. The twenty–third psalm, paraphrased in the song, and claimed in the article as Christian, is from the Hebrew Scripture.
“Baraye” is explicitly political, particularly in its reception.
…Shervin Hajipour’s “Baraye” made history by becoming the first award-winner for a new Grammy Award category, “Best Song for Social Change.”
“Why Iran’s Unofficial Protest Anthem ‘Baraye’ Won a Grammy” TIME, February 6, 2023
Baraye is a Farsi word that translates to “Because Of.” Hajipour said he wrote the lyrics based on tweets posted by young Iranians that list the reasons why they continue to protest against the Iranian regime, previously posting, “the lyrics of this song were written by you to relieve your pain.”
While we in the US might point to Amini’s case as one of theocratic or Muslim depravity, as “Premier Christianity” certainly does, we in the West have our own demons to exorcize.
On the night of May 19, 2023, Virgilio Aguilar Méndez, 18, was eating some food at the parking lot of the Super 8 Motel he was staying at in St. Augustine, Florida. Aguilar Méndez, a Guatemalan immigrant of Maya descent who was sharing a room at the motel with fellow farmworkers, was approached by Sergeant Michael Kunovich who believed the teenager’s conduct was suspicious. As the police officer started to question Aguilar Méndez, the teenager, who speaks the Mayan languageMam, couldn’t understand the questions and started apologizing.
Despite an evident language barrier, officer Kunovich continued questioning and searching Aguilar Méndez. The startled teenager resisted. When two other deputies were called in to assist Kunovich, Aguilar Méndez was thrown to the ground and repeatedly stunned by Kunivich’s taser. Throughout the scuffle, which was captured on Kunovich’s body cam, Aguilar Méndez can be heard screaming for his family. Toward the end of the altercation, the officers found a small pocket knife in Aguilar Méndez's pocket, which they apprehended after they handcuffed him.
Shortly after the six-minute scuffle ended, when Aguilar Méndez was handcuffed and on the ground, Kunovich suddenly collapsed. At a nearby hospital, the officer died. Medical examiners noted that Kunovich, who had gone into cardiac arrest, died of natural causes; however, a then-shackled and restrained Aguilar Méndez was charged with aggravated manslaughter of an officer and resisting an officer with violence. The case has stunned immigrant communities and legal scholars alike, many calling the charges racially motivated.
“An Officer Died of Heart Failure While Attacking Virgilio Aguilar Méndez. Now He Faces Manslaughter Charges” Nicole Froio, Refinery29, January 9, 2024.
It gets worse in that Aguilar Méndez was forced to take psychiatric medications before his hearing to determine competency for trial, an egregious case of the medicalization of deviance, in a context with deeply racist and political overtones. Fortunately, 600,000 supporters helped gain his release.
Far from a call for obedience to someone’s particular version of God, then, the choice of collaborators and subject matter explicitly challenges authority which is unjust in the way that dehumanizes the “other.” One must wear one’s hijab “properly.” One must not express the disaffection of youth creatively. One must migrate and work “lawfully,” and “comply.” One must assimilate to the dominant culture quickly and wholly, or be deemed mentally incompetent, and given drugs to ensure that.
One may well ask of Coldplay’s inclusivity, as many had of Paul Simon’s “Graceland” decades ago, whether it is a late career bid for new sound and relevance. Is it appropriation? I ask rather whether I would have heard of any of these stories or artists had Coldplay not thrust it upon our attention? Of all the myriad instances of human suffering calling upon our attention in this hyperconnected world with immediacy, why this, why now, why not?
The great folksinger Kate Wolf, in “Poet’s Heart,” sang “I remember that you said that language is a knife / That spreads what we feel across the dry crust of someone’s heart.”
May that be the yardstick for the relevance of all art.