Whos ready for more long winded Phil thoughts?!?! Please take the time to read these lyrical excerpts from two different song by Christian artist. I will cite them later on in my writing, as to not allow too much prejudice enter the subject stream too quickly. // Why do we only call Your name when there’s no one else to call? And we only really seek You when our mighty towers fall Why do we say You’ve failed us and You’ve turned Your eyes away When we’re only sleeping in the bed we made? Why do we call for free will, but reject all consequence? Why’s the path we’ve made to Heaven stained with the blood of innocence? Why’d we ignore the warnings that we’ve read and always known And get angry when we reap the things we’ve sown? So we blame You ‘Cause our world’s not come out right While the devil’s masquerading As an angel of the light Just imagine All the pride and all the nerve To ask where You’ve been, when we’re the ones we serve // Now this: // Im coming back to the start/ where You found me Im coming back to Your heart/ now I surrender take me/ this is all I can bring Youll never stop loving us/no matter how far we runYoull never give up on us/all of heaven is shoutinglet the future begin/let the future begin take me/ this is all I can bring/ Youll never stop loving usno matter how far we run/Youll never give up on usall of heaven is shouting/ let the future begin I feel alive/ I come alive/ I am alive on Gods great dance floor // In this landscape of fluffy Christianity that is permeating the American culture, one of these songs is heard repeatedly on every “mainstream” Christian music station in the nation (of which there are many, especially nationwide varieties.) One of these songs is never heard, nor is the musical group never even offered the chance to be heard on a “mainstream” Christian station. Ask yourself: Which song has more substantial lyrics? Which song conveys more truth to the listener of the state of the world we live in, and our relationship with the Almighty? Which song harkens back to the “doctrinal depth of message” that fills the old dusty hymnals on the back of the pew (which coincidentally, the lack thereof, is the main reason for many a seasoned preachers’ misgiving about most new “worship” songs of the current day)? Want to know why the former song is never heard by the masses that so dearly need to hear this group’s message? Instrumentation and money. Firstly: Instrumentation. The first set of lyrics is pulled from the song “As the World Bleeds” by the group Theocracy. Theocracy is a progressive metal rock band, replete with face melting guitar solos, amazing drum licks, and vocal harmonies that beckon to the hair daze of the 80’s metal culture. This is the perfect place to segue into the second reason one will never hear them on “mainstream” Christian radio... Secondly: Money. I believe there has been a sell-out amongst “mainstream” stations for many years now to the “middle of the road,” “comfortable Christian” music listener who happens to have the money. There is this irrational fear that if something has a little bit too much “rock” in it, supporters are going to withdraw their support and take their money to the next station that will play “what I want.” Now could this problem be indicative of the “serve me first” culture seen in many churches? Could this be because we have a glut of “mainstream” stations all vying for the few dollars that are out there to play the same song (the latter song above is Chris Tomlin’s “God’s Great Dance Floor”) as the next station? Now let me address the accusations I just suggested. How many times do we hear our friendly Christian station say that they are “reaching our world”, “bringing the message”, “spreading the good news”? If the primary stated goal of a radio station is to reach others through the medium of radio, why are they isolating entire sub-sections of listeners due to the prejudices of the willing (or maybe not so willing) financial supporters? If one truly gives their money in support of “reaching out”, they should theoretically be giving to God to reach all of His lost children. And it shouldn’t matter if they are metal heads, emo/goths, punk rockers, etc. Is it “more Christian” to only reach out to “mainstream listeners”? What the hell is a “mainstream listener” anyway?! Is the money “better spent” on “mainstream seekers”? I know I don’t have the moxie to stand in front of the Almighty and say, “I didn’t want my money going to something that made me a little uncomfortable, but might have reached out to people that I normally wouldn’t associate with, because it was all about me in the end. So I started giving to another station.” I personally love this argument; “we want to keep the music at a level that would be more listener and office friendly.” Have they ever, EVER, gotten out of their own sound booths and listened to the secular stations that play in most offices across the US of A? There is considerably more rock and roll on those stations? Shockingly there seems to be no rebuttal from office managers. The rebuttal of a Christian station in the office will always be because of the message content. That’s just the way it is going to be. So don’t fabricate excuses. But if the content is also musically lacking because of removed lead guitar lines, etc, and thusly dumbed down radio versions, that only adds reasons to not be played in the office. Now lets quickly address the disparity between different musical groups. I have heard stations say that they will not play a certain song by such and such a group, because that is only for their “late night program, on the weekends.” And then they’ll turn around and play a song by an “accepted, mainstream” artist, which sometimes has just as much “rock” as the previously requested song! Pure hypocrisy! And oftentimes, the latter song is of inferior quality to the legit rock song requested. Between the two songs from above, lyrical content aside, the first song is far superior in musical quality and musicianship than the second. The second, in my opinion, was purely a studio recording attempting to sound like something that it’s not, and never going to be (and don’t get me started about that weak-ass trumpet “solo thing” during the break-out). We need to up our standards about what is good music, what is current and acceptable, and what will actually reach out to peoples’ ears and maybe drawn their brain in to what the song is saying! Then, maybe then, the stations can fulfill their “stated calling” of reaching out, this time to everyone. P.S. Check out Effect Radio!! They have an app=) P.S. I do like Chris Tomlin and others, this is just a comparison of two dichotomous songs.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 05:02:58 +0000
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