AL GREEN / “Belle”
Source: The Belle Album (Hi/Capitol - 1977)
It’s been said that there actually was a “Belle.” Meaning, there actually was a woman who Al Green wanted, but decided he couldn’t or shouldn’t have because he was going to give himself to the Lord instead. Despite my hazy recollection of having once read the woman’s name somewhere, I’m not buying it. I know there’s something inherently Christian about self-denial (or did I just get that backwards?) but leaving aside the supposed chastity of Catholic priests, most Christians realize it’s both possible and healthy for true believers to have God and sex in their lives at the same time. So if Belle isn’t actually a woman, who or what is it? I think it’s fame.
Listen to “Belle” thinking ‘fame’ instead of ‘woman’ and that much-quoted line “it’s you that I want but it’s Him that I need” sounds mature and well-considered…as opposed to self-flagellating and a little kooky as it sounds when you’re thinking that he’s talking to a woman. Similarly, it always seemed bizarre to me that Al was directly comparing this woman he’d found to God Himself. Near the end of “Belle” he sings, “I know you’re all of these things / But He’s such a greater joy,” and he repeats, “He’s such a greater…!” before succumbing to one of those high-pitched wails of emotion that translates to something like, “Ain’t no words for this.” Now, I’ve been in love and I’ve had sex. But I’ve never confused the woman I was in love with or having sex with as anything so all-encompassing that she or it threatened to eclipse my faith. Of course, I’ve never been Christian either.
It’s not like Al doesn’t understand the concept of both/and as opposed to either/or. If you know his records well enough and have enough free time on your hands, you can make a decent case that Al’s whole career until the late Seventies was a case of the dichotomous in process. Or you could just hit the skip button three times and take a listen to “Georgia Boy.” Al sings, “Just because I’m thinking about New York City…don’t mean I ain’t thinking about Georgia too.” Al knows you can be in two places at one time—mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and in the case of bi-coastal folk, even literally. But Al also knows that, at some point, every man has to make a choice. A couple of times during the proceedings, Al deviates from the script to ad-lib off-mic, saying stuff like, “It feels so good down in the South right here. I’m just a country boy.” So much for both/and.
I once interviewed a now-ordinary but formerly very famous musician who told me that he’d done every drug he could find and lots of them and he’d had sex with so many woman that he’d long ago lost count, but none of it even came close to the feeling of being on stage with thousands of people screaming his name. He called being on stage ‘the ultimate high.’ Now that I can understand. And in retrospect, that may have been when I started revising my opinion of Al Green’s famous swan song, “Belle.” Make “Belle” a metaphor for fame, for ‘the ultimate high’ so to speak, and everything starts to make sense. Of course, I’m presupposing that the song, and Al, are supposed to make sense, which is sort of like assuming that we’re all supposed to get along or politicians are all supposed to serve honorably. The assumption isn’t really wrong as much as might be a little too optimistic.
Coming soon, more sex, fame and God.
—Mtume ya Salaam
Bonus tracks: “Loving You” and “Georgia Boy,” both from The Belle Album. Buy it, people!!!
Fame is a drug
…a drug most folk never taste. But once licked, sucked and swallowed, fame is highly addictive. Some people can enjoy it for a minute and then quietly kiss it goodbye. I should have said “a few people can…,” because as is painfully apparent when we watch Sixties groups with singers sixty years old trying to recapture their long ago glory days, for most of us, once we’ve been there (if we ever get there) we never want to leave it behind and constantly be trying for one more hit.
Mtume, I can remember doing a gig at Aaron Davis Hall in New York City. I could see not one person in the audience, but I could hear them and I could feel the energy. The rush is real. I can imagine what happens when you get a hit record, a string of television appearances, a 76-city tour with in-store appearances.
Now as for Reverend Green, I don’t think he ever kicked. It’s just that the dope he got now ain’t smoke. Marx called it the opiate of the masses. I think you need a finer mind than mine to be able to accurately detail the differences between a big city preacher and an entertainment personality. You know what I’m saying?
One other thing: ‘belle’ rhymes with ‘hell.’
—Kalamu ya Salaam
P.S. I believe you’re right about "Belle."
This entry was posted on Sunday, October 15th, 2006 at 12:09 am and is filed under Classic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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