Blindside: self-titled
Sweden’s Blindside rock hard, and having regained the rights to their first album, they re-release it here in 2005. The self-titled album sounds a bit like P.O.D. with some edgier lyrics and sounds. The rock is worth listening to if that’s your thing, and the lyrics have a definitively religious flavor.
Starting with “Invert,� Christian Lindskog celebrates his existence in the Other who grows in him as he grows in the Other. A symbiotic relationship exists with this other—he names the Other ‘God’ and cries out for help, for water from the “everlasting spring.� After “Born� (watching someone pass on?), “Empty Box� becomes the third song that Blindside uses to discuss the “shell� that surrounds each soul, that protects but dampens the ability of others to see true self. Escaping the shell (almost Matrix-like) requires the help of someone else and Lindskog wants to provide that for the object of his song: “[You are] not the first/who lost track of the sun� but that person feels like they are the only one struggling.
In “Superman,� Blindside wants to be like a super hero but they recognize that they’re just playing at it. Compassion is the thing that Lindskog lacks, that he requires to be more like Superman—he wants to love others who offend him, who don’t understand him, but he can’t. He perceives himself as narrow-minded, and refuses to talk about his faith unless the other person asks. “Everybody believes in God but it seems like no one does in you,� Lindskog cries, “but I do/I’m not ashamed.� Blindside wants to live a life of purity and compassion but lacks the ability to express themselves in a manner that doesn’t turn others off.
“This shoulder� echoes the discussion of the charade mentioned in “Superman� and “Empty Box,� that gets threaded into the discussion of “One mind.� Still trying to fake it, Lindskog knows he needs the other and in “Liberty,� he tries to tell people he knows about his relationship with God. Here Blindside will turn some off—the judgment of actions that lead to heaven and hell seem laid out in Lindskog’s mind, and a ‘fire and brimstone’ warning is forthcoming. This judgment gets mellowed in “Daughter,� as the voice singing could pass for Jesus or just be the troubled dichotomy between two warring personalities of the same mind. The sinner and the saint can’t co-exist in Blindside’s song, but the truth is that most people are sinner-saints: at our worst, we’ll sink to the lowest lows but at our best, we’ll rise above it all.
Jesus definitively speaks in “Teddybear,� as the savior who came to heal. “You’ve called out my name/I heard you/You’re healed in crying,� Jesus sings, in sadness and laughter, but never as a stuffed animal designed to make the listener comfortable. “I ask you please don’t be fake/When you come before me/I know you don’t like when you don’t see me with your physical eyes/but I tell you what you think you see can be lies,� Blindside continues. Wow. That’s powerful stuff and worth unpacking. From Blindside’s vantage point, Jesus does walk with us, but He isn’t promising comfort (against the prosperity mold); He values sincerity and truth more than false piety; He understands our doubts; and He warns us against accepting false teachings.
Blindside’s rock and roll has lasted for ten years and counting, and their re-release has something to say about how their faith for the future. While their struggle with condemnation still exists, their depiction of Jesus, specifically in “Teddybear,� has some good critique for mainstream Protestant America.
Starting with “Invert,� Christian Lindskog celebrates his existence in the Other who grows in him as he grows in the Other. A symbiotic relationship exists with this other—he names the Other ‘God’ and cries out for help, for water from the “everlasting spring.� After “Born� (watching someone pass on?), “Empty Box� becomes the third song that Blindside uses to discuss the “shell� that surrounds each soul, that protects but dampens the ability of others to see true self. Escaping the shell (almost Matrix-like) requires the help of someone else and Lindskog wants to provide that for the object of his song: “[You are] not the first/who lost track of the sun� but that person feels like they are the only one struggling.
In “Superman,� Blindside wants to be like a super hero but they recognize that they’re just playing at it. Compassion is the thing that Lindskog lacks, that he requires to be more like Superman—he wants to love others who offend him, who don’t understand him, but he can’t. He perceives himself as narrow-minded, and refuses to talk about his faith unless the other person asks. “Everybody believes in God but it seems like no one does in you,� Lindskog cries, “but I do/I’m not ashamed.� Blindside wants to live a life of purity and compassion but lacks the ability to express themselves in a manner that doesn’t turn others off.
“This shoulder� echoes the discussion of the charade mentioned in “Superman� and “Empty Box,� that gets threaded into the discussion of “One mind.� Still trying to fake it, Lindskog knows he needs the other and in “Liberty,� he tries to tell people he knows about his relationship with God. Here Blindside will turn some off—the judgment of actions that lead to heaven and hell seem laid out in Lindskog’s mind, and a ‘fire and brimstone’ warning is forthcoming. This judgment gets mellowed in “Daughter,� as the voice singing could pass for Jesus or just be the troubled dichotomy between two warring personalities of the same mind. The sinner and the saint can’t co-exist in Blindside’s song, but the truth is that most people are sinner-saints: at our worst, we’ll sink to the lowest lows but at our best, we’ll rise above it all.
Jesus definitively speaks in “Teddybear,� as the savior who came to heal. “You’ve called out my name/I heard you/You’re healed in crying,� Jesus sings, in sadness and laughter, but never as a stuffed animal designed to make the listener comfortable. “I ask you please don’t be fake/When you come before me/I know you don’t like when you don’t see me with your physical eyes/but I tell you what you think you see can be lies,� Blindside continues. Wow. That’s powerful stuff and worth unpacking. From Blindside’s vantage point, Jesus does walk with us, but He isn’t promising comfort (against the prosperity mold); He values sincerity and truth more than false piety; He understands our doubts; and He warns us against accepting false teachings.
Blindside’s rock and roll has lasted for ten years and counting, and their re-release has something to say about how their faith for the future. While their struggle with condemnation still exists, their depiction of Jesus, specifically in “Teddybear,� has some good critique for mainstream Protestant America.
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