I recently saw The Swell Season\u2014better known as \u201cthose people from the movie Once<\/em>\u201d\u2014in concert, and while the experience was well worth it, one moment gave me pause for thought about whether it\u2019s best sometimes to remain ignorant about the inspiration for the music we listen to.<\/p>\n I loved Once<\/em> because of its admirable and surprising resistance to resolve its protagonists\u2019 relationship through romance. Real-life musicians Glen Hansard (of Irish rock band The Frames) and Marketa Irglova (a classically trained Czech pianist) were apparently less able to resist romance in their own lives and were briefly a couple (coinciding nicely with their winning of the Best Song Oscar for \u201cFalling Slowly\u201d from Once<\/em>). This relationship struck me as slightly creepy, since he was 38 and she was 20 at the time, but, thankfully, they were still able to continue making music together even after they broke up: The Swell Season released another full album, Strict Joy<\/em>, last fall. In their on-stage demeanor, Hansard and Irglova retain a respectful but affectionate vibe with each other. When an audience member asked if there would ever be a sequel to Once<\/em>, Hansard, without losing a beat, replied, \u201cWe\u2019re living it.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of The Swell Season\u2019s songs do seem to be about various stages of romantic relationships\u2014as a result, the lyrics have never been what draws me in to their music. Instead, it\u2019s the harmony and the pleasing contrast between Hansard\u2019s raspy vocals and Irglova\u2019s smooth, pitch-perfect notes. Hearing the duo playing live with their backup band made their violin player, Colm Mac Con Iomaire (yep, he\u2019s Irish), more prominent. He even performed a solo number, a sampler-assisted rendering of folk tune \u201cThe Court of New Town,\u201d and I think it was my favorite number of the evening. He has a solo album called The Hare\u2019s Corner<\/em> that\u2019s going on my wish list.<\/p>\n In any case, even though I\u2019m usually a lyrics-oriented person (when lyrics are present, that is), I\u2019ve never paid a lot of attention to The Swell Season\u2019s lyrics. Nor have I delved into any stories-behind-the-songs. However, in a concert, musicians often share them, whether you want them or not. Such was the case with a song called \u201cDrown Out,\u201d from The Swell Season\u2019s first, pre-Once<\/em> album. Hansard gave a lengthy introduction to the song, explaining how a \u201cvery spiritual\u201d friend back in Ireland had an experience in which she summoned spirits from \u201cthe in-between\u201d who called out to her, saying, \u201cWe come from the dark.\u201d According to Hansard, the woman discovered through talking with these spirits that they were young, physically deformed boys who had been burned at the stake in the 14th century. Hansard said that the woman explained that \u201cthe Church isn\u2019t that different today, actually, but they don\u2019t burn people at the stake anymore.\u201d The woman \u201cforgave\u201d the boys, guided them to \u201cthe light,\u201d and sent them on their way.<\/p>\n The audience didn\u2019t quite seem to know what to make of the story; there were none of the approving, \u201cthat\u2019s beautiful\u201d types of murmurs that might be expected from a sentimental crowd. I was distinctly uncomfortable, since I doubt that those spirits were little boys and I\u2019m inclined to believe that they did indeed come from the dark. Hansard, seeming to sense lack of acceptance, for whatever reason, on the audience\u2019s part, backed off and said that the song wasn\u2019t really about the story\u2014it was simply about feeling guilty for something you have\u2014or haven\u2019t\u2014done.<\/p>\n There\u2019s little in the song lyrics that need relate exclusively to Hansard\u2019s backstory, but I still can\u2019t listen to the song now without thinking of the experience that inspired it, an experience involving what seem to me to be demonic powers. As a literature scholar, I\u2019m accustomed to acknowledging that an author\u2019s interpretation of his or her work is not the only valid one\u2014and, as Hansard nimbly demonstrated, a single author can even hold multiple views of his own work at the same time.<\/p>\n However, I think I would have a hard time choosing to listen to \u201cDrown Out\u201d now. I\u2019ve been thinking about the song in the context of 1 Corinthians 8 and Paul\u2019s advice regarding meat sacrificed to idols. The situation isn\u2019t exactly parallel, because I\u2019m thinking more of my own spiritual health here and not the effect that my decisions would have on other believers, but I do think that listening to the song, even knowing its origin story, isn\u2019t inherently harmful. As Christians, we do have that freedom. Were I inclined to, I think I could even listen to the song in a way that would be spiritually beneficial, helping me develop compassion for those who muck about in spiritism without really knowing what they\u2019re getting into.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think I will, though: for one thing, the song doesn\u2019t appeal to me musically as much as many of The Swell Season\u2019s other songs (if I had learned that a similarly troubling experience had inspired, say, \u201cFalling Slowly,\u201d this article would probably be a lot longer and more agonized). For another, knowing what I do about it gives me an \u201cicky\u201d feeling, and I don\u2019t see any reason to subject myself to that unless someone else was struggling with the song and asked for my input. If I had never heard Hansard\u2019s story, and if I actually enjoyed listening to the song, I don\u2019t believe that I would be endangering myself spiritually by doing so\u2014as with meat sacrificed to idols, the danger isn\u2019t in the substance itself, but rather in the response to the proddings of conscience (again, the parallel would be better if I were contemplating playing \u201cDrown Out\u201d in a public setting among other Christians, but that would just be silly).<\/p>\n