secretly Christian: Moon Sammy
Here’s a live video of Soul Coughing doing Moon Sammy, a song off their debut full-length Ruby Vroom:
About 2:29 there’s a verse that goes
Babylon mystery // Mother of harlots // and all these abominations of the earth // that sits on many waters // drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus // and I wondered // with great admiration.
Which is just a slight gloss on the King James Version of Revelation 17:5-6:
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. [link]
I have to admit that of all the Scripture passages a crowd could dance to this is one of the strangest.
I may or may not get back to Mike Doughty’s use of Scripture again; he repurposed Scripture passages (always from The Revelation, I think) on several occasions. He also went through a recovery period after Soul Coughing when some redemption themes leaked into his lyrics. I’m sorry Doughty didn’t become a Christian; I’m hoping when his memoir (promised for mid-2011) finally appears it will shed some light on what happened to him instead.
