Episode 254 - Tupper

About this Episode

No finer Southern prep ever hit the scene than the Sewanee graduate Tupper Saussy. His two albums produced under the name "The Neon Philharmonic", with Don Gant, are supreme examples of symphonic rock. More than that, however, the songs are profound.

Saussy's track entitled "Something to Believe In" speaks the voice of a questing human soul, "riding the wind" of life and searching for "something to believe in". Needless to say, the soul finds "a girl", whom the soul believes in and worships, only to lose. Now what? At the end of the song, Tupper's soul prepares to die, still looking for that "something to believe in".

I think we're probably almost all in that boat. Life's a wholly engaged existential search for God, and it's quite dangerous, because "in the dark", which is life in the world, you can think you've found it but you haven't. And then, when what you thought was It turns out not to be It, one's disillusion, and dissolution, becomes terminal. Be careful, in other words, about what you put your trust in. If you make an enduring, imprinting mistake, you may never find It! And the It -- call it by whatever name you will (HT Bill W.) -- is "the Rock that is higher than I". Just avow this, that YOU're not it -- nor is she and nor is he -- and you're almost home.

Oh, and two other things:

First, go out and find Enid Bagnold's play "The Chinese Ambassador" and read it from cover to cover. (It's quite short. It's just a play.)

Second, this cast is dedicated to TAMARA SANSBURY, who understands my Instagram posts.