"Joy" is a part of Carlos Santana's 2021 album, "Blessings and Miracles." "Joy" is a special word to Santana, so much so that it likely influenced his title. Back in 1992, Santana told Whoopi Goldberg, "Music is what reminds us of compassion. ... When you hear good music, it pulls you away [from life] and when you pull away, that's only when you can have compassion." This sort of spiritualism is engrained in Santana's work.
Santana collaborated with Chris Stapleton on the song, and he relived this songwriting process in an interview with Rock & Blues Muse. The two artists wrote "Joy" during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and Santana said that with so much fear and pain in the world, he and Stapleton wanted to "create music as a healing force." In the same interview, Santana said the line from the song, "flying on the wings of angels," is his own, and that he enjoyed collaborating with Stapleton on the piece.
In an interview with Mainstreet Nashville, Santana described the inspiration behind "Joy" and the album it is featured on. He said, "I keep hearing inwardly and outwardly voices that says ... people are thirsty for impeccable integrity, righteousness, and a living water." Santana's mission with this song seems to be to heal the world, and that is no easy feat. He said it best himself: "This world is infected with fear and darkness and ... needs some mystical medicine music to heal that." Whether "Joy" heals the world or not, the song's creation story is inarguably pure.
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