If I was to direct a movie on The Shack by William Paul Young (okay, I will most likely not, seeing as he has his own media company to do so), this song would be playing at the scene where the protagonist truly sees for a moment. With God’s eyes.
I heard an indescribably beautiful melody in my mind while reading it, and this song conjured up the scene immediately. This comes closest to what it could possibly sound like. Read the excerpt below (apologies for the rough translation back to English from German) and you will hopefully understand why.
” ‘Now look around, Mackenzie,’ Sarayu said.
He did and the sight cut his breath. Even in the darkness of the night all things shone with an enormous clarity and were surrounded by colorful halos of light. The wood was virtually burning, its colors were shining so. Every single tree was clearly identifiable, each and every twig, each leaf. Birds and bats were leaving glowing traces of their flight behind them…
Wrapped in a robe of colorfully flaming light, a sea hawk dove toward the surface of the lake, opened its wings in the last instant, and swept close to the surface, whereby sparks fell onto the water from his wings like snowflakes. As if to celebrate the successful hunt, a large trout sprang up from the water behind the hawk, clad in rainbow, and submerged in the water again in a colorful rain of water drops.
Mack felt larger than life because he was able to be wherever he was looking, from where he was standing. … Without giving it another thought, he stretched out his arm. Then he realized, bewildered, that he himself stood in flames. He observed his hands, beautifully formed and clearly recognizable in the colorfully glowing cascades of light … And then he saw the lights. Individual, moving points emerged from the woods and gathered in the field. Now he saw the lights everywhere, descending the slopes of the mountains, coming closer. He watched them emerging from among the trees, disappearing from sight again, following invisible paths and trails.
Then they appeared on the field, an army of children. There were no candles—they themselves were the lights. They tread the meadow with silent majesty and grace, their faces beaming with fulfillment and bliss. The older children were holding the younger ones by the hand. … Like the flash of a thousand cameras in a stadium, new lights blazed up again and again as they giggled or whispered to each other.
Behind them adults were approaching the field and stood in a larger circle behind the children. Their lights were larger and glowing still colorful, but a bit more muted than that of the children.”
Even the timing of the song is perfect. After the voice of the children the adults start singing, a bit “paler” but invoking the same goosebumps. The whole song is full of light, sparks and colors. I hope you see it too.
Song Boy 1904 © Jónsi & Alex
Text excerpt from The Shack © William Paul Young & Windblown Media
