‘Ecce Homo’ (Behold the Man), Antonio Ciseri, circa 1860-1880
April Fool
April Fool
You wear your heart on your sleeve
And though they laugh when they leave
You call it Love and I believe (you)
April Fool
Why must you always play the clown?
You had the edge you laid it down
You gave it up without a sound ...
Oh April Fool
How can they say "love is cruel"?
They catch the ring but drop the jewel.
Like a teardrop in a pool ...
April Fool
As the heart shows through the eyes
Before you were born you were recognized
And unto the losers comes their Prize.
Oh April Fool
Even as the hands were washed, you knew
We'd free the thief instead of you
April Fool
You said the Father was in You
You said we know not what we do
Forgive us ... April Fool.
“April Fool” is one of Noel’s most intriguing songs, contrasting the “foolishness” of Jesus’ kind of power—the power of love—and the kind of power that empires use and often abuse. In her reflection for Palm Sunday mentioned below in “Connections,” Diana Butler Bass explains this contrast as being between Caesar’s empire and God’s “empire”: “On Palm Sunday “Pilate rides a powerful horse into the west gate [of Jerusalem] in a military procession to assert imperial power and quell the possibility of protest. Jesus rides a borrowed donkey into the east gate in a popular parade of hope to empower oppressed Israel.”
This year Easter falls on April 20 for Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians as well as Orthodox Christians, who ordinarily follow a different calendar. “April Fool” is a song for these last two and a half weeks of Lent and importantly, it’s also a song for anyone, religiously observant or not, who courageously speaks truth about injustice and abuse of power and calls upon the ultimate and redemptive power of Love.
How appropriate that Senator Cory Booker should take a stand on on April Fools’ Day, delivering a “Good Trouble” filibuster in Washington! He said (among many other things), “In this democracy,” he said, “the power of people is greater than the people in power.”
If you are in north Texas next Saturday, April 5, perhaps you may see Noel at the Dealey Plaza protest in Dallas, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Dallas and part of the nation-wide protest against the tyrannical abuses of the Trump administration. Later that evening Noel will be performing with Tish Hinojosa at Poor David’s Pub.
Connections
Read Diana Butler Bass’s, ”Sunday Musings” for Palm Sunday 2022, which contrasts the power of empire with that of the Kingdom of God (which some Christians call the “kin-dom” of God)—the power of love, mutuality, compassion, and justice.
In her essay, “The Holy Fool,” in the journal Image, Christiana Peterson writes, “Unless we are . . . willing to adopt a life that looks foolish to others, holiness and a mystical relationship to God remains elusive.” In this essay she explores the concept of the “holy fool” in literature and church history.
Vibrations
Watch this video of Noel’s “April Fool.”
Resonance
What does Noel’s “April Fool” say to you about the nature of Love?
This song means so much to me -- it speaks of the true power of LOVE...
Interesting premise - Jesus as the "fool". I know - its mankind that was/is the "fool".
Loved the quotes in the video.
Thanks as always, Paul.
Your spirit and music have meant so very much to my life!
Could never thank you enough.
Blessings to you and yours...... love and peace!