He claimed that he was of the "Angel Race", not from Earth but from Saturn. Some of his most notable influences were African and African-American theatre, theosophy, and masonic Afro-futurism. His interest in these art forms and principles led to the development of a complicated but consistent set of cosmic philosophies and lyrical poetry, which preached spiritual awareness and peace.
Born on 22nd May 1914 as Herman Poole Blount, in Birmingham, Alabama, he was nicknamed "Sonny" from his youth. Later, after his release from a detention camp for protesting against World War II, he took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (after the ancient Egyptian sun god).
Sun Ra could play many modern and classical works from memory and had worked in country and western bands before moving to Chicago. His personal music collection contained over 10,000 discs, and he was constantly reviewing and studying. Many of his improvisational and compositional innovations were extensions of ideas from twentieth-century European composers. He is responsible for having brought these ideas into jazz decades before many commercial artists popularised the same methods.
From 1955 until his death on 30th May 1993, Sun Ra led a big-band ensemble with a constant core of John Gilmore (the only sax player John Coltrane thought "worth listening to") and Marshall Allen (master of alto saxophone pyrotechnics), wrapped by an ever-changing lineup of sidemen who are big names in modern jazz today. The Arkestra, so named as to be an "ark between two worlds", never repeated a performance and rarely repeated an arrangement. Additionally, they appeared under a variety of names, including "The Solar Myth Arkestra", and the "Blue Universe Arkestra".
There is some disagreement as to Sun Ra's date of birth. He stated that he had "arrived on Earth" on a number of dates. He was fond of showing his doubters his United States passport, which clearly gave the place of birth as the planet Saturn. 22nd May 1914 appeared on his passport, but other sources place his birth anywhere from 1910 to 1918; most sources support a birth year of 1914 or 1915.
Door of the Cosmos
Sun Ra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos
Love and life interested me so
That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos
Love and life interested me so
That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos
Love and life interested me so
That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos
Love and life interested me so
That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos
Love and life interested me so
That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos
The lyrics of Sun Ra's "The Cosmos" express a deep curiosity about the universe and a quest for understanding its mysteries. By associating love and life with the cosmos, the song suggests that these concepts are interconnected and that exploring the universe can bring us closer to profound truths about existence.
The repetition of the lines "Love and life interested me so / That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos" reinforces the idea that the singer is driven by a strong desire to explore the unknown. The use of the word "dared" implies that there is some risk or challenge involved in this pursuit, but that it is worth taking.
Overall, the lyrics of "The Cosmos" convey a sense of wonder, awe, and courage in the face of the vastness and complexity of the universe. Through its simple yet powerful words, the song invites us to contemplate our place in the cosmos and to embrace the existential questions that arise from our exploration of it.
Line by Line Meaning
Love and life interested me so
I was intrigued by the concepts of love and life
That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos
So much so that I took a bold step to explore the mysteries of the universe
Love and life interested me so
The desire to understand the essence of love and life continued to drive me
That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos
And thus, I persisted in my quest to unlock the secrets of the cosmos
Love and life interested me so
My fascination with the meaning of existence persisted
That I dared to knock at the door of the Cosmos
Leading me to take risks and venture into the unknown territory of the universe
Lyrics © RAILROAD TOWN MUSIC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Herman Blount
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mario7frankielee
this is healing music
heals you from everything,
love sickness,american tv priests,flue,too much ego,too little ego etc.
@OllieGio
Damn right
@Axelga2112
+mario7frankielee :)
@TheJampt
+mario7frankielee American TV Priests....ahahahah....kill me.
@SuperStarASAR
hotep abt
@percybyssheshelley9694
American TV priests? That’s oddly specific.
@CamaradaHidalgo
Hear this live was one of the greatest experiences that I ever have in my life!
@ConsecDesign
Madlib brought me here... Now I'm stuck. So, so dope...
@MrProdigo
ajjajaja
@jonaspastant4092
Did he sample it ? I don't recall anything rn