Posted by Dave on 04/28/06 at 11:55:39 am
Categories: Music Ravings, Theological Ravings

The NY Times has an article about MercyMe, who are currently one of the "top" "Christian" bands. I saw it and had to highlight this section:

More often, MercyMe relies upon a familiar (though often effective) head-fake: the song seems to be about a romantic relationship, but it turns out to be a relationship with God. In the winsome single "So Long Self," there's a rousing guitar riff that could almost be pop-punk, topped with cheerful lyrics about breaking up: "So long self/ Well it's been fun, but I have found somebody else." Guess who that somebody is? And in "One Trick Pony," there's a bluesy groove (sounds like someone got hold of a G. Love & Special Sauce CD) and an eager admission: "I got a one-track mind." Guess where those tracks lead?

There are plenty of lowlights, too, and plenty of hackneyed lyrics. ("I just need to break these chains" doesn't sound very — what's the word? — inspired.) But the band also finds unusual ways to approach its one and only subject. "3:42am (Writer's Block)" is an infectious song about a struggling writer, with a twist. This writer isn't looking for an original idea: "If the idea's mine/ It's a waste of time," he sings. He asks his muse to "Say what you wanna say," instead.
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The Devil may still have the best tunes (for now), but can he match that business model.

The "Jesus is my boyfriend" (and of course, never girlfriend) songs, the "hackneyed" lyrics, the cheesy riffs and played out chord changes do little in terms of challenge.

As I have mentioned, I am part of a team that is starting a new service at our church. We are attempting to create a place where people can experience God in different ways. One of the areas that I am most involved in is the music. We have really been wrestling with what it means to authentically worship God through music. A couple of us on the music team really want to challenge the way that we think about worship. One of the ways we have been trying to do this is to use songs that would not typically be considered "worship" songs - songs like U2's All I Want is You and Ben Lee's Gamble Everything for Love (which is a phenomenal song by the way - you can watch the video here). We have been attempting to avoid many of the praise choruses (though not always successful) that have become prevalent in today’s church services. Not because we want to be different, but because we want to provide an avenue towards worship that goes further than catchy lyrics with little depth. We want to create a place that does not rely on old cliché metaphors. My good friend and co-conspirator said it like this:

Using recycled clichés and shallow lyrics in music used to worship God is the equivalent of reading, "roses are red, violets are blue" at a poetry reading and expecting to be taken seriously.

Why is that in the church we settle for mediocrity (and is it even that?). We settle for recycling of ideas and copying others. We have done away with the theological depth of hymns in order to sing theological shallow lyrics that we can jump up and down to.

Christianity Today had a recent interview (magazine only) with Bono, and used it to ask him why he does not "proclaim Jesus" in their songs. Why is it that the church cannot see Jesus amidst the incredible spiritual depth of the songs of U2? Why are we unwilling to push the line? Where have all the hymn writers gone? Where have song writers like Rich Mullins gone?

Lord...save us all from cheap clichés. Save us all from the things that we create.

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