Do you Realize?

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we're floating in space -
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun don'-go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know
Someday will die -

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun don'-go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize




I really like this song because it talks about realizing that life is fleeting instead of being overwhelmed with the sadness of life when things change. I think this upbeat song offers a pretty healthy perspective. Personally I am facing a lot of change right now (graduating and getting married within the next 60 days! eek!). And even though most of it is good it has been a little hard for me to process that I'm not going home to be a daughter and a sister this summer, instead i'm going to be a wife and 600 miles away from my immediately family. Its strange to think this thing called college is coming to a quick close and in about 30 days I am no longer going to be a student. Even harder than that, alot of my friends are moving far away after graduation and its hard to say when I'll see them again, if ever. All this can be a lot to process, but I think this song addresses some of that in an upbeat manner. My favorite part is when the song talks about life going fast, but instead of being  upset about it, enjoying what you have when you have it. In Ecclesiastes the Bible talks about seasons and there being a time for many different seasons. I think this song kind of echoes that idea.

Brooke Fraser

The assignment that we did on Bono before spring break reminded me off one of my favorite artists who I think approaches culture very similarly to Bono - Brooke Fraser. She is very popular in New Zealand (her home country) and becoming more popular in the U.S. Many of you who don't recognize her name may recognize her voice because she helps lead worship at Hillsong Church in Australia and has written some of the songs that have ended up on their worship albums (None but Jesus, Lead me to the Cross, Hosanna, Desert Song, etc.). However, she is an artist in her own right apart from Hillsong. Her non-worship music albums are not blatantly religious and she does not like to be called a  "Christian artist." But she strives to make music that contains truth and points people to the source of truth. I had the privilege of hearing her speak in person once when I went to a Hillsong conference in Florida. She talked alot about her ideas about Christianity and culture and the relationship between them. She mentioned she gets a lot of flack from the Christian community for not wanting to be called a "Christian artist" or not wanting to sign with a "Christian" label. Yet, the reason she feels this way is not because she wants to be a closet Christian, rather its because she thinks the labels of "Christian" and "secular" artist are both unhelpful and meaningless. She wants to be an artist who makes good art and is simultaneously a Christian, but not a Christian artist in the sense of being something antithetical to a secular artist. I really appreciate this idea and I really like Brooke Fraser's music. She is also really being on humanitarian efforts, which is cool.

Below I posted one of Fraser's newer singles "Something in the Water" and an older song called "Hosea's Wife." (Sorry the video is really dark on the second one) "Something in the Water" doesn't really have a whole lot of theological depth to it, but I think it showcases that Fraser is comfortable with doing music that isn't blatantly Christian. "Hosea's Wife" is a cool song because it alludes to biblical ideas and talks about a deep biblical truth without being overly religious. The basic idea is that we are all like Hosea's wife (unfaithful), but God still wants us back. At the workshop I went to Fraser mentioned a lot of non-Christian's have asked her what "Hosea's Wife" is about and she has been able to witness to them.

Handel's "Messiah"

Last Sunday I went to see a performance of Handel's Messiah at Willammette. The performance was really incredible and it made me think about some of the things we have been learning about in the Romanowski book about high and popular art.

In one of the last chapters Romanowski said that all high art was once popular art. I didn't realize the "Messiah" fit this description perfectly until I learned a little more about it. The program posed the question of why Handel's Messiah had become so popular when other composer's religious pieces had sunk into obscurity (...like have any of you even heard of "St. Matthew's Passion" by Bach??...didn't think so). The answer it gave was that Handel wrote "Messiah" in the style of the popular theater of the day rather than the sacred style. The program said., "it was created to provide pleasure and entertainment, and if it managed to tuck a bit of spiritual renewal into the mix, so much the better. The theatricality that caused much clerical consternation in the early 1700's has proven to be Messiah's greatest strength in the long run." I thought this was a really amazing insight. When we hear the Hallelujah chorus now days it sounds about as holy as music can get, but in Handel's day what he was doing was actually quite scandalous. His use of percussion and dramatic vocalization was much more akin to opera (which was as scandalous to some Christians then as movie theaters were to many Christians 70 years ago) than Church music.

Just some food for thought.....

Naked As We Came

I have had the song "Naked as we came" rolling around in my head a lot the past few days. It by a band called Iron and Wine and I really like their sound.

Here are the lyrics:
She says "wake up, it's no use pretending"
I'll keep stealing, breathing her.
Birds are leaving over autumn's ending
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open, naked as we came
One will spread our ashes 'round the yard

She says "If I leave before you, darling
Don't you waste me in the ground"
I lay smiling like our sleeping children
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open, naked as we came
One will spread our ashes round the yard

I don't know if there is a really strong orthodox statement in this song, but I do think there are some elements of truth in it. Job once said  "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." I like how this song presents death not as something to be feared, but as a natural part of the human experience. I also like that they play on the idea that we won't take anything with us when we die. Basically, enjoy what you have when you have it and don't fear what the future brings. I hope you enjoy.

Lars and the Real Girl

I recently watched the film "Lars and the Real Girl." I first saw clips of it in one of the first chapels of this school year. The clips piqued my interest and I finally just watched it all the way through. When it was presented in chapel it was used to show community. I think community is definately one of the more powerful themes in the film. Another aspect of the film that I really like was the underlying theme that people "grow up" when they learn to put others before themselves. Many of Lars' friends and family are struggle with putting Lars' needs before their own, but eventually all the good characters learn how to do this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHGHvmpp-7I&feature=related

I couldn't load this clip right so here is the link.

I really like this part because Gus, Lars' brother, associates growing up with making hard choices based on someone else's needs. I think it speaks to a biblical view of love and community.

Enjoy!

So your favorite love song is called "dogs" ?.....

That was my reaction when Spencer and I first started becoming good friends and he was telling me about some of his favorite bands/songs. My skepticism soon evaporated when I started listening to the band who wrote and recorded "dogs" - Page France.

Page France has become one of my very favorite bands of all times. And I know what you're all thinking...but NO i do not love Page France just because Spencer loves them. I reserve the right to strongly dislike even some of his favorite bands if they don't appeal to me (Exhibit A - Coheed and Cambria). However, Spencer does have pretty amazing taste and I have come to love a lot of the bands he has introduced me to... and Page France is probably at the very top of that list.

They are a expressedly non-Christian band with no religious affiliations. I have always found this curious because their lyrics have a lot of Christian imagery in them (with titles like "Jesus," "Chariot," "Bush" - yes the burning one). However, the band claims that they don't write this imagery in for any purpose it just seems to "roll out that way". I'm not sure what that means, but I am sure I love them for one of the very same reasons many of us came to love Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys this past week. Their message about God and the meaning of life isn't always the most orthodox or positive, but they do give an honest account of the longing they feel for something deeper than what they have. I appreciate the honesty and imagery in their lyrics and I really like their raw sound. They have definately reached my most played category on itunes.

Anyways, I love a lot of their songs and I may even blog about another Page France song some other time because there are a lot of good ones. But for this blog, after much internal debate, I choose to blog about "Dogs" in the spirit of love songs with Valentines coming up. Here are the lyrics:

"Dogs"

I heard it's getting windy so I'll set and watch you blow
I will chain you to my boat
I will carry you back home
And I won't say I love you cause it's all been said before
Let's not say it anymore
'cause love nothing here's for sure

They treat us like dogs
So we play along
We bark and we moan
And play them more songs
But when we blow away
And get out of this place
We go down like a shower
And up like a prince

I heard it's getting windy and we'll all be blown away
Did you tell me you're afraid?
Darling, you look so afraid
And I'm not sure what happens when everything here ends
But I hope it's like they said
And I hope it never ends

They treat us like gold
Dug up to be sold
We shine and we shake
Assuming our roles
But when we blow away
Up over this place
We go down like a shout
And up like a praise

I know it's hard to see me darling
Let your eyes adjust
If you go blind just trust
You are made out of my dust
I was made out of your dust
And the wind will carry us
In the ocean's evening dust
Up above the mountaintops
He/You will have the both of us
He Will have the both of us
He/You will have the both of us

There is so much I could say about a lot of different parts of this song, but I don't want this to be too long so I think I'll just make a few comments and hopefully you guys will comment on parts you like/dislike and what you think about them. In general, I really like the overall theme that the two lovers assume the roles they are expected to  for a temporary period, but only in the expectation that there is something much greater that they will be "carried to" afterwards. They know there is something better than the way things are, even though the what is ambigous, and their love/connection is born out of the fact that they are both looking forward to this greater thing while the rest of society can only see the temporary.

I also like the line "We go down like a shout/ And up like a praise." I'm not sure exactly what Page France meant by it, but I think it is pretty obviously talking about death. I like the imagery that although death is often feared and usually unpleasant, the "shout" part, the life "goes up like a praise" after death.

My favorite part is at the very end where the lead singer changes the lyrics ever so slightly. Instead of saying "you will have the both of us" he says "He will have the both of us." I feel that this whole song is a journey of "hoping" something greater is out there with no confidence that it really is ("Love, nothing here's for sure," "I'm not sure what happens when everything here ends"). Yet, at the very end of the song, once the two main characters have escaped this world and are carried away "with the ocean's evening dust" it becomes suddenly clear that "He" is real and He will then finally have both lovers - just the thing they have been hoping for.

Thoughts??.....

Chuck

One of my very favorite prime time shows is Chuck. I don't watch much TV here at school, but whenever I get in the mood to watch TV Chuck is usually the first thing I hit up on Hulu. The show isn't particularly deep, but the dialogue is usually pretty entertaining and funny and the plot is fast paced.

Besides being one of the shrinking number of prime time comedies that isn't overly filled with offensive material, I've always really liked "Chuck" because the main character, Chuck Bartowski, is portrayed as a really average guy thrust into a spy lifestyle. However, instead of quickly becoming calloused to the moral complexities of his job, the character somehow maintains a strong sense of morality and "normalness" in regards to the sticky situations he is put in. The whole appeal of Chuck's character is that he serves as a foil for the other spys, government workers, and bad guys who no longer have an accurate gauge for right and wrong. Chuck consistently wrestles with how to "do the right thing" in complex situations where the right thing isn't obvious. Chuck's morality often seems to get him into more trouble than its worth, but by the end of the 42 minute episode somehow Chuck's moral compass has won another victory for the good guys. It would be easy for the writers to write in a "do-good" character like Chuck as a fool or a failure, but I enjoy how they give some credence to his moral sensibilities. I'm not sure if the writers have some bigger agenda in writing like this, but I have been pleasantly surprised that its seemed to appeal to a large majority of Americans.

I liked Chuck's character for a long time before I knew anything about the views of the actor that plays him, ZacharyLevi. When I was reading more up about him tonight though I stumbled on this statement he had made, "My job on my set, I believe, is to first just love people and gain that trust with people where they know that I really do love them and care about their well-being, so that when they are running into problems, they will hopefully, at some point, come to me and ask me, 'What is your peace all about? What is your comfort all about? Where do you get your love? Where do you get your talents?' And I can turn to them and say without blinking, 'Jesus Christ.'" That was pretty exciting to hear - and somehow I really do think his faith shines through even in his TV personality.