Alternative folk-pop trio Lies Damned Lies formed in Glasgow in the late 1980s. Alternately flirting with Scottish modern rock sounds (a la fellow Scots Simple Minds) or with literate folk stylings, the band had a lengthy career through the 1990s and into the 2000s, though they were fairly unknown this side of the pond. They were regulars at the UK’s Greenbelt Festival, and while their lyrics pointed to their Christian faith, several of their releases were on mainstream pop-rock record labels.
“The Divine Image” comes to us from their 1993 full-length The Human Dress. Its lush harmonies, accompanied by capable acoustic guitar, are reminiscent of likeminded groups like Harrod and Funck or The Innocence Mission. The song’s lyrics are taken straight from William Blake’s poem “The Divine Image,” which invites the reader (or in our case, the listener) to consider the image of God in others, even when we disagree or find ourselves in different ethnicities, beliefs, or even worldviews:
And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk, or Jew.
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell,
There God is dwelling too.