Relient K: Mmhmm

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Relient K latest, Mmhmm, has an adult sound that has been lacking in their previous outings. That is not to say that all of the fun-loving elements have been removed, but the overall themes are more involved than the past. Having been a non-fan of the band for so long, I was extremely surprised to find that Mmhmm is one of my favorite albums of the last year. There is an upbeat, piano-and-guitar driven power to this album that recognizes the fallen humanity in all of us, that can only be redeemed by God’s grace and sacrifice. Relient K finally seems prepared to share of their moody trials and tribulations—with the triumph of faith presented to all.

After the cautionary tale of “The One I’m Waiting For,� Mmhmm moves to “Be My Escape,� a prayer that God would rescue the singer from a self-constructed house of trouble to which only God holds the key. Doubt and insecurity have caused the singer to live his life selfishly, and although he’s deserving of death/separation, the “beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.� He recognizes that he has fought God’s help for so long, trying on his own, but only God can save him from his own humanity.

“High of 75� and “So Hate Consequences� both further document the need for God’s guidance, even when taking control of your own life seems ‘easier.’ “Consequences� draws in the themes of the Prodigal Son: self-serving choices, utter failure, remorse, and undemanding forgiveness. Having learned from all this, Relient K reaches out with this message to others, in “The Only Thing Worse Than Beating A Dead Horse Is Betting On One,� blending their theology with some politics and social issues along the way (and rocking a bit harder as well.)

Our apathy gets a shot in the gut from “More Than Useless� as the singer suffers from depression, needing the gentle reminder from an outside source (a friend, a loved one, God) that he does serve a purpose. He admits to having wasted opportunities to help others, thinking that they could make it on their own without him. He comes to the conclusion that if he will be like Jesus, he must take those opportunities on himself.

In “Which To Bury; Us Or The Hatchet?,� Relient K explores the aftershocks of an argument and explores the healing process in the follow up, “Let It All Out.� The joy of overcoming obstacles is the focus here, as “the end will justify the pain it took to get us there.� “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been� is pretty straightforward but dovetails into “Maintaining Consciousness,� providing insight into the depression that besets even those who have a positive outlook and faith in the providence of God. This depression and the apathy that follows are part of “This Week The Trend,� where the singer proposes that he just wants “to get mugged at knifepoint/to get cut enough to wake me up.� Why is it that we wait for the hard times or turning points to make those life-changing decisions, rather than recognizing the opportunities in front of us? Relient K wants to know, and they take us along as they explore this process.

Mmhmm fittingly closes with “When I Go Down,� a reminder that the problems don’t just go away; nor does the belief in God mean that life is without trouble. Peace of mind does come (temporarily) but we often cause ourselves more stress than might come anyway. Relient K lists things that have been thrown away (friendships, opportunities), but the fact that God’s love forgives even his selfishness. This love never drifts far from him, because Relient K sings “you touch my heavy heart, and when you do you make it light� (one of the most catchy phrases of the year).

Just like the Israelites in the Old Testament, Relient K chronicles a cyclic tale of complacency, failure, pain, remorse, forgiveness, and victory. For any of their listeners, Mmhmm raises some thought-provoking questions about how we deal with our problems and who we hold responsible. Beyond that, the album contains quite a few catchy tunes, hooking you with it’s cheerful rock. I know I’m eagerly awaiting the next album, because this one was Mmhmm, good.

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Tim McGraw: Live Like You Were Dying

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Having sold millions of CDs and having crossed over from country to contemporary pop, Tim McGraw transcends a genre but brings his own sound to each record. Somehow, even as he has moved out onto the ‘main stage,’ McGraw has remained grounded in his personal experiences. His grounded reality is what allows him to pull off Live Like You Were Dying for those attached to country and those who can’t stand it. McGraw is getting older and he knows it, but he’ll deal with the fear and the possibilities evenly as they are rolled up in one. That’s the beauty of Tim McGraw.

“How Bad Do You Want It� comes from the standpoint of one who has made it to the top of the game and speaks to those who wish to be just like him. The single-minded ambition that it takes to get to the top comes with a price though, and McGraw knows it. His allusion to Robert Johnson, who reportedly has ‘sold his soul’ to gain the ability to play the guitar, confirms his recognition of that cost. McGraw’s song implies that sometimes skills, fame and fortune are not worth what you give up to achieve them: is it worth it to gain musical skills in return for your soul?

Just because McGraw has learned the lesson that fame comes with a price, doesn’t mean he’s learned all of his lessons just yet, a theme picked up in “Can’t Tell Me Nothin.� He alludes to overindulging alcohol here and in “Old Town New�—admitting that it goes against what the ‘good book’ says and hoping that “somebody up there understands.� For now, the higher power in question is removed from the situation, seemingly waiting in the wings to pronounce judgment.

“Live Like You Were Dying,� is a tribute to Tug McGraw, Phillies’ pitcher and Tim’s father, who died of brain cancer in January 2004. The song depicts the older character giving advice from his own experience to the younger one on the eve of the father’s death. The most telling line to me is “I gave forgiveness I’d been denying,� surpassing the recounting of sky diving, mountain climbing, and bull riding, but joining the ideas of being a true friend and a good husband. McGraw’s character takes the father’s advice and does the same things after reading “the good book.�

“Drugs or Jesus� gets more theological then McGraw was previously, raising up two options: the bad drugs or the good Jesus, with no room for questionable middle. McGraw sings that he has spent his life trying to run and hide “from the stained glass windows in my mind/Refusing to let God’s light shine/Down on me.� Who hasn’t run and hidden by doing what was more gratifying? The easiest road is rarely the best one.

Six songs describe a struggle to describe the dysfunction of out-of-place feelings, relationships and attitudes that face us in our everyday lives. “Walk Like A Man� rises from the midst of them, taking a step back to examine what might be at the root of one boy’s troubles. Growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father, the boy watches his father repeatedly cycle through drinking, abusing, and repenting. “Your daddy’s demons are calling your name/Don’t you listen to them cause they’ve got no claim/Temptations may come, that ain’t no sin/You get stronger every time that you don’t give in,� McGraw sings. Sometimes the dysfunction isn’t our fault, but we have free will, so our responsibility is in our reaction.

In “Kill Myself,� McGraw sings of getting ready to kill himself because he has made all of the wrong decisions and hurt the people he loves. Then, standing back, he sings “I thank God/The devil in me died/I stand before you now/A man changed and alive.� It seems that he does kill the old him and rise up again but the struggle to overcome the past remains as he struggles with “these loose ends.� Sin is consistent in its persistence because it never goes away.

Closing out the album is “We Carry On,� where McGraw sings that we carry on “cause there’s promise in the morning sun.� Nothing about the aging process or life in general keeps those mentioned down, but the ideas of water and light as filling and refreshing parallel a new birth out of trouble. The Christmas story can be heard in the background, bringing hope like this new child. Dawn does end the darkness, experience can cancel old mistakes, and living can be stronger than dying. McGraw knows that he is getting older but he is prepared to use his mistakes to change his life and help others not to follow the road he has taken.

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Alter Bridge: One Day Remains

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Following the break-up of Creed, the niche of “mainstream rockers� was open, and some of the former members of Creed moved forward to retain their position with a band, Alter Bridge. With hopeful lyrics and driving guitar support, Scott Phillips, Mark Tremonti and Brian Marshall (an earlier Creed My big question approaching their album, One Day Remains, was, will the struggles with faith and hope continue without their former lead vocalist, Scott Stapp? bassist) joined up with vocalist Myles Kennedy to give another shot at stardom in rock ‘n roll.

Alter Bridge kicks off their album with “Find The Real,� remembering the times when faith could be taken for granted, before their adult doubts overtook their childlike faith. The singer proclaims that he hungers for more, because “all I’m left with/Is a crown of thorns/And I’m helpless,� an allusion to a dying Christ on the cross—prior to resurrection. The song’s chorus calls for loving and feeling through the real, and the singer pledges to “kill what hurts with something pure/I will be redeemed so I can breathe again.� Already we’re hearing a juxtaposition of faith and doubt, despair and hope, and pain and joy. With the passion possessed within the song, I believe I’m already starting to see the journey of Creed continued there in the work of Alter Bridge.

“One Day Remains� encourages us to not give up when things are difficult but to have faith in yourself and to know what it means to be alive. Less hope is evident in “Open Your Eyes,� where the singer reflects that he finds it “Hard to trust and can’t believe/Lost the faith and lost the love.� At one point, he understood that faith and love worked together but now he hopes that someday ‘they’ will realize that we are all one because presently he walks in darkness, depressed. The loss of faith and desire for future unity points to a discouragement in organized religion and its separations of theology and denomination.

The darkness threatens to overcome the singer in “Burn It Down,� as drinking and depression are cyclical events, until the singer feels that he has no right to pray. Alter Bridge bounces back momentarily in “Metalingus� with the declaration that he “Dropped to my knees when hope ran out/The time has come to change my ways.� Who has not felt like they have broken all trust in a relationship with another human being or God beyond the point of repair? How far do we have to fall until all we can see is the light above us? Regret, bitter places and broken dreams are left behind with the new vow, as the midpoint of the song comes with the request “Let me breathe, could you set me free,� made to an anonymous ‘other.’ The band is moving upward slowly, but the carnage of those who are run over by life grips them in “Broken Wings.� The singer implores those listening to give of themselves to help others, to staunch the flow of life out from their souls, even as admits to believing in only what he can see (versus things you must have faith in to believe.)

“In Loving Memory� and “Down To My Last� are tribute songs: the first to a dead loved one and the second to the ‘world.’ The singer alludes to the journey on which the band goes in “Last,� noting those who have been on their side and those who have stood against them. They toast those who have stood by them and turn their backs on those who doubted. To those who taught them love, “You were always the only (one)/To help me see that to love is to shine/In your world, blind� sings Alter Bridge. The implication is that love has been taught but that their existence blinds them to the positive effects it could have. Once again, experience gets in the way of embracing the heartfelt knowledge in which they once had faith.

The images of light and darkness rise again in “Watch Your Words,� as the chorus says that you must have faith to see and that we should pray to see the end’s saving grace. A curious phrase in the chorus, “Oh the righteous they can’t wait,� implies that those who often speak for Christ have hurt the singer in the past and possibly the present. To be righteous is not a compliment in this setting because Alter Bridge repeatedly yearns for peace and redemption, but constantly feel dragged down by their own shortcomings, setting them apart from those who see themselves as pure. So righteous equates with self-righteous here—how could a Christian, through self-examination, recognize their judgmental expressions and change for the better, kinder example?

"Shed My Skin� deals with the regrets of past faults through expressing them openly, as a form of cleansing confession, and turning away from a time when they were kept hidden. With confession comes a release from shame and guilt that has Biblical precedent—either through forgiveness from another individual or from God. In closing, “The End Is Here� is a postlude for One Day Remains and a prelude to whatever album follows it. Alter Bridge proclaims “For the rest of my life/I will find the answers/That were always here/I will find the meaning this time.� The journey in the rearview mirror has been reflected upon but it is now the future that they concern themselves with in examining. Too often, it seems that the members of the band have skimmed the surface of true faith without jumping in, and now they want to find real fulfillment there.

Alter Bridge may have picked up a new vocalist but the imploring, questioning, struggling relationship with life and God continues. The fact that the band does not feel the need to hide their transgressions but admit their fallacies and ask for forgiveness marks their debut album as an honest initiative. While X-Files never seemed to resolve what truth was out there, I hope that in the end, Alter Bridge finds that God does not endorse judgmental religion but heartfelt faith. As their career progresses and the journey continues, hopefully we will see a development of mature faith expressed in song and the band will find the peace it seeks at the end of the road.
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Further Seems Forever: Hide Nothing

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Further Seems Forever drives their new album toward clarity and revelation with lead singer Jon Bunch in Hide Nothing. Their alternative emotive sound rocks a bit in celebration and definitely rolls in the down swing of life and pain. This latest album by FSF rocks with some great lyrics and heartfelt searching, as the band longs for everyone to accept the peace that they dream for the future.

The images of light and darkness are exceedingly evident in the first few songs on Hide Nothing, as the band longs to wake up to the “Light Up Ahead.� The opening song begins with the cry to “Take this heart of darkness/I give it up/All the emptiness/You fill it up� and continues throughout to implore this ‘you’ to provide the meaning for life that the singer lacks on his own. The title track melodically states that life is a journey that we participate in and fail, but “love lights the way to the last day� seems to be the punch-line to a song that proclaims cyclic living in repetitive phrases.

Someone has fallen out of the reach of the singer in “Already Gone,� but the loss is not something that has been resolved and healed yet, as is exhibited in the repetitive refrain. The song searches for reunion and hopes against reality for some triumph to come from the singer’s efforts to save this person. “Like Someone You Know� finds the singer watching someone fall from grace again, noting the loneliness after their loss, and pointing out to the listener that it really could be someone personal to them. These songs seem to reflect on a loss of faith by someone else, watched by a friend or loved one who feels helpless to stop the recess of faith, and pained even more by self-inflicted guilt. The emphasis on “Like Someone� is not the initial loss but rather an indictment of other people to get involved in holding onto the people they know.

Second chances are explored in “Make It a Part,� where everyone seems provided with them, but few people actually accept the forgiveness that is provided. “Love is coming,� sings Bunch, and it won’t let you die alone, try alone, or cry alone. From a Christian standpoint, the understanding is that hope in Christ will be fulfilled in the end and should be held onto, because love will bring resolution to relationships through eternity.

“Call On The Life� seems to pay tribute to the effect that living in Jesus can have on a person’s perspective, as Bunch sings, “By your eyes I can see/By your eyes I’ve got vision all around/By your voice I can hear/By your voice all the fear comes crashing down…By your heart I can love, whoa/To make me feel like I’m never coming down.� All of this is made possible by the “you,� who from examining interviews with FSF, seems to be Jesus Christ, as both God and human in one. Another contextual clue would be that in John 14:6, Jesus says that He is the way, the truth, and the life—the life which is called upon to help the singer overcome his self-doubt and past regrets. These characteristics of ‘you’/Jesus are reinforced in “Lead the Way,� where Bunch sings that he is not above asking for help because ‘you’ has proved to be worthy of respect: “You come closer to me/Breaking through to you/And closer, hiding all/You know me better than I do/It’s better if you lead the way.� Only someone with intimate knowledge can know a person better than the person knows themselves.

Hide Nothing closes with the poignant “For All We Know,� where Bunch laments the coldness of a world without love but that he hopes things will get better. The reality of the world we live in is that it has very dark moments but that life is not without hope. As Christians, we must strive to be like Jesus, obedient even when it is uncomfortable, searching for light in all the dark places.

This seems to be the overriding tone of most of Further Seems Forever’s music—the world lacks love, life without love is joyless, but someday in the future, love will conquer all. In the emotive vein, the lyrics fit the music that they are laid down to in the album and the overall themes are reflective of the writings of David in the Psalms. The psalmist was often troubled and tormented, but he was always focused on the hoped-for future. The same is true today for us as we live out our lives. Darkness may cover over life for the time being, but in the end, love’s light will shine through and nothing will be hidden.

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Switchfoot: Legend of Chin

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The Legend of Chin (1997) kicks off with the manic tunes “Bomb� and “Chem 6A� as the themes of oppressive apathy and self-doubt seem to cloud the mind. Both songs touch on the lure of mind-numbing media and the fact that couch-potatoe-dom cannot be avoided when staring at the pictures on the TV screen. “Life and Love and Why� asks many of the hard questions about life and belonging that will be answered later in Learning and Letdown. “Could it be true/Can life be new/And can I be used� asks Foreman, wondering what about his life could be renewed and used for a greater good. He seems to have a decent idea about the answer to his own question but poses it with uncertainity in the final verse: “Could it be all that I am is in you/Could it be this/Could it be bliss/Can it be you/Can it be you.�

So the singer’s worth may be found in his relationship with the other (rather than in self), emphasized again in “You,� a postlude to “Life and Love,� as “hope is not in what I know/Not in me/It’s in you.� Who is the “you?� I have my bets… but “Ode to Chin� knocks the question out of the park: “Life’s more than girls/God’s more than words/You’re more than this.� There is already established category of what God isn’t—He’s not just mechanical, rhetorical or theoretical—and Switchfoot spends it’s musical history trying to dig deeper. Chin leaves their listeners with an understanding that things are often confusing, complicated, and painful, yet hopeful. And the pushing point is that Switchfoot thinks we should all reach out and use what we have to help others who need help. (Now, where have I heard that before…?)

Click any song below to listen to a sample mp3.
1. Bomb 2:45
2. Chem 6a 3:11
3. Underwater 3:46
4. Edge of My Seat 2:45
5. Home 4:02
6. Might Have Ben Hur 2:38
7. Concrete Girl 5:05
8. Life and Love and Why 2:53
9. You 4:13
10. Ode to Chin 2:13
11. Don't Be There 4:22

Total Running Time: 37:53

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Switchfoot: New Way to Be Human

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New Way to Be Human (1999) explores the themes of purpose, forgiveness, and belief from the very beginning, as the title track states: “You’re a new way to be human/Where my humanity bends/To a new way to be human/Redemption begins.� Here I think that Foreman’s Christian theology really takes off. When Jesus Christ broke into human history as fully God and fully human, we experienced a closing up of the “impossible space� between who we are and who we could be. This song admits to human incompleteness but recognizes that the “God of redemption� could break into human apathy and form new beings who become heroes, even when it appears that all the heroes are gone.

The truth is that it Jesus as fully God/fully man isn’t always easy to accept—human beings doubt! “Sooner or Later� includes the prayer “I look to find You/Down on my knees/Oh God, I believe!/Please help me believe� and “Let That Be Enough� echoes that with “Let me know that You hear me/Let me know Your touch/Let me know that You love me/And let that be enough.� Even when we have head or heart knowledge, Switchfoot recognizes the need for help from the other side of that belief—we can’t do this on our own. Rather, we require God’s help to believe in Him! The constant tension between the ‘common sense’ knowledge of God’s presence and the necessity of God’s presence swing the individual back and forth between despair and hope. The bottom line for New Way is still hope, as “I Turn Everything Over� and “Under the Floor� outline the individual’s complete surrender of everything he’d been holding onto, so that the plans God has made can be fulfilled (Jeremiah 29:11-14).

Click any song below to listen to a sample mp3.

1. New Way to Be Human 3:38
2. Incomplete 4:14
3. Sooner or Later (Soren's Song) 3:59
4. Company Car 3:13
5. Let That Be Enough 2:39
6. Something More (Augustine's Confession) 4:00
7. Only Hope 4:13
8. Amy's Song 4:30
9. I Turn Everything Over 3:21
10. Under the Floor 3:55

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Switchfoot: Learning to Breathe

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“I Dare You to Move� is the song from Learning to Breathe (2000) that was later included in Letdown—for which I will present two possibilities. One, “you�/Foreman, now a bigger player in the music scene, is being critiqued for his faith and music, exploring a misstep or the difference between “who you are and who you could be.� Two, the “you� in question is Jesus Christ who has recognized His mission, the goal of His life, and is being dared by the narrator to lift Himself up off the floor (as the infant child? of the not-yet-empty tomb?) and make a difference “between how it is and how it should be.� The narrator hints that maybe redemption and forgiveness wait with this “you,� and that he cannot escape from his mission, closing with the line “Salvation is here.� Either way, the questions require some thought on our part. What is waiting to be done that will go undone if we don’t get off the floor? Who needs our help? How can we be used by God to make a difference?

The title track once again talks about how life knocked the singer down again unexpectedly, and that “You� is the only one who can break his fall, who can teach him how to crawl, who can teach the singer how to breathe, who can take him “there.� “Love is a Movement� documents God’s giving His life to “put motion inside my soul,� renewing Switchfoot’s attack on human apathy and serving as a good model for their present agenda through DATA (providing funds and other aid for those suffering from AIDS, another U2-supported endeavor; see www.datadata.org). Switchfoot (and U2) wants nothing to do with “cold religion� and everything to do with a forward movement toward loving others and serving those in need.

The Gospel according to Switchfoot is well documented in the second half of Breathe: “The Loser,� “Erosion,� and “Living is Simple� all talk about life in terms that echo the Beatitudes. How? The losers win, erosion makes a person whole, and living is dying in three role reversals. Foreman writes that he is selling out by admitting that he wants to lose, with a “contract pending on eternity,� the backbeat of the last becoming first. The Holy Spirit is called upon to wash away his sins because he desires to live by dying to himself.

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Switchfoot: The Beautiful Letdown

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Having traveled from despair to surrender and from a struggle for consistency to hope, Switchfoot showcases the journey itself in The Beautiful Letdown. “Meant to Live� raises some of the same questions that peppered Chin: “Have we lost ourselves?...Maybe we’ve been living with our eyes half open, maybe we’re bent and broken.� “This is Your Life� can be boiled down to a life-altering question: “are you who you want to be?� How does someone make that kind of decision? It must come from knowing what matters most and by comparing yourself to that standard.

Switchfoot starts back toward the center by urging people to take responsibility for their actions. In “Ammunition,� Foreman sings that we as a community are the problem, that we can’t blame our issues on other people but must recognize that we’ve butchered love itself. To reassert love, “Dare You to Move� is reintroduced on this disk (see above comments) and immediately followed with “Redemption,� and this shameless allusion to the Jesus’ appearance to Thomas (Gospel of John, Ch 20): “I’ve got my hand in redemption’s side/Whose scars are bigger than these doubts of mine.� This act of redemption by Jesus Christ for the disciple who admitted his doubts also leads to “The Beautiful Letdown,� recognizing that we can’t make it on our own, that fame and fortune aren’t enough, and that we are called to share what we know to be true.

The second half of Letdown also touches on prior Switchfoot themes. “Gone,� resumes the battle cry for the love movement, even referencing U2’s Bono for his efforts in drawing attention to the AIDS epidemic in Africa through DATA. In “On Fire,� the passion for living clearly comes from an intimate encounter with a “you� outside of self, possibly a romantic ideal but more probably God. And “Adding to the Noise,� the band encourages turning off whatever static is keeping their listeners from taking action.

Finally, for a final Biblical hurrah, Letdown closes out with “Twenty-Four,� which serves as a complete package of what Switchfoot has sung all along. Beginning with many illustrations of how the singer is dead last, and filled with many excuses for his own problems, it quickly turns to seeking the help of “Spirit.� Foreman writes that “you’re raising the dead in me,� once again referencing the resurrection of Christ but this time he places himself in the narrative by calling himself the ‘second man’(Luke 23)— the man who accepted Christ as he prepared to die next to him on the cross. Foreman also references Genesis 28 as well, where Jacob wrestles with the angel and becomes Israel, with a new name and a new identity. He does recognize that he wants more than a name, a cause, or a feeling, he wants a relationship with this Spirit that gives him the song to sing, and provides him with new life.

- Meant to Live - MP3
- This Is Your Life - MP3
- More than Fine - MP3
- Ammunition - MP3
- Dare You To Move -MP3
- Redemption - MP3
- Beautiful Letdown - MP3
- Gone - MP3
- On Fire - MP3
- Adding To The Noise - MP3
- 24 - MP3

In Conclusion

Having listened through the albums back-to-back, I’ve heard the changes that Switchfoot has made as they’ve matured into a rock and roll band for the 21 st century. From grunge and hard(er) core to guitar driven poprock, Switchfoot’s sound is more pleasing to the ear and the lyrics have deepened and broadened over time. Even more, the ideas that the group have wrestled with have become more complicated and more everyman as the group aged. No longer ‘merely’ dealing with depression and human relationships, the group has taken their sound out of the garage band/youth group audience to the broader scale ‘out there.’ Along with their need to bring the sound further has come a need to see their growing fame and fortune put to good use: for the good of those in need and to the glory of God who is “raising the dead� in all who listen.

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