| Willie Nelson – Seven Spanish Angels Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I should note agreement with the earlier posting from "Imparied Casing" that, iIn the context of the song, the angels here are most likely priests, or fellow townsmen/women". Another reason for considering the references to seven angels to be different from the references in Revelations is because the song refers to seven *Spanish* angels, whereas Revelations 1:20 makes reference to "the angels of the seven churches" and Revelations 1:4 refers to "the seven churches which are in Asia". Apologies for now being obsessively analytical on this item. 'Nuff said. I'll focus on just enjoying the song itself. |
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| Willie Nelson – Seven Spanish Angels Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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(oops ... posting this as a separate comment rather than under 'replies') She reached down and picked the gun up, That lay smokin in his hand. Said, "Father please forgive me, I can't make it without my man. And she knew the gun was empty, And she knew she couldn't win. But her final prayer was answered, When the rifles fired again. There is a deep sadness in the self-determination here. I think that she did decide to end her life, the technicalities of what constitutes suicide notwithstanding, and that her expectation when she picked up the gun was that she would be killed by the riders some of whom supposedly would not realize that the gun was empty. Her feelings of hopeless loss (and empathy) on the death of her lover overshadowed her understanding of the sense of the moral wrong in giving up on her own life. The integrity in that sense of self-sacrifice seems to me to be the strongest emotional focus of the story. There is no closing section in the lyrics referring to the seven angels taking her to heaven, although one could argue that her final prayer was to be forgiven and she was (and should have been). With regards to the reference to a specific number of angels, the earlier posting makes a good case for referencing the seven angels noted in Revelations. I'm not sure, however, what that adds to the contextual meaning of the song, although the references to seven angels does add emotional content, providing both a sense of something that is more specific and weighty as well as something that is more undefined/cryptic. FWIW, the following are some of the key references in Revelations (American King James version): Revelations 1:20 - "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches." Revelations 8:06 - "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." Revelation 21:9 - "And there came to me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." Since the references in the bible to seven angels are pretty much limited to the context of Revelations, it seems preferable to consider the references to seven angels in the Willie Nelson / Ray Charles song as being separate from the specific context of Revelations and, pending any further insights on what the seven angels would be referencing, to just be a somewhat separate and very loosely related allegorical reference. |
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| Ray Charles – Seven Spanish Angels Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Comments on the lyrics to the song "Seven Spanish Angels" appear under the Willie Nelson listing in this website: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/122186/ |
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| Willie Nelson – Seven Spanish Angels Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"She reached down and picked the gun up, That lay smokin in his hand. Said, "Father please forgive me, I can't make it without my man." And she knew the gun was empty, And she knew she couldn't win. But her final prayer was answered, When the rifles fired again. There is a deep sadness in the self-determination here. I think that she did decide to end her life, the technicalities of what constitutes suicide notwithstanding, and that her expectation when she picked up the gun was that she would be killed by the riders some of whom supposedly would not realize that the gun was empty. Her feelings of hopeless loss (and empathy) on the death of her lover overshadowed her understanding of the sense of the moral wrong in giving up on her own life. The integrity in that sense of self-sacrifice seems to me to be the strongest emotional focus of the story. There is no closing section in the lyrics referring to the seven angels taking her to heaven, although one could argue that her final prayer was to be forgiven and she was (and should have been). With regards to the reference to a specific number of angels, the earlier posting makes a good case for referencing the seven angels noted in Revelations. I'm not sure, however, what that adds to the contextual meaning of the song, although the references to seven angels does add emotional content, providing both a sense of something that is more specific and weighty as well as something that is more undefined/cryptic. FWIW, the following are some of the key references in Revelations (American King James version): Revelations 1:20 - "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches." Revelations 8:06 - "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." Revelation 21:9 - "And there came to me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." Since the references in the bible to seven angels are pretty much limited to the context of Revelations, it seems preferable to consider the references to seven angels in the Willie Nelson / Ray Charles song as being separate from the specific context of Revelations and, pending any further insights on what the seven angels would be referencing, to just be a somewhat separate and very loosely related allegorical reference. |
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