Born in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Bryars initially studied philosophy at Sheffield University before studying music for three years.
The first musical work for which is he remembered was his role as bassist in the trio Joseph Holbrooke, alongside guitarist Derek Bailey and drummer Tony Oxley. The trio began by playing relatively traditional jazz before moving into free improvisation. However, Bryars became dissatisfied with this when he saw a young bassist (later revealed to be Johnny Dyani) play in a manner which seemed to him to be artificial, and he became interested in composition instead.
Bryars's first works as a composer owe much to the so-called New York School of John Cage (with whom he briefly studied), Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and minimalism. His first known work as a composer, The Sinking of the Titanic (1969), is quite an indeterministic work which allows the performers to take a number of sound sources related to the sinking of the RMS Titanic and make them into a piece of music. The 1994 recording of this piece was made famous to a whole new audience via its promo single featuring the Aphex Twin remix "Raising the Titanic" (later collected on his 26 Mixes for Cash album).
A well known early work is Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (1971), which has as its basis a recorded loop of a tramp improvising a hymn of that name. On top of that loop, rich harmonies played by a live ensemble are built, always increasing in density, before the whole thing gradually fades out. A new recording of this work was made in the 1990s with Tom Waits singing along with the original recording of the tramp during the final section.
Bryars was a founding member of the Portsmouth Sinfonia, an orchestra whose membership consisted of performers who "embrace the full range of musical competence" - and who played (or attempted to play) popular classical works. Its members included Brian Eno, whose Obscure Records label would subsequently release works by Bryars. In one of the first three releases from the label, Brian Eno's album Discreet Music, Bryars conducted and co-arranged the three pieces "Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel" which constitute the second half of the album.
Bryars's later works have included A Man In A Room, Gambling (1997), which was written on commission from BBC Radio 3 and Artangel. Bryars's music is heard beneath monologues spoken by the Spanish artist Juan Muñoz, who talks about methods of cheating at card games. The ten short works were played on Radio 3 without any introductory announcements, and Bryars is quoted as saying that he hoped they would appear to the listener in a similar way to the shipping forecast, both mysterious and accepted without question.
Bryars has written a large number of other works, including three operas, and a number of instrumental pieces, among them three string quartets and several concertos. He has written several pieces for choreographers, including Biped (2001) for Merce Cunningham. Between 1981-1984 he participated in the CIVIL warS, a vast, never-completed multimedia project by Robert Wilson.
Bryars founded the music department at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University), and taught there for a number of years. He lives in England, and, in the summer months, on the west coast of Canada.
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Gavin Bryars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
never failed me yet.
Jesus' blood never failed me yet.
This one thing I know,
for He loves so...
Gavin Bryars's song "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet" features a looped recording of a homeless man singing a brief and simple hymn. The song opens with the powerful declaration “Jesus's blood never failed me yet” and repeats this phrase throughout its duration. The man's voice possesses a raw honesty and deep emotionality that resonates within the listener. Despite the song's repetitive nature, it never becomes dull or monotonous. Instead, the unadorned purity of the vocal delivery infuses each repetition with new meaning and significance. The hymn's simplicity is both its greatest strength and its deepest mystery. It speaks to a faith that is profound in its unshakeable conviction and unpretentious in its effervescent joy.
Line by Line Meaning
Jesus' blood never failed me yet,
Throughout my life, I have never found Jesus' blood to let me down,
never failed me yet.
I have always been able to trust in Jesus' blood and it has never failed to support and sustain me,
Jesus' blood never failed me yet.
I continue to have faith in Jesus' blood, as it has always been a constant and reliable presence in my life,
This one thing I know,
I am certain of one thing,
for He loves so...
that Jesus loves me so much that He has always been there with His blood to guide, assist, and comfort me.
Contributed by Riley K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jed Mask
@calabiyou Uh... Just what "invisible people" do you mean "calabiyou"?
Please make things "clear" okay?
Anyways, take care and may you stay blessed.
JESUS LOVES YOU.
Peace...
Phil Tate
I love you Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship you, oh my soul rejoice.
Take joy my King, in what you hear,
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.
Thank you Lord Jesus for shedding your precious blood for sinners like me.
I love that you are the joy and strength of the paupers and peasants of this world.
I love that the broken and ashamed can find shelter under your wings.
I love that you are still receiving, healing, saving and caring for those with nobody and nothing.
I love that your blood never failed me yet. This one thing I know (although I struggle to know why), that you love me so. You are good Lord, so good.
John Inge Øksendal
Medicine.
Half an hour of soothing medicine.
It works every time.
I consider myself not beeing religious, but who really knows at the end of the road.
Several half-hour's, -just listening, has forced me to reconsider.
Why do I find myself left with such a comforting peace?
I don't have the answer.
I am sorry to say that I don't like religion.
I like peace.
Would it be all right to let those two words melt together just once in a while?
Just for half an hour?
Armand Bakx
Bryars on this piece:
"In 1971, when I lived in London, I was working with a friend, Alan Power, on a film about people living rough in the area around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Station. In the course of being filmed, some people broke into drunken song – sometimes bits of opera, sometimes sentimental ballads – and one, who in fact did not drink, sang a religious song "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet". This was not ultimately used in the film and I was given all the unused sections of tape, including this one.
When I played it at home, I found that his singing was in tune with my piano, and I improvised a simple accompaniment. I noticed, too, that the first section of the song – 13 bars in length – formed an effective loop which repeated in a slightly unpredictable way (in the notes for the 1993 recording on Point, Bryars wrote that while the singer's pitch was quite accurate, his sense of tempo was irregular).
I took the tape loop to Leicester, where I was working in the Fine Art Department, and copied the loop onto a continuous reel of tape, thinking about perhaps adding an orchestrated accompaniment to this. The door of the recording room opened on to one of the large painting studios and I left the tape copying, with the door open, while I went to have a cup of coffee. When I came back I found the normally lively room unnaturally subdued. People were moving about much more slowly than usual and a few were sitting alone, quietly weeping.
I was puzzled until I realised that the tape was still playing and that they had been overcome by the old man's singing. This convinced me of the emotional power of the music and of the possibilities offered by adding a simple, though gradually evolving, orchestral accompaniment that respected the homeless man's nobility and simple faith. Although he died before he could hear what I had done with his singing, the piece remains as an eloquent, but understated testimony to his spirit and optimism."
James Meyer
Armand Bakx u
Robert Nettleship
Thank you for sharing :) this story cheered me up. Best wishes.
Hilde1922
hope, isn't it
Hilde1922
(a pity we don't know his name)
Erwin Woodedge
On a Dutch radio interview yesterday I heard Bryars saying this particular homeless man was the only one who was NOT a drunk.
Mailey McAslan
My husband used to play the weirdest stuff. He’d jack up the stereo and take a shower. One morning, I kept hearing this repetitive song and it was driving me nuts, it made me mad … I went into the studio to find out what it was, and as I was reading and the words and song got past my forcefield of initial annoyance and rejection, something inside switched dramatically and I found myself crying. I walked away and went and sat down and bawled my head off. It’s so beautiful. I’m compelled to listen to it now and again.
Mike Champagne - Manresa Group #25 Captain
Such is the power of this piece.
Shade Garden
20 years ago my husband was also playing this, I was so drawn to all aspects musically and,spiritually!” It has fed my soul in so many ways…still drawn to the simple and profound truth of Jesus blood shed for us, He descended into and defeating hell and rising from the dead to be with God…Grace and forgiveness for us.🙌🏻🙌🏻
Mailey McAslan
@Shade Garden Amen!