Songs of the road
Crucify your mind by Sixto Rodriquez
Crucify your mind
Was it a huntsman or a player
That made you pay the cost
That now assumes relaxed positions
And prostitutes your loss?
Were you tortured by your own thirst
In those pleasures that you seek
That made you Tom the curious
That makes you James the weak?
And you claim you got something going
Something you call unique
But I’ve seen your self-pity showing
As the tears rolled down your cheeks
Soon you know I’ll leave you
And I’ll never look behind
‘Cos I was born for the purpose
That crucifies your mind
So con, convince your mirror
As you’ve always done before
Giving substance to shadows
Giving substance ever more
And you assume you got something to offer
Secrets shiny and new
But how much of you is repetition
That you didn’t whisper to him too
Interpreting crucify your mind
What is the message?
always a curious part of interpreting our subconscious
My focus on this song was around the lines
Tom the curious
James the weak
And also ….
giving substance to shadows
Giving substance evermore
The song could be taken at a shallow physical level most often interpreted as about a girl
Then at another level it could be about but all of us as a whole. We all think we’re unique, but how much of our thinking is conditioned by society, the media, misguided schooling or well intended religious up bringing, manipulating governments, self serving leadership and organisations.
Are we part of a “matrix” that we just don’t see and don’t see the need to change
So where do Tom the curious and James the weak fit in ?
Well …
Tom the curious & James the weak
Tom the curious is assumed to be the so called doubting Thomas who was a courageous man who was brave enough to question the resurrection of Jesus. needed physical proof doubting.Thomas represents skeptics who refuse to believe without direct personal experience.
Theologians see this skeptical approach as biblical encouragement for the use of physical experiences such as pilgrimages.
There a number of People that could be referenced as James at least 5 I found in looking at this . Most likely the reference is James the Just – cousin or half brother of Jesus.
One other James is James the great (son of Zebedee) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, and traditionally considered the first apostle to be martyred. He is the patron saint of Spaniards and Portuguese, and as such is often identified as Santiago.
So what is the message
It is a not a simple one …to me at the moment the answer lies in the title – crucify your mind – the mind relates to ego – “I think therefore I am” said Descartes is not strictly true – we do have a mind which is one of our prime intelligence centers we also have a physical body, a feeling body, a spiritual body. We need to acknowledge all of these bodies.
Look at these words
“Were you tortured by your own thirst
In those pleasures that you seek
That made you Tom the curious
That makes you James the weak?”
Not being satisfied with what we have and are results in the torture in the thirst for more” hence our minds become curious and at the same times weak”
The answer lies in recognizing all that we have – all the privileges and blessings and to be grateful and to decide how these blessings can be used for the good.
…well maybe I will ponder this more tomorrow but who knows what song will become a mind worm
Albergue Calzada de Valdunciel