Page - 27 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/02

Comfort the Waste Places, Defend the Violated Earth | 27www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 21–33 pomorphic representations of earth which play to human-centred images in order to see people care for the earth. Chapman’s song gives the earth its own cries, but in human form. There is a powerful prophetic preaching message inherent in Chapman’s lyrics.27 Language reminiscent of Isaiah’s emphatic call to hear, to see, and to do something about the knowledge of an injustice (Isa. 40:21; 41:1; 51:1, 4, 7) resounds in political activism. The physicality of the response of standing and testifying at the end of Chapman’s song is contrasted with the passivity of the first verse, where “we” are standing but only watching the rape. The chorus returns to the “Mother of us all” characterisation to remind us what this song is about. There is a jolting pause after “stripped mined” and “clear cut”, using “word painting” to get across a message, a common device in Chapman’s mu- sic.28 The lyrics juxtapose positive imagery with negative realities: “sunshine” is positive, but it is hotter than ever before; “crowned her queen” is positive, but the power imagery is tainted by its association with “cities of concrete and steel”. Sheila Whiteley cites Heidi Safia Mirza’s exploration of the presentation of the black woman throughout history as fitting with Chapman’s work: what we see is how she is permitted to appear. We see glimpses of her as she is produced and created for the sustenance of the patriarchal, colo- nial and now post-colonial discourse … in her representation she is with- out agency, without self-determination, a passive victim, waiting to be inscribed with meaning from those who wish to gaze upon her and name her. She is an object; not the subject of her story.29 The representation of the world in Chapman’s song could also include these entailments of lack of agency and passivity, requiring witness intervention for the world to be rescued. The representation is limited and controlled. Chapman’s song invokes warlike aspects of the destruction, linking rape and violence (beating) with ecological devastation. The second major stanza talks of “bombs exploded underground”, a reference to mining practices that correlates with nuclear bomb testing, which also has an ecological impact via ongoing radiation damage. The assault on Zion in Deutero-Isaiah occurs in the context of military violence. 27 Kirk-Duggan describes how many African American blues and gospel songs provide sermon- like messages of hope and transformative possibilities. Kirk-Duggan 1997, 140–166. 28 Whiteley 2000, 176. 29 Cited in Whiteley 2000, 173.