Idris Muhammad - Could heaven ever be like this

In this acticle I will be discussing the recording of Idris Muhammad (1977) - Could Heaven Ever Be Like This - its social and political, as well as musical content. Referring to Richard Dyer’s ‘In Defence of Disco’ (1979) and Susan McClary’s ‘Same As It Ever Was’ (1994) essays, I will discuss ideas of rhythm being the most sensual aspect in the song, the blending of genres, and what could be considered romanticism (emotionalism) in music.

Born in November 1939 in New Orleans, R&B and Jazz percussionist, Idris Muhammad was heavily influenced by his musical family. His father played banjo and four of his siblings played drums. He became a professional musician from a young age. Idris Muhammed played with such people as Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfair and was house band drummer throughout most of his career. He developed musical expertise in a range of instruments, including vocals, by gaining experience in a wide range of diverse music.

The song “Could Heaven ever be like this” is featured on the 1977 album “Turn This Mutha Out” and was arranged and produced by Jazz pianist David Matthews. The song’s release was mainly aimed at R&B and dance markets. Influences from different genres such as Funk, Soul, Jazz and Disco led to this record becoming a hit and a regular source of sampling for other artists ever since (whosampled.com, 2019).

This track has an ‘aquatic structure’ - built around unpredictable and non-hierarchical layers of sound (Lawrence, 2006). The different elements on this track from Jazz, Disco and Soul, to Funk, are synthesised to create more complex and nuanced feelings and moods. It is exciting, because the song brings new ways to feel and operates on different levels that do not conform to an obvious structure. It does not have a verse-chorus structure, for example. It mainly focuses on instruments and percussion with vocals being used more as an instrument rather than being the centre of the song, as might be expected. The song’s producer Matthews put Muhammad’s drums as the main ‘driving’ instrument on the track, positioning other instruments around it, so drums are the first thing heard on the track. Idris Muhammad explains, “I’m a musical drummer. I play the musical part of the song”, said in his interview for WaxPoetics (Muhammad, 2001). Muhammad describes the foundation of his style as a mixture of second-line street bass and Mardi Gras playing tambourine. “And he generates a terrific momentum, like a train going down a hill. I don’t know anyone who does that better than Idris” (MacDermot, 2001). The drums are not just about beat, they are just as much about the sound and the music, so the structure is not fixed it is fluid. Muhammad is shifting and moving the emphasis from the beat (rhythm) to the sound ‘music’ as the main driving force for this track.

Huge drums build-up at the intro (0:00 - 0:19) together with a singing choir and glimpses of harp sounds prepares the listener for an out-of-body experience. Rhythm is the most sensual aspect of the song. The song challenges the binary status quo (Head v body (mental v physical). It represents feelings of love, heavenly heights, something that is transcendent, and romantic. So it is both sensual and about love as well as physical. Celebrating the split between body and mind was popular in 20th century European culture. This song is a contrast to the 20th century ideas McClary explains in her essay - that music which appeals to both the mind and the body is becoming emotional and can be pursued as emasculation. The song creates almost spiritual space, it takes us away from who we are as physical beings. Appealing to both body and mind as well as our spirituality, the song constructs a space of personal heaven.

This track is both sensual and about love as well as it is about the physical. There is romanticism too - ideas of living life at the height of our emotional and experiential capacities are felt throughout the whole composition. Dyer argues that moving away from the banalities of an ‘organised’ life can be seen as a shift away from patriarchy and capitalism. The tension within the music is its ability to both affect the body and appeal the mind. These ideas arguably could move society towards destruction. Plato anticipates that unsanctioned music will install resistance for authority and exiting rules and it should not be let into society. In his book “Republic” (424 b-c) he said: “a chance to a new type of music is something to beware of as a hazard of all our fortunes” (p.8). Although the main theme of the song is full of joy, celebration of being alive, it is not full of anger or the danger that Plato suggests. Despite offering transcendence or an escape from everyday life, it is not suggesting that the listener must rebel or ‘act out’. The song is really suggesting that the listener can release their joy and become ‘whole’ not restricted to a binary choice between the ‘mind’ or the ‘body’.

The song’s lyrics are also sending messages of feeling the love, joy, and ecstasy: “I have never reached such heights/Could heaven ever be like this”. Opening gateway to different world, inviting you to heaven as a spiritual being, leaving your sexuality behind, nor as man or woman. Socially destructive practices discussed by Laurentis and Marx of what determines the gender - belonging to the group, class or category - do not fit into this song. This song offers opportunities and space for the marginalised in society – the song does this by taking multiple perspectives, and even the lead singer was of one background but changed his faith to become ‘multi’. Moving away from structures of class and gender in society, the song challenges social boundaries, leaving sexism and racism behind. The title of the song asks a question, but does not have a question mark. Rather it is a rhetorical question – it can be taken as a statement. It is like the title refers to the song, that is the song is like heaven.

To sum up, the song portrays that a person is a mixture of difficult contrasting parts that operate together and cannot be separated, for the purposes of controlling that individual, for example. The song “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This” is spiritual, offering a ‘becoming’ that is more than just the body or the mind, but rather a version of joy that transcends traditional form. Spiritual space in the track is taking us away from who we are, transforming the purpose of life from the everyday to pure pleasure.