Alan Watts
Music (The Angels Fly Because They Take Themselves Lightly)
So also, music
Is a kind of non-purposive thing
Because you don't
Either play music
To reach
A destination
Nor do you dance
To reach a particular place on the floor
It is the doing of it itself that is important

[Chorus]
Music
It is the doing of it itself that is important
Music
It is the doing of it itself that is important
Music
It is the doing of it itself that is important
Music
It is the doing of it itself that is important

Because after all
If the object of music were to gain a certain destination
Those orchestras that play fastest would be considered the best
The best
Dancing and music
More than other arts
Represent the nature of this world
The nature of this world
That it is playful
That it is sport
That it is maybe sincere
But is definitely not serious
And as GK Chesterton put it once
“The Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.”
[Laughs]
[Chorus]
Music
It is the doing of it itself that is important
Music
It is the doing of it itself that is important
Music
It is the doing of it itself that is important
Music
It is the doing of it itself that is important

The angels fly because they take themselves lightly
The angels fly because they take themselves lightly
The angels fly because they take themselves lightly