Well maybe not quite. He's old and seems to be we past his prime. But it is good to see him back in this music video, Brad Paisley's cou "Waitin' on a Woman." I know that a lot of today's music, even in country music, is corrupt and not, for lack of better terms, real. But this is actually a fairly decent song, and putting Andy Griffeth in the video, in my opinion, makes it better. He will always be remembered as Sheriff Andy Taylor from Maybury, but even in this video, he's still the same town sheriff, just a bit older! I am unable to enbed this onto my blog because of user requests on youtube, but I have provided the link to take you to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvKgnkIN8C8
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, October 21, 2007
A Tribute To Lynyrd Skynyrd
This is also seen on the Reckless Abandon music page. Reckless Abandon is the band I am in. [See Links].
Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary since the plain crash killing several of the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. In this crash, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backup singer Cassie Gaines, another backup singer with the group, and a tour manager, were all killed in this plane crash. In my opinion, Lynyrd Skynyrd, as a music group, is one of the greatest of all time in Rock-N-Roll history. Lynyrd Skynyrd mixed rock, country, and blues together to make a real but semi-twangy southern rock. Their song Freebird has rivaled Led Zeplin's song "Stairway to Heaven" as the most requested songs on FM radio. If you are pickin' away at the guitar at a local party, you should never be surprised someone in the audience to yell "Freebird!!" or another of their great songs. In fact, just yesterday at Reckless Abandon's first gig, there were three of their songs played, of course, Freebird being "requested."
But their fame was well deserved. Their fame proved not to be a fad. They played music relative to the working American - which is who they were. I personally consider the great late Ronnie Van Zant (original singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd), as one of my lyrical inspirations. The songs were relative to true stories. "Gimmie Three Steps" was inspired from a true story. "The Ballad of Curtis Leow" was actually inspired from a group of great blues singer. "Freebird" was used as a metaphor for the groups outlook to much of life. Only Ronnie Van Zant wrote of the haunting question, "If I leave here tomorow, would you still remember me?" Lynyrd Skynyrd is perhaps the only rock band in history who through the lyrics of Ronnie Van Zant, would write a song as a tribute to their mother. They did this through their song "Simpleman" which shows a dialogue between Van Zant's mother and Van Zant, with his mother doing all the talking through her precious wisdom. Only Ronnie Van Zant showed through poetic romantic literature his utopian view, but realism of the "concrede slowly creeping" into his Southern and traditional home. In this song, "All I Can Do (is write about it)," Van Zant says he can't make changes, but can only write his experiences is a song. This has got to only show Van Zant's pride in the band and its music.
But it was also the sound of the band that drew long-term attention as well. The band mixed Southern country with blues and a driving rock. The guitar solo's for "Freebird" and Simpleman" were almost as good as the powerful lyrics for the songs. The powerful duo of Allan Collins and Gary Rossington was simply amazing. Lynyrd Skynyrd is the holder of what is perhaps the greatest Southern Rock song of all time, "Sweet Home Alabama."
Perhaps many musicians of today can learn from the great Lynyrd Skynyrd. Not many musicians or bands have the same powerful lyrics and powerful music as was found in Lynyrd Skynyrd. Since the plane crash they have just not been the same. But the apparent answer to the haunting question "If I leave here tomorow, would you still remember me," appears to be an obvious yes.
Rest in peace.
Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary since the plain crash killing several of the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. In this crash, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backup singer Cassie Gaines, another backup singer with the group, and a tour manager, were all killed in this plane crash. In my opinion, Lynyrd Skynyrd, as a music group, is one of the greatest of all time in Rock-N-Roll history. Lynyrd Skynyrd mixed rock, country, and blues together to make a real but semi-twangy southern rock. Their song Freebird has rivaled Led Zeplin's song "Stairway to Heaven" as the most requested songs on FM radio. If you are pickin' away at the guitar at a local party, you should never be surprised someone in the audience to yell "Freebird!!" or another of their great songs. In fact, just yesterday at Reckless Abandon's first gig, there were three of their songs played, of course, Freebird being "requested."
But their fame was well deserved. Their fame proved not to be a fad. They played music relative to the working American - which is who they were. I personally consider the great late Ronnie Van Zant (original singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd), as one of my lyrical inspirations. The songs were relative to true stories. "Gimmie Three Steps" was inspired from a true story. "The Ballad of Curtis Leow" was actually inspired from a group of great blues singer. "Freebird" was used as a metaphor for the groups outlook to much of life. Only Ronnie Van Zant wrote of the haunting question, "If I leave here tomorow, would you still remember me?" Lynyrd Skynyrd is perhaps the only rock band in history who through the lyrics of Ronnie Van Zant, would write a song as a tribute to their mother. They did this through their song "Simpleman" which shows a dialogue between Van Zant's mother and Van Zant, with his mother doing all the talking through her precious wisdom. Only Ronnie Van Zant showed through poetic romantic literature his utopian view, but realism of the "concrede slowly creeping" into his Southern and traditional home. In this song, "All I Can Do (is write about it)," Van Zant says he can't make changes, but can only write his experiences is a song. This has got to only show Van Zant's pride in the band and its music.
But it was also the sound of the band that drew long-term attention as well. The band mixed Southern country with blues and a driving rock. The guitar solo's for "Freebird" and Simpleman" were almost as good as the powerful lyrics for the songs. The powerful duo of Allan Collins and Gary Rossington was simply amazing. Lynyrd Skynyrd is the holder of what is perhaps the greatest Southern Rock song of all time, "Sweet Home Alabama."
Perhaps many musicians of today can learn from the great Lynyrd Skynyrd. Not many musicians or bands have the same powerful lyrics and powerful music as was found in Lynyrd Skynyrd. Since the plane crash they have just not been the same. But the apparent answer to the haunting question "If I leave here tomorow, would you still remember me," appears to be an obvious yes.
Rest in peace.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Christian Music
Christian Music
October 12, 2007
A major way God moves His people is through music. Music is a common theme throughout the Bible. We are told to praise God with music (Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 137:4, Isaiah 23:16). Music itself was created by God and has existed since creation, and will always exist. Music is distinct from other general sounds. Music is sound, but not all sound is music. The popular styles of music change, but music itself never changes.
Music is a reflection on religion, culture, and lifestyle. Music itself is amoral- that is, without moral absolutes behind it. There is no way we can say as an absolute fact that any style of music is wrong, or that any kind is necessarily and always better than another. However relative to given points in time, music can have an impact on someone depending on the culture it relates to. In the Southeast today, we see many people using popular sounds of music with spiritual lyrics to give praise to God. There seems to be a revival-like attitude sweeping through our churches in Christianity today, as shown largely through the music.
Music is amoral, but yet can be related to given cultures, whether sinful or Godly. How can Christians today apply this to their lives? How does music influence our corporate worship, private walk with God, and every decision we make? How can we relate Christian music in particular to these questions as well?
First off, we should look to Scripture. Scripture speaks of everything either directly or indirectly. What becomes hard is knowing what to believe when it is not mentioned in the Bible directly. There are many cases of Christian doctrine, or of any issue today, that are believed even when the Bible does not directly support the belief in mind. However we should remember that sometimes the Bible may speak of something indirectly. As a somewhat extreme example, what if someone said "college football needs playoffs." There is no direct Scriptural evidence to defend that claim, but it may be a true statement. The Bible speaks, you could say, of fairness, equality, etc., and then it is up to us to decide what constitutes as Biblical fairness and equality. There is not that much said about music genre, music lyrics, etc. in the Bible directly, but that does not mean we can not reach a Biblically based conclusion with truth and objective to it. However the Bible speaking of everything whether directly or indirectly does not mean there is an absolute right and wrong to any given subject at hand. Music itself was already stated as amoral. This is a premise, however, and if shown to be false by Scripture, can be rejected. However I do not believe that Scripture would object to this, although there may be some relative sense of morality in music because it relates to the culture, people, or the person who listens to it. We should now use Scripture in finding the balance to these premises. The below will sum up what was said:
1): Scripture should be used, whether directly or indirectly, to defend anything we believe, because Scripture is absolute and speaks of everything whether directly or indirectly (presupposition).
2): Music is amoral, that is, lacking absolute moral sensitivity (premise).
3): Morality can be indirectly and relatively related to music (premise). [This does not mean that morality is absolutely relative, but that it is relatively absolute. The ‘relative’ in this case is only based off of God’s absolute standard of morality].
I have written of some of this before, getting mixed opinions. First off, for those who have read some of what I have said of Christian music, I in no way judge anyone based merely off of the music they listen to, or whether the Christian music they listen to is contemporary, tradition, or classical. I do not think that it is Biblical to just reject any style of music absolutely, whether it be Christian or secular. I have heard of people who would essentially bash contemporary Christian music, and I find no direct or indirect Scriptural evidence to do such a thing. However we should keep a few things in mind.
For one thing, the church is distinct from the world. The church should not just mimic the world, even in the name of gaining followers. Another thing we should keep in mind is what point number three (seen above), gets at. Music and culture are related, and culture and religion are related as well. Essentially, all culture is, is religion externalized. Music is music, but we can tell a lot about a culture based on its song. Therefore, there is some sort of moral sensitivity that should be placed in music. This leads me to my third point. As Christians, anything we do, especially if done directly in the name of Christ, should be done with complete reverence and fear. If music images a culture, then church music, at some level, should be unique, because the church is unique.
Once again, we should not declare anything as completely absolute. We should be bringing the nations to Christ, and so in theory, if the world had a largely unified culture, unified in Christ (a utopian view), then there would be no reason to be distinct. In the same sense, it is true that the church is to be ‘in’ the world. Furthermore, the world in the sense of the universal planet earth, is filled of both Christians and non-Christians. Even a culture within the world is filled of both Christians and non-Christians. There are some traditions that are held by both Christians and non-Christians. The difference is found in the motive. What often separates music as being glorifying to God or not is the motive of the musician, and all those who listen to or sing or play the music.
Here, we see a two-fold relationship. On one hand, logic seems to tell us that Christian music should be separate and unique from other music. On the other hand we seem to see that Christian music can give full glory to God no matter what genre it is of. Music is music, and the styles may change. The sound of classical Christian music today may have been considered ‘pop’ music five hundred years ago (in theory). Will people see bands such as Third Day, Mercy Me, etc., five-hundred years from now in the same way we see people such as Martin Luther and John Newton today?
So once again, there is this nagging two-fold relationship. We dug deeper, but the two sides are still there. They haven’t yet reached a point. We can all reach different conclusions, and perhaps, you have already disagreed with my logic. But now I desire to write what my conclusions would be.
All of our music should be done with full reverence to God. Any music written for God should be done in fear. This does not mean that songs can not be ‘simple’ and still good. But the song should be something that comes from the heart, and the heart should be focused on God. Therefore, any Christian song written should be bold, firm, and attesting to the grace of God.
Beyond this, I believe that there is a difference between corporate church music and private Christian music. The Christian is a Christian in personal sense, but also in the corporate sense. When a portion of the body of Christ comes into God’s presence and assembles for corporate worship, they are called out of the world. They are called boldly, and they should come in a manner that shows their corporate relationship with Christ. We are the body, not a bunch of bodies. We are one. We are the body and the bride of Christ. The music should reflect God’s work with His people, and His people’s work together with God. I believe that today’s popular Christian music reflects more of the personal relationship with Jesus, while traditional or classical hymns reflect the overall picture. Both are important and have their place, but corporate worship is designed for the overall picture.
When I am driving down the road by myself, I don’t necessarily enjoy listening to classical music or corporate hymns. It would be more likely of me to turn to a popular Christian radio station than to put in a CD of old people singing older hymns. But when in the presence of covenant renewal service, there is something much more powerful about these hymns. They have beauty and truth. They have bold statements that are not seen in today’s Christian music such as "Jesus, What a Friend of Sinners," "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound," "We are God’s People, the chosen of the Lord; Born on His Spirit, established by His word," and "Lift High the Cross," all just to name a few. There are some popular Christian songs today with powerful lyrics, but many of them lack what the hymns so richly have. In enjoy some contemporary Christian such as Casting Crowns and Three Driven Nails, but I don’t much care for a lot of what I hear on popular Christian radio. We must be lyrically and musically sensitive to what we label as Christian music. What if we label some sappy or watered-down ‘inspirational’ message as Christianity? A non-Christian might say, "If that is today’s Christian music, then I don’t want to be a part of today’s Christianity." Once again, music reflects the person and the culture.
But this does not reject bringing contemporary music to God. Someone has to write the music. Sometimes there are some traditional or Reformed churches today that seem scared of presenting any new Christian music. I don’t think this is good. We are to "sing to the Lord a new song" (Psalm 33:3). Of course, reading further in the verse, it says to "play skillfully with a loud noise." There is nothing wrong if the Christian music is loud as long as it is reverent and bold. The same chapter tells us to "Praise Him with the Psaltery and with an instrument of ten strings." Music should reflect the Bible. We are told to "Praise Him with the Psaltery."
I also believe we should be careful in relations to the style of Christian music that is brought out. Rightly or wrongly, some styles of music relate to a sinful culture. It becomes dangerous if Christian music is played in the style that portrays a sinful culture. Such styles may include rap music, hard rock music, etc. It becomes worse when the Christian band or artist dresses like the norm of this style, perhaps with tattoos, excessive body piercings, etc. We should desire to bring all the nations to Christ, but I’m not sure playing their style of music is the best way. We should alter an alternative to their sinful lifestyle found in the hope of Jesus. We should offer community to a self-centered lifestyle, rooting ourselves in the doctrine of the Trinity. Playing to their level is not necessarily the correct way to go.
Also, if someone is a Christian artist, they should make sure the way they live their lives attests to the grace of God. I also do not particularly care for a Christian to assume that any music produced by any Christian must be directly Christian. As a Christian and a musician myself, I do write Christian songs, but I also write secular songs. I try to keep it all to the glory of God and all consistent within the Christian worldview.
So when we hear Christian music, we should ask six basic questions:
1): Does the style of music seem to be influenced by and does it seem to promote a sinful lifestyle?
2): Is the music bold enough lyrically and musically to be declared as Christian music? (Keep in mind if it is declared as Christian music, then it becomes a much stronger representative of Christianity.)
3): Does the music seem to simply mimic the world music for popular gain and attention?
4): Is this music written and played to the full glory of God?
5): Is this music better in the context of corporate worship, or private listening?
6): Does the author or artist of this music live their lives attesting to God's grace?
In my opinion, if the music passes this little "test," then it is good Christian music. I also believe that even if the music does not necessarily pass this test completely, then it should not necessarily be criticized. God may be pleased even with our imperfect attempts to praise Him, if our hearts are in the right place.
Continue to guard what you hear with the Word of God, but also keep in mind how you should interpret God’s Word correctly. One of the next blogs will address this question. Remember the importance of music. It is a major way God moves His people. Therefore, we should be sensitive to our music, but also praising with it. We should lift high our voices, so that we may "Lift High the Cross."
What do you think?
God bless America
Pray for our Troops
God bless His church
October 14, 2007
Ryan Hampton
October 12, 2007
A major way God moves His people is through music. Music is a common theme throughout the Bible. We are told to praise God with music (Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 137:4, Isaiah 23:16). Music itself was created by God and has existed since creation, and will always exist. Music is distinct from other general sounds. Music is sound, but not all sound is music. The popular styles of music change, but music itself never changes.
Music is a reflection on religion, culture, and lifestyle. Music itself is amoral- that is, without moral absolutes behind it. There is no way we can say as an absolute fact that any style of music is wrong, or that any kind is necessarily and always better than another. However relative to given points in time, music can have an impact on someone depending on the culture it relates to. In the Southeast today, we see many people using popular sounds of music with spiritual lyrics to give praise to God. There seems to be a revival-like attitude sweeping through our churches in Christianity today, as shown largely through the music.
Music is amoral, but yet can be related to given cultures, whether sinful or Godly. How can Christians today apply this to their lives? How does music influence our corporate worship, private walk with God, and every decision we make? How can we relate Christian music in particular to these questions as well?
First off, we should look to Scripture. Scripture speaks of everything either directly or indirectly. What becomes hard is knowing what to believe when it is not mentioned in the Bible directly. There are many cases of Christian doctrine, or of any issue today, that are believed even when the Bible does not directly support the belief in mind. However we should remember that sometimes the Bible may speak of something indirectly. As a somewhat extreme example, what if someone said "college football needs playoffs." There is no direct Scriptural evidence to defend that claim, but it may be a true statement. The Bible speaks, you could say, of fairness, equality, etc., and then it is up to us to decide what constitutes as Biblical fairness and equality. There is not that much said about music genre, music lyrics, etc. in the Bible directly, but that does not mean we can not reach a Biblically based conclusion with truth and objective to it. However the Bible speaking of everything whether directly or indirectly does not mean there is an absolute right and wrong to any given subject at hand. Music itself was already stated as amoral. This is a premise, however, and if shown to be false by Scripture, can be rejected. However I do not believe that Scripture would object to this, although there may be some relative sense of morality in music because it relates to the culture, people, or the person who listens to it. We should now use Scripture in finding the balance to these premises. The below will sum up what was said:
1): Scripture should be used, whether directly or indirectly, to defend anything we believe, because Scripture is absolute and speaks of everything whether directly or indirectly (presupposition).
2): Music is amoral, that is, lacking absolute moral sensitivity (premise).
3): Morality can be indirectly and relatively related to music (premise). [This does not mean that morality is absolutely relative, but that it is relatively absolute. The ‘relative’ in this case is only based off of God’s absolute standard of morality].
I have written of some of this before, getting mixed opinions. First off, for those who have read some of what I have said of Christian music, I in no way judge anyone based merely off of the music they listen to, or whether the Christian music they listen to is contemporary, tradition, or classical. I do not think that it is Biblical to just reject any style of music absolutely, whether it be Christian or secular. I have heard of people who would essentially bash contemporary Christian music, and I find no direct or indirect Scriptural evidence to do such a thing. However we should keep a few things in mind.
For one thing, the church is distinct from the world. The church should not just mimic the world, even in the name of gaining followers. Another thing we should keep in mind is what point number three (seen above), gets at. Music and culture are related, and culture and religion are related as well. Essentially, all culture is, is religion externalized. Music is music, but we can tell a lot about a culture based on its song. Therefore, there is some sort of moral sensitivity that should be placed in music. This leads me to my third point. As Christians, anything we do, especially if done directly in the name of Christ, should be done with complete reverence and fear. If music images a culture, then church music, at some level, should be unique, because the church is unique.
Once again, we should not declare anything as completely absolute. We should be bringing the nations to Christ, and so in theory, if the world had a largely unified culture, unified in Christ (a utopian view), then there would be no reason to be distinct. In the same sense, it is true that the church is to be ‘in’ the world. Furthermore, the world in the sense of the universal planet earth, is filled of both Christians and non-Christians. Even a culture within the world is filled of both Christians and non-Christians. There are some traditions that are held by both Christians and non-Christians. The difference is found in the motive. What often separates music as being glorifying to God or not is the motive of the musician, and all those who listen to or sing or play the music.
Here, we see a two-fold relationship. On one hand, logic seems to tell us that Christian music should be separate and unique from other music. On the other hand we seem to see that Christian music can give full glory to God no matter what genre it is of. Music is music, and the styles may change. The sound of classical Christian music today may have been considered ‘pop’ music five hundred years ago (in theory). Will people see bands such as Third Day, Mercy Me, etc., five-hundred years from now in the same way we see people such as Martin Luther and John Newton today?
So once again, there is this nagging two-fold relationship. We dug deeper, but the two sides are still there. They haven’t yet reached a point. We can all reach different conclusions, and perhaps, you have already disagreed with my logic. But now I desire to write what my conclusions would be.
All of our music should be done with full reverence to God. Any music written for God should be done in fear. This does not mean that songs can not be ‘simple’ and still good. But the song should be something that comes from the heart, and the heart should be focused on God. Therefore, any Christian song written should be bold, firm, and attesting to the grace of God.
Beyond this, I believe that there is a difference between corporate church music and private Christian music. The Christian is a Christian in personal sense, but also in the corporate sense. When a portion of the body of Christ comes into God’s presence and assembles for corporate worship, they are called out of the world. They are called boldly, and they should come in a manner that shows their corporate relationship with Christ. We are the body, not a bunch of bodies. We are one. We are the body and the bride of Christ. The music should reflect God’s work with His people, and His people’s work together with God. I believe that today’s popular Christian music reflects more of the personal relationship with Jesus, while traditional or classical hymns reflect the overall picture. Both are important and have their place, but corporate worship is designed for the overall picture.
When I am driving down the road by myself, I don’t necessarily enjoy listening to classical music or corporate hymns. It would be more likely of me to turn to a popular Christian radio station than to put in a CD of old people singing older hymns. But when in the presence of covenant renewal service, there is something much more powerful about these hymns. They have beauty and truth. They have bold statements that are not seen in today’s Christian music such as "Jesus, What a Friend of Sinners," "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound," "We are God’s People, the chosen of the Lord; Born on His Spirit, established by His word," and "Lift High the Cross," all just to name a few. There are some popular Christian songs today with powerful lyrics, but many of them lack what the hymns so richly have. In enjoy some contemporary Christian such as Casting Crowns and Three Driven Nails, but I don’t much care for a lot of what I hear on popular Christian radio. We must be lyrically and musically sensitive to what we label as Christian music. What if we label some sappy or watered-down ‘inspirational’ message as Christianity? A non-Christian might say, "If that is today’s Christian music, then I don’t want to be a part of today’s Christianity." Once again, music reflects the person and the culture.
But this does not reject bringing contemporary music to God. Someone has to write the music. Sometimes there are some traditional or Reformed churches today that seem scared of presenting any new Christian music. I don’t think this is good. We are to "sing to the Lord a new song" (Psalm 33:3). Of course, reading further in the verse, it says to "play skillfully with a loud noise." There is nothing wrong if the Christian music is loud as long as it is reverent and bold. The same chapter tells us to "Praise Him with the Psaltery and with an instrument of ten strings." Music should reflect the Bible. We are told to "Praise Him with the Psaltery."
I also believe we should be careful in relations to the style of Christian music that is brought out. Rightly or wrongly, some styles of music relate to a sinful culture. It becomes dangerous if Christian music is played in the style that portrays a sinful culture. Such styles may include rap music, hard rock music, etc. It becomes worse when the Christian band or artist dresses like the norm of this style, perhaps with tattoos, excessive body piercings, etc. We should desire to bring all the nations to Christ, but I’m not sure playing their style of music is the best way. We should alter an alternative to their sinful lifestyle found in the hope of Jesus. We should offer community to a self-centered lifestyle, rooting ourselves in the doctrine of the Trinity. Playing to their level is not necessarily the correct way to go.
Also, if someone is a Christian artist, they should make sure the way they live their lives attests to the grace of God. I also do not particularly care for a Christian to assume that any music produced by any Christian must be directly Christian. As a Christian and a musician myself, I do write Christian songs, but I also write secular songs. I try to keep it all to the glory of God and all consistent within the Christian worldview.
So when we hear Christian music, we should ask six basic questions:
1): Does the style of music seem to be influenced by and does it seem to promote a sinful lifestyle?
2): Is the music bold enough lyrically and musically to be declared as Christian music? (Keep in mind if it is declared as Christian music, then it becomes a much stronger representative of Christianity.)
3): Does the music seem to simply mimic the world music for popular gain and attention?
4): Is this music written and played to the full glory of God?
5): Is this music better in the context of corporate worship, or private listening?
6): Does the author or artist of this music live their lives attesting to God's grace?
In my opinion, if the music passes this little "test," then it is good Christian music. I also believe that even if the music does not necessarily pass this test completely, then it should not necessarily be criticized. God may be pleased even with our imperfect attempts to praise Him, if our hearts are in the right place.
Continue to guard what you hear with the Word of God, but also keep in mind how you should interpret God’s Word correctly. One of the next blogs will address this question. Remember the importance of music. It is a major way God moves His people. Therefore, we should be sensitive to our music, but also praising with it. We should lift high our voices, so that we may "Lift High the Cross."
What do you think?
God bless America
Pray for our Troops
God bless His church
October 14, 2007
Ryan Hampton
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Music, Culture, The Church, and The World
MUSIC, CULTURE, THE CHURCH, AND THE WORLD
It is obvious that there is a relation between different styles of music and cultures. Each style of music portrays its very own culture through the music, and sometimes through lyrics presented. Although the music and culture relation can change over time, and is often relative to a particular point in time, it is wrong to assume that one’s music does not have influence on one’s lifestyle, or that one’s lifestyle does not have influence on one’s music. The two are at some very real length related.
For example, country music traditionally portrays the folk lifestyle of rural Southern and Western United States. Rap music generally portrays the lifestyle of the inner cities and streets. There is not necessarily anything wrong with either lifestyle, whether it be rural or inner city. But in today’s world, rightly or wrongly, we see more of a negative image portrayed to the inner city lifestyle. Thus, rap music has generally been held in low regards by fundamentals, whereas country music (to some exceptions) has not been held as "wrong" or "immoral." We even see related styles of country music, such as Southern Gospel or bluegrass in Christian contexts.
These are just mere examples. We could compare soft rock to heavy metal; classical music to jazz music, and so on. Each general style of music portrays a different setting, both in the sounds, and often even reaching to the lyrics. As a songwriter myself, while studying music and writing music, I notice changes in the style, as I portray different settings in the music I write.
In my blog, "The Basement" in which I posted just a few weeks ago, I pointed out the different styles of music, and which I felt are better suited for Christianity, whether for private listening or for corporate worship. I in no way wanted to judge the heart of people whose music tastes are different than mind. I’m sure my tastes in music are very different from a lot of people, and I am fine with that. To reiterate what I wanted to say, I will briefly define my views as this: music can be played for the glory of God, even if it is not "Christian" music; music that is in the name of God and intended to be Christian, should be done in a manner that shows an appropriate context, and does not portray an image that is not suitable to Christianity; corporate worship, for the body of believers, should generally be a style that is distinct from what the world offers. I did also make the point that one should not be judged personally by not following this basic pattern. One may desire to give glory to God in a way that does not follow this pattern, or rule, and God may hear their worship. I simply believe that this is the best manner to give that glory to God. No one should be judge because they are not perfect, because no one is perfect. However, we should all strive to perfection, and as growing Christians, should come closer to that standard.
In this blog, I will seek to defend those basic points in further detail. In doing this, I will even point out certain bands and musicians popular today, from all different genres of music, both Christian and secular. I will give a review of these bands and artists in the context of my points in this blog.
Panic! At the Disco. After hearing a fair amount about them, and knowing none of their music, I decided I would see what they were about. I had already read that their lyrics were somewhat non-Christian, but I wanted to see for myself. I went to lyrics.com, and searched them. I was disgusted after reading some of the lyrics and listening to the music. I thought to myself, "If our culture appreciates this kind of music, then our culture is not where it should be." The music was essentially sac religious. It also got annoying hearing frequent uses of the "F word" and of "G-D." Some of what was said seemed to essentially deny God. One of their song titles is "Build God, Then We’ll Talk." You can search them to learn more about them for yourself. The style of music seemed to nearly reject musical theory. What happened to the definition of music being "a group of notes arranged to make a melody" or something along those lines. Listening to the one or two of their songs, the definition seemed to be "wild noise with a satanic voice in the background." This style of music (not only seen through this band, but others), has earned its recognition of claiming a culture of a sinful lifestyle, centered in drugs, sex, moral relativism, and violence.
The Fray. I still don’t know much about The Fray, but I do know at least two of their songs pretty well, and another song is at least recognizable to my ears. Unlike Panic! At the Disco, The Fray at least offered a more mellow sound, with better lyrics. The Fray has not come out as a Christian band, but the lyrics produced are consistent within a Christian worldview. The song, "How To Save a Life" even seems to have somewhat of a decent theme. The lyrics are not watered-down either. They are deep, and both intellectual and heart-originated. I think that the band may be a fad, but at least they are a fad worth listening to for a short period of time. I’m not so sure why they were as popular as they were, or why they are as popular as they are, but their music, from what I have heard, does not promote a sinful lifestyle. Their style of music in general, is also not one that seems to promote a sinful lifestyle. The style of music would probably not be best suited as "Christian," especially not "corporate Christian" but the music does not relate to a lifestyle of drugs, sex, moral relativism, and violence as was noted of Panic! At the Disco. Other bands and artists, such as Plus One, Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Smolin, Switchfoot, etc., whether Christian or secular, have produced similar sounding music whose lyrics are also consistent within a Christian worldview. (The music may not be mere identical to The Fray, but close enough to compare). The Fray may not be the best band ever, and it may be nothing more than a fad. But at least the music and lyrics are acceptable to a Christian worldview, and fine for Christians to listen to.
Hawk Nelson. Forgive me for not being up into all the modern Christian music, but I had not heard of Hawk Nelson until this past Winter Jam. I do not know too much about this band to judge in great detail, but from the little I have seen and heard of it, it seems to be a watered-down replica of its watered-down secular culture musical counterpart. The church is distinct from the world. As this music even in secular uses seems watered-down for its own use, I think that this music as proclaimed Christian waters down the Gospel. Forgive me for what seems to be such harsh comments to a group who is probably trying to give praise to God. Once again, if that is indeed their intentions, then I believe that God hears their worship. I know that the music of Hawk Nelson is labeled as Christian and the music of The Fray is not labeled as Christian. But that is essentially my point. The Fray avoids watering down the Gospel by simply portraying what is consistent within the Gospel through means not identifying themselves as Christian. A non-Christian listening to Hawk Nelson may tell himself "If this is what Christianity is, then it seems no different than the world." This goes for both the music and the lyrics. The lyrics of one song seemed to be about how we should help a poor fatherless boy. That’s a good thought, and the church should help those who need help, whether it be physical help, spiritual help, emotional help, etc. However The Fray presents as good of a theme in their music, without claiming "This is what Christianity is." Neither does it say, "This is what Christianity is not." It serves to help both the Christian and the non-Christian by promoting a Christian-consistent theme. Hawk Nelson does the same, except they claim it as Christianity itself.
Steven Curtis Chapman. Another artist I heard at Winter Jam was an older artist, Steven Curtis Chapman. Many would assume that because I considered the music of Hawk Nelson to water-down the Gospel, then I would assume the same of Steven Curtis Chapman. However I do not. It is true that his music was soft rock and the lyrics were not deep, theological, or the kind to make you cry. But they don’t have to be. Steven Curtis Chapman came across as presenting a theme that is Christian, and proclaiming Christianity through himself and his music. But he does not come across as watering down the Gospel. He does not wear rocker T-shirts, have goofy spiked rocker hair, and tattoos. He simply sings music, giving glory to God, and does not seem to search for a big name in himself. I do not think that his music is best suitable for corporate Christian worship, but I do think it is good to listen to. After hearing his performance, I wanted to "dive in" and I wanted to go "wake the neighbors, and get the word out" and to "live out loud." After hearing Hawk Nelson, I was not sure if I wanted to help the poor kid or not. Maybe that is just me, but then again, maybe not. There are plenty of similar bands and artists as Steven Curtis Chapman, who praise Jesus, without watering down Jesus’ message. Such bands/artists include Third Day, Michael W. Smith, Mercy Me, etc. These bands and artists seem to put more emphasis on the personal relations they have with Jesus. I personally feel that in our culture today, we see the corporate relationship to Jesus sadly taken away. However there is a place for the personal emotions, and I am glad to see these bands and artist portray this message without watering down the Gospel to merely nothing.
There are all other sorts of bands and artists similar to these, and all of those in between. There are so many that seem too "edgy" for Christianity, but does not seem to directly attack Christianity. We could ask so many questions of or similar to "Should I not listen to this song, because of its one curse word?" You could ask, "Should I reject any form of hard, heavy, punk rock, whether or not it is Christian, sac religious, or anywhere in between, because much of its style portrays a wrong image?" Some of these questions I can not answer adequately. I myself do not listen to the ‘hard, heavy, punk rock’ partly because of its image, but also because of the fact I don’t like that style of music in general. In country music, there are probably plenty of songs that seem to be against Christianity by its references to drinking or cheating. Could we label country music in the same category as punk or rap in these regards? Even Carrie Underwood’s song, "Before He Cheats" portrays the image of a cheating man, and a woman’s revenge. Both cheating and revenge seem to be "against the Bible." Should Christians reject this song, Carrie Underwood altogether, Country music all together, or even music altogether? Certainly there is a line somewhere in this, whether before the song itself or anywhere in between, because God tells us through His word to worship Him in song. Some genres of music and some songs may have an overlap (such as this song) in the culture it presents. You may could take one song, and use it to destroy the faith, while taking the same song, and use to it defend the faith, all depending on the mental and emotional aspect you put into the song and its meaning. (This may sound a little stretched, but the general point is made). The difference with country music, compared to rap music and punk music (if they even qualify as music), is that the overlap of good meanings and bad meanings found in country music is more apparent, and there are plenty of country songs with good meanings. Rap and punk, rightly or wrongly, seem to portray more of a bad image altogether, with little overlap in what the meaning of the songs could be about.
Regardless of all of these questions, I believe that both the church and the world have essentially lost its music because the of the culture (or the culture has lost what is should be because of the music). There is a relation. Rich Lusk made this point so clear in his sermons, "Through the church the song goes on (parts I & II)" ( trinity-pres.net/audio/sermonindex.php 2/11/07,2/18/07 ). If our song is wrong, then our culture is liable to be wrong. Secular music is not bad in and of itself, and even its music can reform or tear down a society. In today’s music, we see a watered down approach to music. When music was once supposed to be about life, and the emotions that flow out of it, it has now seemed to turn into being about money and fame (not to mention the drugs, sex, moral relativism, and violence shown in some songs and styles). Even country music, which traditionally is supposed to "tell a story about life," has been watered down.
In the same way, Christian music has been watered down. I wish that we as a church could return to singing "We are God’s People," instead of what Christian music so often offers today. Maybe its time as a Christian community we sing "We are God’s People, the chosen of the Lord; Born of His Spirit, established by His Word" or "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, it saved a wretch like me" or "The King of Glory comes the nation rejoices; Open the gates before Him, lift up your voices." If we want to revolutionize the world, one place it must start is in the song we sing.
"Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary: praise Him in the firmament of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts: praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with the timbreal and dance: praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord" Psalm 150.
Through the song and the church, both continue on.
What do you think?
Ryan
It is obvious that there is a relation between different styles of music and cultures. Each style of music portrays its very own culture through the music, and sometimes through lyrics presented. Although the music and culture relation can change over time, and is often relative to a particular point in time, it is wrong to assume that one’s music does not have influence on one’s lifestyle, or that one’s lifestyle does not have influence on one’s music. The two are at some very real length related.
For example, country music traditionally portrays the folk lifestyle of rural Southern and Western United States. Rap music generally portrays the lifestyle of the inner cities and streets. There is not necessarily anything wrong with either lifestyle, whether it be rural or inner city. But in today’s world, rightly or wrongly, we see more of a negative image portrayed to the inner city lifestyle. Thus, rap music has generally been held in low regards by fundamentals, whereas country music (to some exceptions) has not been held as "wrong" or "immoral." We even see related styles of country music, such as Southern Gospel or bluegrass in Christian contexts.
These are just mere examples. We could compare soft rock to heavy metal; classical music to jazz music, and so on. Each general style of music portrays a different setting, both in the sounds, and often even reaching to the lyrics. As a songwriter myself, while studying music and writing music, I notice changes in the style, as I portray different settings in the music I write.
In my blog, "The Basement" in which I posted just a few weeks ago, I pointed out the different styles of music, and which I felt are better suited for Christianity, whether for private listening or for corporate worship. I in no way wanted to judge the heart of people whose music tastes are different than mind. I’m sure my tastes in music are very different from a lot of people, and I am fine with that. To reiterate what I wanted to say, I will briefly define my views as this: music can be played for the glory of God, even if it is not "Christian" music; music that is in the name of God and intended to be Christian, should be done in a manner that shows an appropriate context, and does not portray an image that is not suitable to Christianity; corporate worship, for the body of believers, should generally be a style that is distinct from what the world offers. I did also make the point that one should not be judged personally by not following this basic pattern. One may desire to give glory to God in a way that does not follow this pattern, or rule, and God may hear their worship. I simply believe that this is the best manner to give that glory to God. No one should be judge because they are not perfect, because no one is perfect. However, we should all strive to perfection, and as growing Christians, should come closer to that standard.
In this blog, I will seek to defend those basic points in further detail. In doing this, I will even point out certain bands and musicians popular today, from all different genres of music, both Christian and secular. I will give a review of these bands and artists in the context of my points in this blog.
Panic! At the Disco. After hearing a fair amount about them, and knowing none of their music, I decided I would see what they were about. I had already read that their lyrics were somewhat non-Christian, but I wanted to see for myself. I went to lyrics.com, and searched them. I was disgusted after reading some of the lyrics and listening to the music. I thought to myself, "If our culture appreciates this kind of music, then our culture is not where it should be." The music was essentially sac religious. It also got annoying hearing frequent uses of the "F word" and of "G-D." Some of what was said seemed to essentially deny God. One of their song titles is "Build God, Then We’ll Talk." You can search them to learn more about them for yourself. The style of music seemed to nearly reject musical theory. What happened to the definition of music being "a group of notes arranged to make a melody" or something along those lines. Listening to the one or two of their songs, the definition seemed to be "wild noise with a satanic voice in the background." This style of music (not only seen through this band, but others), has earned its recognition of claiming a culture of a sinful lifestyle, centered in drugs, sex, moral relativism, and violence.
The Fray. I still don’t know much about The Fray, but I do know at least two of their songs pretty well, and another song is at least recognizable to my ears. Unlike Panic! At the Disco, The Fray at least offered a more mellow sound, with better lyrics. The Fray has not come out as a Christian band, but the lyrics produced are consistent within a Christian worldview. The song, "How To Save a Life" even seems to have somewhat of a decent theme. The lyrics are not watered-down either. They are deep, and both intellectual and heart-originated. I think that the band may be a fad, but at least they are a fad worth listening to for a short period of time. I’m not so sure why they were as popular as they were, or why they are as popular as they are, but their music, from what I have heard, does not promote a sinful lifestyle. Their style of music in general, is also not one that seems to promote a sinful lifestyle. The style of music would probably not be best suited as "Christian," especially not "corporate Christian" but the music does not relate to a lifestyle of drugs, sex, moral relativism, and violence as was noted of Panic! At the Disco. Other bands and artists, such as Plus One, Death Cab for Cutie, Ben Smolin, Switchfoot, etc., whether Christian or secular, have produced similar sounding music whose lyrics are also consistent within a Christian worldview. (The music may not be mere identical to The Fray, but close enough to compare). The Fray may not be the best band ever, and it may be nothing more than a fad. But at least the music and lyrics are acceptable to a Christian worldview, and fine for Christians to listen to.
Hawk Nelson. Forgive me for not being up into all the modern Christian music, but I had not heard of Hawk Nelson until this past Winter Jam. I do not know too much about this band to judge in great detail, but from the little I have seen and heard of it, it seems to be a watered-down replica of its watered-down secular culture musical counterpart. The church is distinct from the world. As this music even in secular uses seems watered-down for its own use, I think that this music as proclaimed Christian waters down the Gospel. Forgive me for what seems to be such harsh comments to a group who is probably trying to give praise to God. Once again, if that is indeed their intentions, then I believe that God hears their worship. I know that the music of Hawk Nelson is labeled as Christian and the music of The Fray is not labeled as Christian. But that is essentially my point. The Fray avoids watering down the Gospel by simply portraying what is consistent within the Gospel through means not identifying themselves as Christian. A non-Christian listening to Hawk Nelson may tell himself "If this is what Christianity is, then it seems no different than the world." This goes for both the music and the lyrics. The lyrics of one song seemed to be about how we should help a poor fatherless boy. That’s a good thought, and the church should help those who need help, whether it be physical help, spiritual help, emotional help, etc. However The Fray presents as good of a theme in their music, without claiming "This is what Christianity is." Neither does it say, "This is what Christianity is not." It serves to help both the Christian and the non-Christian by promoting a Christian-consistent theme. Hawk Nelson does the same, except they claim it as Christianity itself.
Steven Curtis Chapman. Another artist I heard at Winter Jam was an older artist, Steven Curtis Chapman. Many would assume that because I considered the music of Hawk Nelson to water-down the Gospel, then I would assume the same of Steven Curtis Chapman. However I do not. It is true that his music was soft rock and the lyrics were not deep, theological, or the kind to make you cry. But they don’t have to be. Steven Curtis Chapman came across as presenting a theme that is Christian, and proclaiming Christianity through himself and his music. But he does not come across as watering down the Gospel. He does not wear rocker T-shirts, have goofy spiked rocker hair, and tattoos. He simply sings music, giving glory to God, and does not seem to search for a big name in himself. I do not think that his music is best suitable for corporate Christian worship, but I do think it is good to listen to. After hearing his performance, I wanted to "dive in" and I wanted to go "wake the neighbors, and get the word out" and to "live out loud." After hearing Hawk Nelson, I was not sure if I wanted to help the poor kid or not. Maybe that is just me, but then again, maybe not. There are plenty of similar bands and artists as Steven Curtis Chapman, who praise Jesus, without watering down Jesus’ message. Such bands/artists include Third Day, Michael W. Smith, Mercy Me, etc. These bands and artists seem to put more emphasis on the personal relations they have with Jesus. I personally feel that in our culture today, we see the corporate relationship to Jesus sadly taken away. However there is a place for the personal emotions, and I am glad to see these bands and artist portray this message without watering down the Gospel to merely nothing.
There are all other sorts of bands and artists similar to these, and all of those in between. There are so many that seem too "edgy" for Christianity, but does not seem to directly attack Christianity. We could ask so many questions of or similar to "Should I not listen to this song, because of its one curse word?" You could ask, "Should I reject any form of hard, heavy, punk rock, whether or not it is Christian, sac religious, or anywhere in between, because much of its style portrays a wrong image?" Some of these questions I can not answer adequately. I myself do not listen to the ‘hard, heavy, punk rock’ partly because of its image, but also because of the fact I don’t like that style of music in general. In country music, there are probably plenty of songs that seem to be against Christianity by its references to drinking or cheating. Could we label country music in the same category as punk or rap in these regards? Even Carrie Underwood’s song, "Before He Cheats" portrays the image of a cheating man, and a woman’s revenge. Both cheating and revenge seem to be "against the Bible." Should Christians reject this song, Carrie Underwood altogether, Country music all together, or even music altogether? Certainly there is a line somewhere in this, whether before the song itself or anywhere in between, because God tells us through His word to worship Him in song. Some genres of music and some songs may have an overlap (such as this song) in the culture it presents. You may could take one song, and use it to destroy the faith, while taking the same song, and use to it defend the faith, all depending on the mental and emotional aspect you put into the song and its meaning. (This may sound a little stretched, but the general point is made). The difference with country music, compared to rap music and punk music (if they even qualify as music), is that the overlap of good meanings and bad meanings found in country music is more apparent, and there are plenty of country songs with good meanings. Rap and punk, rightly or wrongly, seem to portray more of a bad image altogether, with little overlap in what the meaning of the songs could be about.
Regardless of all of these questions, I believe that both the church and the world have essentially lost its music because the of the culture (or the culture has lost what is should be because of the music). There is a relation. Rich Lusk made this point so clear in his sermons, "Through the church the song goes on (parts I & II)" ( trinity-pres.net/audio/sermonindex.php 2/11/07,2/18/07 ). If our song is wrong, then our culture is liable to be wrong. Secular music is not bad in and of itself, and even its music can reform or tear down a society. In today’s music, we see a watered down approach to music. When music was once supposed to be about life, and the emotions that flow out of it, it has now seemed to turn into being about money and fame (not to mention the drugs, sex, moral relativism, and violence shown in some songs and styles). Even country music, which traditionally is supposed to "tell a story about life," has been watered down.
In the same way, Christian music has been watered down. I wish that we as a church could return to singing "We are God’s People," instead of what Christian music so often offers today. Maybe its time as a Christian community we sing "We are God’s People, the chosen of the Lord; Born of His Spirit, established by His Word" or "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, it saved a wretch like me" or "The King of Glory comes the nation rejoices; Open the gates before Him, lift up your voices." If we want to revolutionize the world, one place it must start is in the song we sing.
"Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary: praise Him in the firmament of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts: praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with the timbreal and dance: praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord" Psalm 150.
Through the song and the church, both continue on.
What do you think?
Ryan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
