"Give us all the courage and the grace"

Sparkle on the ocean

Eagle at the top of a tree

The phrasing of the first two lines of "This Place," written by Joni Mitchell in 2007, has sounded hauntingly familiar to me for the last few days when I have listened to it while driving in my car. This afternoon I suddenly realized that it has echoes of the first two lines of "Spirit on the Water," written by Bob Dylan in 2006:

Spirit on the water

Darkness on the face of the deep

Here is the last verse for "This Place":

Spirit of the water

Give us all the courage and the grace

To make genius of this tragedy unfolding

The genius to save this place.