Let the Caroling Commence

The time has come for the ring-ting-tingaling of sleigh bells and all the other crazy phrases we use only once a year. I love the fact that Christmas is a ridicule-free zone for the airwaves as we listen to songs about God, family, fun and all the sugary sweet sentiments that the holidays bring.


Some of the most hardened rock stars and macho country singers can be found singing of snow and mistletoe. Just consider some of the lyrics we hear without thinking twice:


Gone away is the blue bird
Here to stay is the new bird
He sings a love song, as we go along
Walking in a winter wonderland

Or the ever manly:


Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa-la-la-la-la, La-la-la-la

Who decided we were allowed to indulge our softer side from Thanksgiving until the 25th of December? Whoever it was, God bless them. What a relief to turn on the radio, hear a silly song about an olfactory-challenged reindeer, and join in without a second thought.


Of course there are songs with much deeper meaning, too. Let’s never forget whose birthday we are celebrating. As we practiced Handel’s Messiah this week, my chorus director pointed out that the Messiah the Jews expected was a mighty warrior to lead them into battle. Instead they got a gentle babe in an animal’s feeding trough.


The greatest Christmas gift ever came in the most unassuming wrapping ever. It thrills me to think that God loves to gives us gifts, and He is all about the surprise. I need to remember this during the rest of the year, as well. Whenever a situation arrives wrapped in a pretty undesirable package, it might possibly be the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I just need a little leftover Christmas spirit to last from January to November.


But for this month, I have a radio full of musical reminders. It horrifies me that my Sunday school class knows so few of these amazing carols. Perhaps my favorite is Joy to the World. The words and the music meld together to create a mood that could never be mistaken for a dirge.

Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven-

And Heaven, and nature sing

I’d like to put those lyrics on repeat in my soul and play them all year round, so the world can hear and sing along.

You Too, Can Be A Carboard, Karaoke Guitar-God Cutout

While my days of guitar-oriented glory-seeking are far removed, I am nonetheless proud of the roads I’ve traveled musically to arrive at the abilities I now have. I remember copying Golden Earring’s “Twilight Zone” guitar solo as my first success at mimicry. I remember being able to hear blues-based playing in the fingers of Eddie Van Halen, yet thinking no mere mortal could ever really do that—at that rate of speed. Then I remember actually doing it, and realizing it could.

Then, a pompous young Swede named Yngwie J. Malmsteen changed my life again when I heard him scorching up and down the neck in what I would later learn were diminished runs and harmonic minor scales. I again, remember working backwards through time musically, as this tousled lunatic cited unexpected influences—like Nicolo Paganini and Johann Sebastian Bach. I then remember learning to play parts of the 24 Caprices note for note, and seeing the relationship between arpeggios and scales. It was at these crossroads that I purchased my first metronome.

I managed to undergo the usual, guitar-based baptisms by fire; Hendrix, Clapton, Angus Young, George Lynch, Stevie Ray Vaughan, along with a host of others whose playing has colored the way I approach the instrument. Nearly thirty years after I started playing as a kid, I’ve learned how to play, and have no apologies when noting that I happen to think I’m pretty good when I do play.

So what appalling specter am I confronted with at the guitar shops? The American infatuation with a high-profile video game that not only lauds one’s inability to play the guitar, but facilitates magazine covers, talk-show interviews, and thousand-dollar awards for the one who can effortlessly wield their non-ability to the consternation everyone else in the competition. I submit as evidence, the following abomination to all I hold on guitar strap:

Let me explain in oversimplified terms. That pile of plastic in the above picture is a toy—a toy that connects to a videogame interface. As the background music to a song plays, the implied guitar parts scroll down the screen in one of the five colors seen on the neck. One must coincide their “picking” to a perfectly timed push of the appropriate colored button—at the correct time. If one is successful, the song plays without incident, and you “appear” to be carrying the guitar in the song—in the same, delusional fog that has many controller-hoarding couch-potatoes convinced that their otherworldly ability to vanquish their enemies in World of WarCraft translates into verifiable tactical, battlefield skill.

It’s not that I want to rain on anybody’s fantasy parade. I, quite frankly, could care less if you sit around postulating protracted attacks on your co-worker’s existential guild of mutated manatees, or if you like playing air guitar with your own soundtrack. But when my little guitar world legitimizes such feckless pantomime as something legitimately artistic—and thus worthy of a championship cardboard cutout in my guitar shop—I just get a tad bit irritated. Next thing you know, they’ll be trying to convince me Paula Abdul can sing.

I’ve never been able to stomach mediocrity dressed up as excellence, and I can barely maintain my composure when it’s applauded. Whenever I’m standing outside with friends, and some automotive troglodyte decides to spin out his tires, I always say “wow, that guy can step on a gas pedal like nobody’s business.”

Guitar Hero, taken as a game, is a fun premise. But when I see pub fliers around town, equating Guitar Hero as a legitimate answer to a battle of the bands, I get tempted. Tempted to actually slip into the back, and wait until the sweaty, contorted fretboard Goliath finishes his crescendoed rendition of Smoke on the Water. As soon as the maniacal applause died down, I’d pipe in with the all-too-smarmy “slow clap,” waiting for all heads to turn. Then I’d exult:

“Hey, does that man know his primary colors, or am I just dreaming here? Somebody pinch me!!”

I’m sure begging for a pick and asking him to show me how to play “Eruption” would be enough to have me thrown out.

And quite frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Relationship Between 90&9 and.......... Bob Dylan

Many posts the last few months have thrown around ideas as to what makes good music, how to musically get out of a stale box, how to play effectively, how to lyrically make something spiritually legitimate, etc. I would have never imagined finding a music project that, for me, congealed many of the above elements in the most unlikely of characters…Bob Dylan.

I really didn’t know much about Bob, except for hearing his rough, nasally voice braying somewhere where I was basically forced to hear him, as opposed to purposely listening to his music. There is a lot to be said about Bob…I didn’t know he was from Duluth, MN (went there for youth conferences back in the day), didn’t know he went to Greenwich Village in New York and joined up with the counterculture movement and became very popular with his folk singing…didn’t know he came to detest the title of “a voice of a generation” so much that he purposely started producing junk and exhibiting eccentric behavior just to create some space between him and his fan base. Then, in 1979 he had a born again experience and produced three gospel albums, the first of which was entitled “Slow Train Coming.” It is considered one of the greatest gospel albums ever made. It went to number 2 on the charts in the UK and number 3 in the US (as well as platinum). It also won Bob a Grammy Award for best rock vocal performance on “Gotta Serve Somebody.” AND people thought he dove off a diving board into the deep end of a pool with no water.

I downloaded it and have been soaking it in for the following reasons:

1. Sonically, it sounds phenom. You can hear every instrument “breathe.” There is a very solid foundation underneath some amazing guitar, B3, keyboard, and horn splat riffs.

2. The lyrics are obviously Biblically based; however, they are not just gratuitious. I agree that the name of Jesus, and other Christian themes should never be lost, but on the flip side, marketing music to a certain demographic and throwing the name Jesus around (at best), or watering down the approach to appeal to a wider audience (at worst), seems to be CCM’s modus operandi. It seems to me that every genre, be it AP music, secular, CCM, all of them – can get stuck in a rut until someone restless comes along and moves the trail. Then it happens all over again. I’ve probably digressed, but what Dylan puts together in “Slow Train” is a set of lyrics that leave you thinking, and even though you might not agree with his worldview, he still manages to plant a seed by the colorful and at times driving word arrangements.

3. Take the music, add the lyrics, and then put Bob’s wheezing, gasping, cracking, nasally, “fading in and out” voice, and all of the other things you’re not supposed to do vocally, and suddenly you have lyrics sung in raw emotion buttressed by outstanding musicianship. Who would have thunk it?

Some of my friends think I’m nuts and won’t listen at all because of Bob’s counterculture stigma, my kids want to listen to “Man gave names to all the animals” over and over, and my wife has been listening, …but only for the entertainment value. Me? I’ve got a greater appreciation for what makes music resonate long after it was first distributed.

Hommage to Laura, and a rabbit trail.....

Last week I received the email that I dread from the music director at my church, Laura Tracy: “I will be out of town this weekend, would you be willing to play keyboard for the AM service?” Oh no! I’d rather lie down and take a beating! Now, I admit that I wonder why I feel this way – what’s the big deal? I used to do this all the time, every service when I served as a full-time music minister! Guess I’m just out of practice or to tell the truth, a bit lazy. You see it’s pretty easy to set over there on the organ while the keyboardist does all the work leading. Cueing in the praise team, choosing the correct keys, watching the person at the pulpit as they give signals and then making sure everyone else follows. Have all the ushers made it to the back row yet? Or do we sing the chorus one more time until they finish? Following the mood of the service as we journey with God and follow his direction from start to finish. Would a slow song or fast song fit better here? Ask me for a specific kind of chorus for a specific part of the service and try as I might, I’m a blank page.

So the list just goes on and on and on. I admit I stand back with great respect and not a little humility when I observe people (like Laura) who seem to have this beautiful ability to flow, to make it seem as if none of my above list even crosses their mind. Is this a special gifting? Is it a special dimension of relationship with God that I haven’t reached? Or is it just a product of experience, preparedness and hard work? Or maybe all of the above.

And then there’s the part that unnerves me the most: the altar service. My greatest concern is singing the wrong song that would in any way interrupt the direction of the service. Several years ago, I learned a great lesson from Tom Trimble that I have used ever since. As soon as the sermon starts get a song/chorus list and start scanning it and listing any that would fit with any part of the sermon. Believe me, this has saved my skin more than once!

So here’s the scenario from last Sunday AM: Pastor Tracy preaches a great sermon titled “The Significance of the Name.” When I saw that title, I’ll admit I thought, “Thank you pastor – piece of cake! This one’s going to be easy to find a good list of songs for!” As I scanned the list I realized that if I were to find a chorus/song with the name of Jesus in it, I would have to hark back to some older songs/choruses as none of the new ones had any mention of the Name. Now, THAT was a wake up call. I prayed the praise team would know these songs, and thankfully they did. No, this isn’t a rant on the chorus/hymns issue. Frankly, I’m tired of fighting that battle and if you’ve read this blog you know how I feel about all that anyway. It’s just my statement of concern. I don’t ever want to grow casual and complacent in including the name of Jesus.

So I guess I’ve done what frustrates musicians when trying to pick altar music – at the last minute I’ve changed my topic from what you thought I was talking about! Those of you who have been blessed with the gift of songwriting, I encourage you to be conscious of including Jesus’ name in your songs. Don’t forget “The Signifcance of the Name” (thank you, Pastor).

Questions of Genre

I was on my way to church Sunday with the iPod on shuffle and came across a song I hadn’t really ever listened to before. The iPod wasn’t on a truly random shuffle, but more or less random within my predefined genre of “Gospel-Contemporary.” That genre consists of artists such as Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond as well as Darlene Zschech, Martha Munizzi, and Mary Mary, among others. The intention is, this genre represents primarily gospel music influenced by or inflected predominantly with R&B. Other principal Gospel genres on my iPod include Gospel-Classic (Shirley Caesar, Gaithers, Winans, Dorsey, Mahalia, Twinkie…), Gospel-UPC Choir, and Gospel-UPC Solo. I don’t often listen to items from my zGospel-Latin or zGospel-Popular (Phillips Craig & Dean; Michael W. Smith, MercyMe…) genres.

WHAT WAS THE SONG THAT YOU WERE LISTENING TO SUNDAY ALREADY???

I’m getting to that. Just another minute or two. I have been pondering the question of genre precisely because of that one song, and, perhaps more to the point, that artist. I think she defies categorization. I like it when things fit neatly into boxes. I must organize everything and put it where it belongs, so when it comes to the music of Kim Burrell, it causes problems in my ordered world. I guess I would call her a jazz gospel musician if I had to be pinned down, but the song that I heard on Sunday was firmly entrenched in contemporary R&B.

I generally don’t listen to a lot of R&B. Anything I hear where I can envision people sensually dancing to a VH-1 or an “old” MTV video, I tend to shrug my shoulders and say “I don’t care what the words say, that music speaks to my body more than it does my soul” and I typically don’t choose to listen very long. And yet I do believe it important to have music that speaks to every generation and every culture. I am thankful that we have such genres as heavy metal gospel and hip-hop gospel. I can’t listen to much of either, but I pray that God speaks to individuals who do like such music and encounter “Christianity” through these vehicles.

A friend of mine gave me this Kim Burrell CD "Everlasting Life" quite a few years ago. At that time I guess I listened to it once, or at least listened to the first minute or so of each track. But I never gave it a never thought. At least not until it came on my iPod on Sunday.

Her song, “It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way” speaks to a generation of people who don’t view “living together outside of marriage” or separation or divorce as harmful or deleterious. The song takes those individuals to task and promotes marriage, trust, and fidelity in a Christian context. That it does so in a strong R&B context makes it all the more poignant as a similar beat is all too often used to denigrate such things.

I was intrigued by Kim Burrell’s music and listened to portions of a couple other selections yesterday. Her song “Kim’s Request” particularly intrigued me. At One minute, nine seconds in length, it is a jazz instrumental of well-above average complexity. But I had some difficulty grasping it. It touched (even moved) me intellectually but left me void spiritually. I could sense it vaguely connected me to God (knowing its “Christian” composer/performer), but without accompanying words to ponder… I was more impressed with the artistic merit than with any spiritual sentiment. I guess I digress.

I have also been pondering the genre of blogging. Is it a journal? Diary? Journalism? Critical inquiry? I’m not sure what we are doing here. I’m not sure if anybody is reading this. I know, I know, I may get a couple replies here and there from some folks I know or folks on this list, but what kind of audience are we really reaching? What kind of audience do we want to reach?