Charlie Murphy (singer-songwriter)

Catch the Fire (1981)
Studio album by Charlie Murphy

Charlie Murphy was an American singer-songwriter whose album Catch the Fire (1981), released on the Good Fairy Productions label, contained the original version of 'Burning Times', later covered by Christy Moore and Roy Bailey. The album also contained the LGBT rights anthem 'Gay Spirit'. The album is notable for addressing LGBT issues and pagan spirituality within its lyrics. The song "Burning Times" concerns the persecution of women accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages and early modern periods. Its chorus mentions several pagan female deities: Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali... Inanna. It also mentions that nine million women died, ...in this holocaust against the nature people. The other key song, "Gay Spirit", expresses the frustration of growing up gay within a prejudiced society: When we were born they tried to put us in a cage, and tell our bodies what to feel, we have chosen tofeel all the truth, that our bodies do reveal.... The chorus is a rousing burst of optimism: There's a gay spirit singing in our hearts, leading us through these troubled times, There's a gay spirit moving 'round this land, calling us to a time of open love.

According to his facebook page, Whidbey Life Magazine, and a comment on the you tube video of The Burning Times posted by Aaron Cole, Charlie Murphy passed away on Aug.6, 2016 of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. He was born on July 4, 1953.

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