Comment by Kaliboy
19 hours ago
I never heard of this quote, but "heard" something similar a while ago, must have been 2020.
I was watching a live worship session on Youtube and it was beautiful, kept my mind at peace.
Now mind you at the same time I was also a perfectionist, which means you tend to see imperfections in others.
Now at a certain point the singer's voice broke as she was hitting a high note. But before I could mentally register the imperfection I heard or felt such a clear gentle voice that said: "that was the most beautiful part".
In an instant it reframed the imperfect into perfect for that moment and thus forever.
And that's what your quote encompasses. Good read, thanks for sharing.
Cracks in the voice are so visceral. One I love is in the Rolling Stone's Gimme Shelter, Merry Clayton is just about screaming and her voice cracks and they kept the band's cheering reaction to it on the record [1]. Truly a case of the subject matter trying to break out of the medium.
Related is that a lot of cultures embrace intentional imperfections in art for spiritual reasons, as it conveys authenticity and humility in the face of perfection. E.g. Persian flaw [2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimme_Shelter
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_carpet#cite_note-68
One of my favorites: https://youtu.be/Jm-FH82lVbE?si=MoD1qaMMtCpRsJwS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVevvbFNKiY
At about 1:30, just after the "I was very nervous" line, Haley pushes her voice until it breaks. I found it a lovely little grace note, emphasizing the lyric.
I wouldn't call it a voice break, more an intentional melodic variation by singing a perfect fourth higher than the expected note in falsetto. But I agree: it sounds marvelous.
In the same vein, the most beautiful part of Patti Smith performing "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" at Nobel Prize Award Ceremony is when she mistakes the lyrics. Whenever I need to cry, I watch that video.
> In an instant it reframed the imperfect into perfect for that moment and thus forever.
In Islamic art, the artist often leaves a mistake in a pattern, or a little blob, or some error somewhere in it, because only God is perfect.
In Japan, craftsmen will leave a tiny scratch on an immaculately polished piece of wood, to show how perfect the rest is.