Viveca Stucke ‘26
Chief Features Editor
Professor Name: Matthew Eggemeier
Academic Department: Religious Studies
Classes you teach: Political Theology; Liberation Theology; War, Prisons, and Immigration; Theology and Empire
Preferred music platform: iTunes, Nugs (live music app), Relisten (live music app)
What is your go to playlist?
This is likely scandalous but I don’t do playlists. I’m old-school and try to listen to complete albums when I can or I listen to live shows. The genres I listen to lend themselves to live performances and so much of my time is spent on the Nugs app listening to recent live performances or on the Relisten app tracking down Grateful Dead shows from the 1970s.
What’s your current favorite song?
“Ain’t Life Grand” by Widespread Panic. They are my favorite band currently. They are actually quite old, 2026 is their 40th year anniversary, but I saw them for the first time in Boston this past August and I’ve been hooked ever since. The song is a series of vignettes about everyday life that loop back to the chorus “ain’t life grand.” I think the song captures the back and forth of life as we move between the mundane, the tragic, and the transcendent. It’s a muddle. We encounter the whole range of life experiences virtually every week. In some sense, I view it as a less poetic but more joyous version of another favorite of mine that gets to roughly the same point but in a more overtly religious way: “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. The last verse of “Hallelujah” is as follows: “And even though it all went wrong, I’ll stand before the Lord of song, with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.” We all deal with heartache and disappointment in life and the question – and this is where Cohen gets theological – is whether we can still proclaim Hallelujah (“praise the Lord”) in the face of these experiences. Cohen thinks we can hold loss and joy together. I do too.
What was your favorite artist while in college?
It was probably a split between the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan. I saw my first and only Grateful Dead show in the summer of 1995 and was hooked. Unfortunately, Jerry Garcia died in August of 1995, and so my engagement with the Dead as a live band in college was limited to what the remaining members of the band did after his death.
Bob Dylan is my favorite musician now. He has such an expansive catalogue and moves through so many different forms and genres and moods. If I want to listen to some protest songs about war, racism, and inequality I go to “With God on Our Side,” “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” “Masters of War,” or “Hurricane.” If I want to listen to some songs about love and loss I go to “If Not For You,” “If You See Her Say Hello,” “Make You Feel My Love,” or “Standing in the Doorway.” If I want to listen to some songs about God/transcendence I go to “Every Grain of Sand,” “Gotta Serve Somebody,” or “Pressing On.” It’s all there. He’s such a singular genius.
Do you think your music taste has evolved with time?
My listening tends to revolve around 20th century American musical forms: folk, the blues, country, jazz, rock and roll. So there will be months when I listen to nothing but Hank Williams or Howlin’ Wolf and other months that I’ll be more focused on Thelonious Monk or the Rolling Stones. I don’t see my tastes developing so much as returning to these traditions and finding new musicians to engage and reengaging old musicians from a different perspective as I age and look at life and at music differently.
Are there any songs you like that are connected to your academic field?
Wow. That’s a fascinating question! I focus on the relationship between religion and politics in my teaching and scholarship and perhaps that’s the reason I’m so enamored with the genres of folk and the blues and with songwriters like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. My answer above about Bob Dylan gets to this question about protest music and religion. I will say that I think John Coltrane’s album, “A Love Supreme” (1964), is one of the most sublime pieces of religious art produced in 20th century America.
If you could listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Honestly, it would probably be “Spiritual” by John Coltrane from “Live at the Village Vanguard” in 1961. It’s a melody taken from the old spiritual, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.” The song has a dirge-like quality to it with 14 minutes worth of awe-inspiring, meditative improvisation.
You said you like to listen to complete albums, any recommendations?
I’d strongly recommend two albums. First, Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” (1975). Over the past few years, I’ve had spirited conversations with students about Taylor Swift’s 1989 and Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks.” The Swift reference might be dated now, but they are both extraordinary albums about the dissolution of romantic relationships. It’s likely my favorite Dylan album. In addition, I’d recommend Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” (1959). It’s the general consensus go-to jazz album, but for good reason. I often put it on when I’m writing something new. It features three of my favorite jazz musicians – Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans – and their interplay on the album is extraordinary.
Featured image courtesy of Matthew Eggemeier
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