Throughout the passage of time since its publication in 1955, the esoteric and mysterious Urantia Book fascinated several notable rock musicians. This blog post will briefly describe how the Urantia Book influenced several noteworthy rock musicians in the past with respect to their music. But before that, what is really the Urantia Book you might rightfully ask? Well, the Urantia Book claims to be an epochal revelation from celestial beings (with a still unknown Earthly author) putting together science, philosophy, cosmology, spirituality, and religion without dogma for the overall betterment of mankind (it also delves into mankind’s history and the role of the mortal man in the universe). The very name Urantia from the book’s title is actually a reference to planet Earth (or an alternative spiritual name for it, if you will).
My personal hardcover copy of the Urantia Book (which I ordered via Amazon a while back ago; I initially discovered it while doing some research about the song Havona by the jazz fusion group Weather Report when I was still living in Aalborg, Denmark during the late 2010s). Image source: personal photograph
Now heading back to rock music, the Urantia Book proved to be a very interesting read for several big names of the rock genre (as well as beyond, e.g. the illustrious, highly technical, and innovative bassist Jaco Pastorius of Weather Report) and among these are the following (listed in no particular order than the one from my memory):
- Steve Vai (legendary rock guitarist who performed in Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth’s band as well as in Whitesnake; he also has a very successful and well-established solo career and studied guitar under the guidance of yet another magnificent rock guitarist, namely Joe Satriani, back when he was a teenager);
- Jimi Hendrix (highly influential legendary rock guitarist);
- Stevie Ray Vaughan (legendary blues rock guitarist);
- Jerry Garcia (the frontman of the classic rock band Grateful Dead);
- Kerry Livgren (legendary guitarist and keyboardist, member of American classic rock band Kansas);
- Randy California (from the rock band Spirit);
- Leonard Cohen;
- Elvis Presley (the King of Rock and Roll, as he is also known);
- Carlos Santana (legendary guitarist);
- Willie Nelson;
- Mike Pinder (from the Moody Blues);
- Chris Birkett (who previously collaborated in his long career with Sinéad O’Connor or Buffy Sainte-Marie, among others; Buffy Sainte-Marie is also a good friend of the legendary and very beautiful Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist Joni Mitchell).
This list can be probably longer, but, based on my research so far on rock musicians who read the Urantia Book, they are known to have read and/or been influenced for certain by it. For example, regarding the influence the Urantia Book had on his music, guitarist Steve Vai composed and released a song called ‘Midway Creatures’ which is featured on his solo studio album Real Illusions: Reflections (released in 2005). The song is a reference towards paper 77 of the Urantia Book on the midway creatures. Below you can listen to this song embedded via YouTube:
Furthermore, Chino Moreno, the lead vocalist of the American progressive metal band Deftones was also influenced by the Urantia Book, his band releasing a song called Urantia. American industrial metal band Deadsy also released a song called ‘The Mansion World’ which contains references towards the Urantia Book.
Last but not least, I presume Canadian-American musician, singer-songwriter, and guitarist Joni Mitchell might have heard (or knows of) the Urantia Book via her friend Buffy Sainte-Marie, but this just my supposition, not a certainty, just a thought. At the same time, it is also possible that she might have known about the Urantia Book via Jaco Pastorius with whom she had collaborated during the 1970s. Either way, there is no trace of influence of the Urantia Book in her discography that I know of.
Documentation sources and external links:
- Personal knowledge and research on the Urantia Book on the internet
- Urantia on www.wikipedia.org (in Romanian; an article which also includes my contributions)
- Urantia-boken on www.wikipedia.org (in Norwegian Bokmål; an article which also includes my contributions)
- Urantia Book on www.wikipedia.org (in English; an article which also includes several contributions of mine throughout the passage of time)
Hello Victor! I LOVE this article and thank you for writing/posting this. We have been reading The Urantia Book since 2013. Music is a great part of our worship experience. I am curious to learn more about YOUR experience with this most amazing book. This information, especially Part 4 The Life and Teachings of Jesus, has literally transformed our lives from within and then making our outward living full of deep spiritual meaning, adding value to our lives. Earth Wind and Fire’s “In the Stone” is a tune that God has used in important ways for us. In any event – we cherish sharing His love with others, and especially those who are reading this book. We are working for the promotion, the ‘resurrection’ of Jesus’ original and forgotten gospel message, “The kingdom of God dwells within you.” His highest spiritual concept of the Father dominant and transcendent in the hearts and minds of His believers needs now to come forward for all. We will enjoy your music and are grateful to have found you online. I hope you will reply in friendship as we are brothers and sisters in His family. Blessings to you and those you love!
First of all, thank you very much for visiting The Rockpedia as well as for your time and readership! It means a lot to me! Secondly, I apologise for the long delay in replying. Thirdly, I am very glad and grateful you liked this article.
It’s very nice to know that the Urantia Book is a significant part of your life. It has become so in my life as well since the late 2010s (and even more so throughout the truly hectic early to mid 2020s). I have learnt many important aspects from its pages (and I still have many more to learn in the future as well). It is a truly fascinating book and I am very glad and grateful I was able to discover and read it. I have a hardcover copy of it which I ordered via Amazon a while back ago in 2021. I still have it to this day.
I’m also listening to the audiobook version of the book on YouTube from time to time (I wish I would have more time to listen to more papers from the Urantia Book via YouTube). My personal opinion on it is that it is way too sophisticated and complex to be a mere hoax (and, in the unlikely case it is a hoax as some claim, then it was certainly a very well crafted one, that’s for certain). If one is not a scholar or doesn’t have encyclopaedic interests in general, then it might be quite hard to read and understand. I do not claim I understand everything that I discovered so far from it, but I like to think I understood an important amount of spiritual aspects. I once read somewhere on the internet that it is a recommended reading for people aged 40 and beyond (though I don’t think that can always be the case; for example, you can have a psychological age which is older than your biological one).
I initially discovered the Urantia Book through the music of the jazz fusion band Weather Report (more specifically through the title of the song Havona which is a reference to the Urantia Book itself as I think you already know). Legendary bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius was very much interested in the Urantia Book (as were other great musicians throughout the passage of time, most notably Jimi Hendrix, whom Jaco also respected very much).
As a person who has been quite skeptical of certain aspects pertaining to organised religion for many years and as someone who can definitely describe himself as more spiritual than religious, the Urantia Book has been a very important and fascinating part of my life. It is a must read for any truth seeker out there, that’s an additional opinion of mine. Needless to say, if you like classic rock and jazz fusion, you must also take (at least) a closer look (if not read as much of it as you can), as you will understand one of the most important spiritual and literary influences in the music of some of the most beloved and legendary musicians in history (some of whom, very much unfortunately, are no longer with us).
I truly wish you many blessings in your life, including your spiritual journey. Last but not least, music has a very powerful nature of healing. That is one of its spiritual purposes I think as well. Music is a form of energy and we are on this world in order to learn how to work with various forms of energy. All the best and plenty of respect!
P.S. There’s a song by Steve Vai which sounds so otherworldly (I mean, his music in general sounds quite otherworldly) that it sounds as though it was inspired by a parallel dimension, perhaps, who knows, one right from the Urantia Book. The song I’m writing about is Melissa’s Garden (which you can listen below embedded via YouTube). Melissa is a beautiful name which stems from Ancient Greek and it means bee. Now how beautiful is that? Needless to say, one of Steve Vai’s well-known hobbies is beekeeping which is quite beautiful as well. Lastly, I remembered my hardcover copy of the Urantia Book smelt so good when I opened it. It has a very beautiful smell, for real. Almost otherworldly and very delicate at the same time. Best regards!