June 16, 2021
Leadership Notes
Do you ever sing along to a song, and then stop, thinking, these are the stupidest lyrics! They're catchy…it's a good tune or beat or both…but once you give them more than a fleeting thought, you realize their dumbness.
I'm not talking about lyrics people misheard. There's the classic misheard line from the Jimi Hendrix song, Purple Haze, "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy." I love the song, "Africa," by Toto. That is "Yacht Rock" at its finest. I thought the line, "I bless the rains down in Africa," was "I felt the rains down in Africa." Minor mistake. Then there was the child who thought the church hymn sang about "Gladly, the cross-eyed bear." Most of these are hilarious.
Those are misheard by the listener. I think the most egregious offenses are those that are dumb, but they wrote them anyway.
There's "I Am…I Said" by Neil Diamond. It has this classic line:
"I am"... I said…To no one there… And no one heard at all…Not even the chair.
Now that is some deep existential stuff going on right there.
My intellectual exploration into the inanities of certain song lyrics all started when "Horse With No Name" by America came on during my drive into Adrian Sunday afternoon. Had to go to Lowe's, then stopped at Danley's to pick up dinner. I got to thinking about a guy who sings about riding on a horse through the desert, for nine days. Not only did he not take time to learn the horses' name before hopping on it, the least he could have done was give the horse a name. "I've been through the desert on a horse with a new name," sounds a little more caring and less detached. But that's not the worst of it. There's also this gem:
In the desert, you can remember your name, 'Cause there ain't no one for
to give you no pain.
{Take that, Neil Diamond!}
Not to be outdone by male songwriters, Carly Simon wrote, "You're So Vain." It's not the lyrics themselves that trigger my perturbance. Simon sings about this vain man, citing specifics about his life that he would be hard-pressed not to recognize. How he dresses. Where he travels. How he travels. And yet she sings, "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." C'mon, man. You're belting out so many clues, how could he not know the song was about him?
{And no, I have not now nor have I ever wanted to know who she was singing about.}
Finally, as we're only six months from Christmas, one secular and one sacred song have bugged me.
"The little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes." Any parent of any newborn knows how dim of a take that is. And what's the point? If you can convince me through a reasonable, rational, and Biblically sound argument that I am wrong, I will publicly admit it and give you the credit.
The other song is "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Let's think this one through. He was born different. Because of that, he was bullied by the other reindeer. He was socially isolated. Just because he was different! And apparently Santa, the one who should have stood up for Rudolph and protected him, silently stood by while it all happened. But wait, it gets worse. Santa finally warms to Rudolph when his shiny nose can bail Santa out of a tight spot on Christmas Eve. Being the bigger person, Rudolph rises to the occasion, leading the way across the fog-filled night.
{The lesson here is don't be a bully or a sheeple or an enabler, but be the person who helps in spite of the horribleness of others!}
What songs don't make sense to you? As far as Sunday morning worship goes, we have great confidence in our Director of Music and Worship, Ben Nichols, and the care he puts into choosing theologically and Biblically accurate songs.
And now for your Moment of Spurgeon:
Let the dogs bark, it is their nature to. Go on preaching CHRIST
CRUCIFIED.
With Much Love and Affection,
Richard
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