L'Ange déchu (The Fallen Angel)

“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”

Usually, I can’t take the subject matter of Lucifer seriously until I purchased and listened to Bobby Beausoleil’s soundtrack to Kenneth Anger’s Lucifer Rising, which opened up a massive can of worms for me. It can be the glass of red wine I’m drinking at the moment, but this album has become the most important piece of art to me. For the last 70 years, I have thought of Lucifer, Satan, and the Devil as the same figure, but now I realize that is a Christian’s take on a narrative. For someone like me, who hasn’t had any training in religious studies, it’s a pretty amazing discovery that Lucifer is very much a happy-go-lucky guy.

L'Ange déchu by Alexandre Cabanel, 1847

The name Lucifer first appeared in the Hebrew Bible and Vulgate, and it originates from Latin, meaning "light-bearer" or "morning star." For reasons I don’t know, Christianity turned the image of Lucifer into a negative connotation. Lucifer was a fallen angel and somehow turned into Satan (the Devil). Over time, Lucifer is blamed for all the bad things in life, and it reminds me a bit of when Trump blames Immigrants for being terrorists. If you say it long enough, that identity sticks with this group of people.

Kenneth Anger’s approach to Lucifer is one of lightness instead of darkness, which is ironic because one thinks of Kenneth’s work as being part of darkness. In truth, the filmmaker (artist) has the ability to look inside particular cultures, and he has always struck me as an American artist who admires a European sensibility, but is nevertheless very much part of the American landscape. In his aesthetic, Lucifer is very an American rebel. The highly sexual nature of his work speaks in codes, but is also displayed beautifully in his cinematic images. He is/was one of the genuinely great cinematic artists.

Bobby Beausoleil in Kenneth Anger’s Invocation of My Demon Brother

Bobby Beausoleil’s music for Anger’s Lucifer Rising is 40 minutes of sensuality for the ears. Of course, it works with Kenneth’s images, but it holds up as music to be heard without the cinematic imagery. The first listen of the vinyl album brings to mind 1970s Euro-cinema exploitation sex music, or even Pink Floyd in their period between Syd Barrett and The Dark Side of the Moon, when they were doing dreamy, long instrumentals. If I didn’t know Beausoleil’s horrid past, I would think I was listening to a French music psych-soundtrack, but it was made and recorded in a California prison.

The music is majestic and very sexy, with the swirling of aural delights. It is very orchestrated. The musicians that Beausoleil worked with, the Freedom Orchestra, could have been, or maybe become, the version of the Los Angeles studio musicians, the Wrecking Crew of Tracy, California State Prison. Anger paid for the recording equipment that was donated to the prison, and Bobby Beausoleil could have been a Jack Nitzsche or Joe Meek figure, just due to the superb arrangements. It would have been beautiful to hear more music from Beausoleil. The music from Lucifer Rising is a remarkable work, all considering that it took years to finish while Beausoleil was (and still is) in prison for the murder of Gary Hinman. I’m not attracted to the idea of Beausoleil as a criminal or murderer, but unfortunately, a man so talented could not avoid certain traits from his youth, or the wrong turns he made in his life. In the end of the day, the work is either worth something or not, and Beausoleil’s music is the real deal.