Prophetika

by Sun Ra

Lost poetry and polemics of Sun Ra. First volume of a trilogy.

Genres: Poetry, Philosophy

106 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 2014

About the author

Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances. For much of his career, Ra led "The Arkestra," an ensemble with an ever-changing name and flexible line-up.

Born and raised in Alabama, Blount became involved in the Chicago jazz scene during the late 1940s. He soon abandoned his birth name, taking the name Le Sony'r Ra, shortened to Sun Ra (after Ra, the Egyptian God of the Sun). Claiming to be an alien from Saturn on a mission to preach peace, he developed a mythical persona and an idiosyncratic credo that made him a pioneer of Afrofuturism. Throughout his life he denied ties to his prior identity, saying "Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym."

His widely eclectic and avant-garde music echoed the entire history of jazz, from ragtime and early New Orleans hot jazz, to swing music, bebop, free jazz and fusion. His compositions ranged from keyboard solos to works for big bands of over 30 musicians, along with electronic excursions, songs, chants, percussion pieces, and anthems. From the mid-1950s until his death, Ra led the musical collective The Arkestra (which featured artists such as Marshall Allen, John Gilmore and June Tyson throughout its various iterations). Its performances often included dancers and musicians dressed in elaborate, futuristic costumes inspired by ancient Egyptian attire and the Space Age. (Following Ra's illness-forced retirement in 1992, the band remained active as The Sun Ra Arkestra, and, as of 2018, continues performing under the leadership of veteran Ra sideman Marshall Allen.)

Though his mainstream success was limited, Sun Ra was a prolific recording artist and frequent live performer, and remained influential throughout his life for his music and persona. He is now widely considered an innovator; among his distinctions are his pioneering work in free improvisation and modal jazz and his early use of electronic keyboards and synthesizers. Over the course of his career, he recorded dozens of singles and over one hundred full-length albums, comprising well over 1,000 songs, making him one of the most prolific recording artists of the 20th century

Reviews

[Dylan Szczepanski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to his music while reading. Can confirm I could not focus. Overall a fun read but nothing that should be taken seriously and reads kind of like my 3am shower thoughts.

[Maciej · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Sun Ra's music.

The book starts with an interview with, what seems to be, a deranged old man who genuinely thinks he's been to the planet Saturn and making somewhat prosaic, nit-picky statements like "you can't say you're from Earth if you're still on it; you would have to leave Earth to say that you are from Earth".

However what follows is a collections of interesting poetry, that explains a lot about the Sun Ra persona. Within the poems he has hidden criticism of modern society, religion (although he is a believer so it is not ant-theistic) and politics. Rhythmical structures, repetition, remind me of some of the "lyrics" included in his songs. Nothing in his texts is revolutionary, but they perfectly explain his philosophy and what was going on in his brain in the 70s and 80s.

I'm giving the book a strong 3.5, rounded up to 4.

[Jim Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice first offering of an eventual trilogy of unpublished poems and statements (courtesy of Norton and Kicks Books) about the end times from Mr. Ra. Or is it Mystery? Or is it Mr. Mystery?

[Luke Dylan Ramsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

B/B+

There’s a lot to like about this book. The poetry is largely pretty damn good, if repetitive and circular and somewhat insane. Speaking of insane, the interview with Mr Ra at the beginning of the book is one of the crazier interviews I’ve ever read… Mr Ra seems unable to drop the character shtick… also he admits to voting for Bush, which is both hilarious and deeply saddening.

Going back to the poetry, I think most all of these poems would’ve worked better as spoken word pieces rather than poems in a book on a page. It’s often unclear where the line breaks are, because either the lines are too long for one line in the small book, or the line breaks are intentionally nonsensical and/or unpoetic.

There are also a lot - and I mean a lot - of typos. They seem to get worse as the book goes on and also have me the impression that this book was barely edited at all.

I bought this book from an HPB store for like $5 and I think if I had paid the cover price ($26) I would feel at least kind of disappointed, to be perfectly honest. This book is worth $20 tops; it’s unclear to me why the price is so high… there’s nothing all that special about the physical copy and it’s not super long (maybe 110-120 pages all in).

If you’re a fan of Sun Ra, however, I would recommend this book… if you’re not a fan or have heard of him but haven’t listened to his music yet, I’m really not sure there’s gonna be much appeal here.

[Kurly Fry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sun Ra: "Well, you said, 'Where am I from?' Well, I'm not from this planet because I'm on it. The last place I can say where I was from is planet Saturn. If you were to say, 'Are you from planet Earth?' I would say no. Now if I was on planet Venus I could say that I'm from planet Earth, because that's where I'm at now. If I went back to planet Saturn, I can say I'm from planet Earth. But I can't say I'm from here, not really. If I asked somebody here, 'Where are you from?' If they told me 'planet Earth,' I could tell them they're quite incorrect. They are not from here. They are here now. Therefore, they would have to say they are from somewhere else. If they have nowhere to say where they're from, then you might say they came from nowhere."

Patterson: "So if you've never been anywhere, you can't say you're from anywhere?"

Sun Ra: "Right. I would say it like that too. It's sort of a paradox."

real weirdocore with a mix of righteous and bonkers takes on society. hard to know when a chain is being tugged. the actual poems get redundant kinda quickly.

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

As poetry goes, Sun Ra's Prophetika is pretty awful, and I can't help wondering if Ra himself intended for these writings to ever get a public release. Much of it reads like late-night scribbled ramblings in the form of a personal journal (as opposed to something intended for publication).

Despite the inane repetitiveness and overt simplicity found in most of these poems, there is at least one moment of insight, found in "the vital point of wisdom / the space age":

I am nothing
my symbol is the name of nothing
and yet I speak as a living pattern
for the spirit of the universe

Those brief lines seem to get to the heart of Sun Ra's complex worldview (a heady brew of Egyptology, Theosophy, music theory and science fiction), but there's little else in this volume that rises to that level.

[J-kwon Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this, the only things I would say is that the poems get kind of repetitive which I'm sure was intentional, and if you read it front to back it really impresses some central themes and ideas on you. I can definitely say I have never quite read poetry like this before. I will definitely read it again at some point.

I would have liked to see some other poetry by Sun Ra, or maybe some more biographical inserts to contextualize the poetry more. Overall though, I enjoyed and will read again.

[Christian Viguie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read into the thoughts and ideas that pervaded Sun Ra. I would say this collection of poems are hit or miss. All of them thematically take from one another or reiterate, and in some cases, expound even further the ideas that were presented in other poems. A lot of these poems also come off as lyrics for songs; repeating lines and groups of stanzas as if there was an intended chorus and verse.

Ultimately if ur a fan of Sun Ra I think you’ll get something out of this.

[Daniel Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

…
“you have so much to see
an endless universe
you don’t have time to die
because there is so much for you to see
there’s so much for you to learn
we could have so much fun
as we journey world to world

I could have enjoyed myself
on this planet
if the people had been alive”

A comprehensive selection of Sun Ra’s visions and lamentations for the future of our species.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads more like screeds or transcripts of prophecy than it does poetry. There are some very wise sections, rich with meaning. Other sections are repetitive and obviously not meant to be read next to one another, rather spoken as a part of a performance. Sun Ra is the greatest. I'm just happy we have these words written down.

[Patrick Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

“so the book is true
but it's a bad truth
the history of mankind”

A brief beam of cosmic revelation and reflection. Ra’s rhythm & rhetoric are enchanting. I’d recommend listening to his records while reading.

[Destiny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

My favorite poems (but not limited to):

the alternative to liberation
Outer worlds of otherness
Give up your death for me
The entire planet was a prison
Is there such a thing as life
The magic of myth

[Cormac Fingeret · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

[Seth Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn’t put it down once I started.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prophetika emphasizes the escapist aspect of afrofuturism as far as I could tell. Ra seems to really think Earth and it's dwellers are doomed, and that he is a messiah of sorts.

I like the repetition in the poems, but I don't think I got much out of them other than that. Sun Ra's visions didn't really resonate with me.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling and well-written, but a little tedious as the writing didn't usually evoke a mental picture or feeling. It's mostly Sun Ra orating about how the human race has been fucking up from the start, and how they are now doomed unless they embrace Sun Ra's vision for spiritual living beyond earth (in space). I liked what he was saying, but it was a slow read due to the absence of poetic description. I many times wanted to be reading something else instead of this book, but I still wanted to continue and hear Sun Ra's intriguing soliloquy, thus I gave it 3 stars.

*I read the interview with Sun Ra after the poems and I liked it.

[RA · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's after the end of the world, don't you know that yet? My brother the sun is your very loyal friend, he greets you every morning: hello my friend, and bids you goodnight every evening: goodnight my friend.

[Kevin Braswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interstellar travels without the Arkestra. You are never not playing jazz.