thoughts about music
Two songs that I am really loving right now:
"King Without a Crown" - Matisyahu. It's so ... messianic. Joyful. Hopeful. The first time I heard this reggae song was after the wedding as Gerry and I drove north to Napa Valley. The artist is an Orthodox Jew, apparently, and he wears his full orthodox garb in concert or in videos. Wild!
"Sorrow" - Bad Religion. This one, I've only started hearing on the radio recently. Don't know anything about the band, don't know the story of the song. But it also strikes me as messianic.
The fact that both of these songs have religious messages, but have made it to popularity on mainstream radio, has got me thinking about so-called Christian contemporary music and how many people refuse to listen to it. "It's because the message is offensive," the Christian community will shoot back. "We can't help it that we're speaking the truth." Noooooo... Oftentimes the musical stylings are offensive as well. I appreciate festivals like Cornerstone and magazines like Paste that put an emphasis on putting quality into Christian music and film.
God might not mind listening to my "joyful noise," but other people probably do. Think of it like this: When a five-year-old draws stick figures and a tree, her parents put it on the fridge ... not in the Louvre. Not everything that praises God is intended for public consumption. He gave us the abilities to create and develop and compose, so let's use them!
"King Without a Crown" - Matisyahu. It's so ... messianic. Joyful. Hopeful. The first time I heard this reggae song was after the wedding as Gerry and I drove north to Napa Valley. The artist is an Orthodox Jew, apparently, and he wears his full orthodox garb in concert or in videos. Wild!
"Sorrow" - Bad Religion. This one, I've only started hearing on the radio recently. Don't know anything about the band, don't know the story of the song. But it also strikes me as messianic.
The fact that both of these songs have religious messages, but have made it to popularity on mainstream radio, has got me thinking about so-called Christian contemporary music and how many people refuse to listen to it. "It's because the message is offensive," the Christian community will shoot back. "We can't help it that we're speaking the truth." Noooooo... Oftentimes the musical stylings are offensive as well. I appreciate festivals like Cornerstone and magazines like Paste that put an emphasis on putting quality into Christian music and film.
God might not mind listening to my "joyful noise," but other people probably do. Think of it like this: When a five-year-old draws stick figures and a tree, her parents put it on the fridge ... not in the Louvre. Not everything that praises God is intended for public consumption. He gave us the abilities to create and develop and compose, so let's use them!