Rowan Williams makes a startling revelation

There is a fascinating interview behind the paywall at The Times with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.  We'll be posting an excerpt from it in a moment - but frankly, there is another discovery that affects us here at the cafe most especially - and good news for the Bishop of South Carolina.  If we can't agree on theology and politics, there is always something else that can bring together people of diverse views, backgrounds, and political and religious persuasions.


From the Times of London, via email:

How about singing? (I’ve heard that he has a beautiful voice – and always leads rousing choruses of Happy Birthday for his staff; certainly his speaking voice is mellifluous.) “I like the chance to sing when I can. Just before the holiday I went down to Salisbury for the weekend to sing the Monteverdi Vespers, which was pure bliss.”

His family do musical things together. “We don’t all sing but my son does. I play the piano very, very badly – I’m not being modest. My daughter plays the piano and my son plays the bassoon, the guitar and the piano, and Jane used to play the flute.”

Have your children turned you on to any contemporary bands? “I learn about them but my tastes are all formed in the Sixties: Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Simon & Garfunkel but also, less fashionably, the Incredible String Band.” Oh, what a delight! I start warbling, “Stepping out of the grey day she came, her red hair falling from the sky” – was that The Hangman’s... “...Beautiful Daughter,” he finishes. (We were both wrong: it was Liquid Acrobat as Regards the Air.)

Yes, Rowan Williams is a Bob Dylan fan.  Life is good.