Mediumship is the practice of certain people—known as mediums—to purportedly mediate communication between spirits of the dead and living human beings.
Attempts to contact the dead date back to early human history, with mediumship gaining in popularity during the 19th century. Investigations during this period revealed widespread fraud—with some practitioners employing techniques used by stage magicians—and the practice started to lose credibility. The practice still continues into the 21st century, with high-profile fraud uncovered as recently as the 2000s.
Scientific researchers have attempted to ascertain the validity of claims of mediumship. An experiment undertaken by the British Psychological Society led to the conclusion that the test subjects demonstrated no mediumistic ability.
Several different variants of mediumship exist; arguably the best-known forms involve a spirit allegedly taking control of a medium's voice and using it to relay a message, or where the medium simply "hears" the message and passes it on. Other forms involve materializations of the spirit or the presence of a voice, and telekinetic activity.
Saw you stretched out in room ten o nine
With a smile on your face and the tears right in your eye
Could not seem to get a line on you, my sweet honey love
And Berber jewelry jangling down the street
Making bloodshot eyes at every woman that you meet
Could not seem to get a high on you, my sweet honey love, yeah
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Make every song you sing your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Warm like the evening sun
And you're drunk in the alley with your clothes all torn
And your late night friends leave you in the cold gray dawn
Just seemed too many flies on you, I just can't brush them off
And the angels beating all their wings in time
With a smile on their face and a gleam right in their eyes
Could not seem to get a high on you
Come on up now, come on up now, come on up
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Make every song you sing your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Warm like the evening sun, yeah yeah
Come on up now, come on up now, , come on up now, come on up
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Make every song you sing your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Warm like the evening sun, yeah
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Make every song you sing your favorite tune
May the good Lord shine a light on you
Warm like the evening sun, oh yeah baby