TBGB Pick of the Week: June 21, 2010

“Soul Cry (Oh, Oh, Oh)”
Dr. Juanita Bynum II
From the Music World Gospel/Son Flower Records EP
The Diary of Juanita Bynum: Soul Cry (Oh, Oh, Oh) (release date: June 22, 2010)

Gospel songs with staying power are soul cries. Created or birthed rather than written, they burst forth from the artist during periods of utmost despair. It’s the spirit hungering for cathartic expression when nothing else makes sense. “Precious Lord,” “Never Would Have Made It,” and other gospel songs have this in common.

Prophetess Juanita Bynum created “Soul Cry” in the same manner, organically, during a particularly difficult time in her life. She told TBGB: “I sat in a radio station and said to myself, ‘God, how in the world can any one person handle such pain?’ And without pen or paper I wrote this song.” (more from this interview will be published later today).

When Bynum “just can’t take no more…” she cries, “Oh, oh, oh.” The angst builds with the song’s intensity, but so, presumably, does the healing.

I believe “Soul Cry,” especially when performed live, will resonate with its intended audience, who will grab onto the song’s infectious “oh oh oh” hook as a balm to chase away their own troubles.

Photo credit: Derek Blanks For Derek Blanks Photography