Athlete: Tourist

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Athlete’s alternative feel carries a certain amount of angst with it that relates to the ‘human condition' in Tourist. Starting with “Chances,� the vocalist admits that he needs the efforts of the ‘other,’ whether a spiritual power or a girl to take him over because he lacks the ability to start over on his own. The neediness continues in “Half Light,� and again in “Tourist,� as he spends time away from the girl/other and misses who he is when they are together.

The first truly ‘religious’ sentiments expressed spring up in “Wires,� as the band sings, “I see hope is there in a plastic box/I’ve seen Christmas lights reflect in your eyes.� There refers to the hospital, as a loved ones lies connected to machines for support. What person can fit in a box? A child…and Christmas lights imply Christ’s birth…so the hope of new life is on life support?

Athlete definitely has some spiritual issues they are striving to work through, and “If I Found Out� drives straight to the point: “I thank you for soul/No point unless you got soul/This world has got to have soul/Looking round for your soul/Digging down to your soul/I found out you got soul/Holding out all your soul.� Not only does this other have soul but he/she/it has provided soul to the singer. If hope came in shining through in Christmas lights, then the soul probably comes from God as well. Can the previous references to romantic union really have spiritual overtones as well?

“Yesterday Threw Everything At Me� is the cry of everyone at some point and each person has a place, person, action or thing that they go to in that moment. “You are, first on my list/When everything around is gone I know/You are, first on my list/When everything is shown up for what it is.� ‘You are’ is a statement of existence…and also the claim by God multiple times as ‘I AM.’ The singer will go to God when the chaos breaks in because even when everything else is gone, I AM still exists, unchanged.

Doubt still has its place in “Street Map,� as the singer wishes that all of the paths would stay straight, that they would be disconnected from the choices we have to make. Athlete sings, “One day it’s gonna happen/I don’t know when/I’ll be on your street/But I know it’s gonna happen/You’re gonna be swept off your feet.� Obviously, our choices do affect what paths we end up on and they don’t stay straight—they curve, dip, bend, and seem to sometimes morph for no reason. But the singer believes in destiny/purpose and that they (he and a loved one) will meet because of the design over all the chaos.

“Twenty Four Hours� reinforces the destiny/purpose motif that leads to the band’s hope: “This is more than daily bread/It’s 3 degrees, it’s something else/And you just take it all into your stride/Couldn’t be an accident ‘cause I can’t see no ambulance./I know that we will work it out this time.� An allusion to the Lord’s Prayer, the daily bread provides more than just daily sustenance but its three degrees (Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?) are something more. The purpose is evident in the play on the ambulance at the accident AND the fact that the singer knows that ‘we’ can work it out. The twenty-four hours are a limited day, and the song implies that time itself is “closing in…[but] still got twenty four hours..It’s not over.�

The closing song, “I Love,� sings about loving everyone around and is a fitting epilogue to the album. Filled with a desperate need for another, the humaneness of the songs blends well with the optimism of Athlete's view of how things will work out. The angst seems well-suited to reality, and in the end, it all works out.

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Copeland: In Motion

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Copeland’s In Motion wants to put its hands on love to hold it, define it, and put a name there for all to see. In “No One Really Wins,� love takes center stage as the singer urges his beloved not to make any changes to prove herself but to just let go. “I hope that you look back before you go ‘cause grace looks back before it starts to leave…In the endless fight of grace and pride I don’t want to win this time.� In any relationship, the fragile balance between boundaries and complete interaction includes the balance of grace and pride. Grace is the thing that brings two people closer than their humanness allows.

This understanding continues in “Choose the One Who Loves You More.� Fear of the unknown is blamed for keeping us in the dark about each other, and our ‘beautiful secret lives.’ Copeland urges the listener to “Choose the one who loves you more./And when you’ve found something to die for. They’ll be knocking on your heart’s door.� How much significance does ‘the one’ hold? Is it the one of two or THE ONE that remains forever, alpha and omega, beginning and end? Who are they who come knocking? It seems that the opportunities abound—when you choose that person/other who loves you more or most than any other, you escape the boundaries that keep your true self hidden. You becomes the core of who you are and you are willing to share that freely…when you are really loved.

“Kite� is unabashedly about a woman, from whom the singer hid out of failure and fear. Or is it fear of failure? “Oh my dear you’re a threat to the bad in us all./They tell themselves that each word from your lips or the grace in your eyes overcomes any fall.� Once again, the grace of the other rises above the situations that the singer has involved himself in out of fear. This female object of affection has the power to overcome ‘any fall’…Love rises above “The Fall,� right? Jesus Christ comes bodily to earth to shower grace over all of us and wash aside original sin as presented through the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.

The expression of love that requires the action of the other rings out from “Don’t Slow Down� as well. “They say, I don’t know how to love the right way, but you make me feel…you make me feel like I do,� Copeland sings. Not only is love presented as self-sacrificing here but it shines by example and shouts to be heard above the murmuring of critics and judgmental views. Love is patient and kind…and leads by example? Copeland moves on in “Love is a Fast Song� to human-to-human love but the understanding is still that love is in motion and draws others to it.

Regardless of who Copeland is singing to and about, they love they present makes those around it better, draws them closer to truth and wellbeing, and helps them love themselves. That’s what Jesus did.

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Waking Ashland: Composure

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Waking Ashland delves into relationships with the other/God from the very beginning of their album, Composure, and does not let up. InI Am For You, the I AM rises up to love and save…againstThe comfort we create to prove we’re something, we’re starving/Screaming in the night because you want answers from the one/And there’s hope again. The one is answering in the refrain, against the cold comfort in this song, and against theShades of Grey that the singer has fought through in the opening track.

InRumors, the singer crossed the desert and fights through the sea, knowing that the other is calling.I was afraid that you would never come alive/There for me when I was scared of you/You were there for me when I wasn’t there for you, Ashland sings. True for the apostle Peter having denied his Jesus and then waits for Him to rise three days later, unwilling to hold onto false hope. True for the believer who doubts and yet believes. We doubt, we are scared, and yet we know that looking back, Jesus was always present.

WhileEdinger expresses the confusion of fate, mistakes, and choices, the chorus ofOctober Skies breaks through into the clear:And I, I’ve been running to nowhere/You’re nowhere, you’re nowhere/And I, I feel something getting closer/Come clearer, come clearer.Let Go echoes more of the same, possibly with the view of Nicodemus, the Jew who wanted to learn what Jesus was saying but who struggled to reconcile it with what he knew already. The questioning of one who longs to know but who does not quite understand is painfully relevant to Ashland and rings true in the day-to-day life of anyone who values the heart and the mind.

Still off the fresh reminders,Hands On Deck cries out for someone to right a sinking ship:I need a miracle to save me from this/And I need the angels to all pray for me/I can’t believe you…asanother worry breaks right through/And indecision bleeds me dry. Faith is not completely mental but is emotional and experiential as well (it is tough to cope with individually sometimes!)—it requires the Other to break through our existence and for reality to be transcended.

Relying on that Other’s breaking through,Long Shot andSilhouettes share the beauty of relaxing in that realization and the luxury of God’s patience with our mistakes. Doubt and acceptance are a roller coaster ride though:Same Problem andMedication raise worries that God/other will leave Ashland behind because of recurring mistakes. The rise up again of hope inOverjoyed expresses the stability and consistency of God to provide that love and overcome doubts no matter what.

The Composure album closes withSing Me To Sleep as the band sings a ‘never be alone’ theme:Who are you, what do you want?/I’ll claim nothing/When you’re whispering/The truth has made its way into my head. How much we could learn from this subtle understanding: God whispers and we still hear. If only our ‘sharing the gospel’ with others would be done in a loving whisper, rather than a pounding roar. God can make His point with a whisper—why can’t we?

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Mat Kearney: Bullet

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Having just met Mat Kearney through his performance in downtown Richmond at Alleykatz, I feel compelled to present and interpret the faith elements involved in his album, Bullet. Here, the soft-rapping, piano and guitar-playing vocalist drops words of substance and stories of experience on the listener. There is a healthy blend of humor and understanding that shines through his live performance, but breaking down the lyrics of the album allow us a deeper look into the mind of Mat Kearney.

Bullet opens with the admittance that the singer has lost any hope of identifying himself without the ‘other’ who is being sung to and about in “Trainwreck.� Hints of faith point to more than just a lover or a friend in phrases like “I see it shrink in the distance/And the glow of your glory� and “Now watch me climb my own cross/Without a loss for these words/As I motion a moment’s silence/Let it fly with the birds.� The object of the songwriter’s affection is compared to the air that he breathes—without the object, the artist is lost, essentially dead. These potentials are continued in two more songs of the opening trio. “Undeniable,� the first of two grand songs on the album that again expresses this ‘other’ who is the “wind at my back/A whisper to walk on, Come on from all that.� The person who is sung to may be different than the person/object generating this breeze but there is an undercurrent of higher power working here. Finishing off the introduction to Kearney’s world, the title track gives more than a hint of the love that Kearney knows and sings about, with a tribute to an individual who has been there for him since the beginning.

"Girl America" switches directions and moves outward from Kearney’s self to what he perceives in the world around him. Singing of a ‘girl’ [the United States] who wants to be more than she is, makes bad decisions, but knows that someone outside wants more for her, Kearney advises, “It’s not the circumstances that determine who you’re gonna be/But how you deal with these problems and pains that come your way.� His complete expression of faith follows in the verse that laments her childlike faith left behind. Alluded to in the title of the song, Kearney cries out for the country that once embraced Biblical principles to return to a belief in the king born in the manger, crowned with thorns, and pierced by spears. “He hung in love just to draw you near/My girl, out of this whole world/Can’t you see this is where we started,� pleads Kearney. His agenda of love has taken a faithful turn.

Kearney returns to his own mission, taking his art to the public, as he documents stages of his life “In the Middle.� While he has fought the tide (possibly as a Christian, a white rapper), the love that has driven him this far is one he promises not to share in a lukewarm manner. One line struck me when I heard the song live: "One foot on the water to face these fears/I'm coming out strong like I can't be wrong/I said Ay, I won't fall in the middle." Peter walks out to Jesus on the water (Matthew 14) and shows that he does believe in the words Jesus speaks, but struggles while facing the wind and the rain. The evidence of Kearney's faith is clear, as well as his recognition of his own humanity.

The reasons for his devotion and passion show through clearly in “Renaissance,� where the car crash depicted involves Kearney, his brother, and his sister. The voice alluded to in "Girl America" and other songs sings quietly to Kearney that “I can be the wall when you fall down/Find me on the rocks when you break down/I heard it in the song when you call out/But I got to say now it’s got to change.� I propose that the God of the manger and the cross has earned the attention of the artist through his life experience and the return on that is the pledging of Kearney’s broken heart. Kearney sings that another has broken his heart as well, but learning the trust of God has helped him through the troubled time.

"Call Me," "Poor Boy" and "Tomorrow" are another trio that make a whole: Kearney recognizes the sound of God’s voice and the love that set him ‘free.’ The overall tune of the album but certainly of these two songs is optimistic, because the ‘other’/God has brought him through this far. Kearney closes out his album with “Won’t Back Down,� a challenge and an anthem for folks who have been beaten down and strive to rise again. He sings “Hallelujah came like a train/When all is lost/All is left to gain/Hallelujah� to greet the troubles and recognize the victory of the love he knows.

Too few folks focus on love, not hate. Too few see the trials that lead to victory over situations. Mat Kearney has focused on the hope and the future he knows, and everything will be all right.

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House of Heroes

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House of Heroes brings an edgy rock in their self-titled album that can shake the speakers and rattle the brain with some up-in-your-face attitude and intense topics. Blasting off with “Buckets,� the band caustically encourages a code of silence if you want to get paid, offering up the option of either silencing your intended message to please those who make the decisions or starving because you cannot do your job. Once you sell out in your attempt to eat, you become one of the oppressors because “There are no doctors, only victims, only butchers,� sings the band. The lack of optimism continues as House of Heroes sings that “there are no churches, only prisons, only senators.�

“Fast Enough� chronicles the pain of a girl addicted to cutting herself. “Friday Night� is the male equivalent—rather than cutting himself with an inanimate object, he picks a fight with someone. “Power’s the drug and pride is the needle./And it rips through my skin/and goes into my blood stream./I feel like laughing, I feel like choking on it,� House of Heroes cries, lamenting an addiction that is just to pleasurable to shake. “The dark is so accommodating,� they sing, to the same tune that drives Anakin to turn away from his path as a Jedi, as they recognize that to change from their chosen, messed up condition costs more than staying the same.

The first outspoken reference to faith comes in “Serial Sleepers� as the “Sons of God� are called to wake up and “sing the song that hides behind your teeth.� From the sarcasm of “Buckets,� we hear the challenge to those lukewarm souls who sleep when they should be speaking, who trust the dark too much, and lack the courage to rise like the dawn. “Make a Face Like You Mean It [Vampires]� shows the recurring theme of a song/mission sucked clean of its meaning/purpose by those who long to make money or simply be commonplace and therefore well-liked. Without the call to rise from sleep mentioned previously, this song lacks meaning but the overall progression shows the purpose.

“Love has conquered fear, truth will carry me,� ends “Metaphor in Parentheses.� The darkness rolls on but there is another movement growing and House of Heroes wants peace within the growing hope they feel. “Do what you will, I’m believing tonight./I’ve left behind the ‘whens?’ and the ‘whys?’� leads to an understanding that there is a victory beyond the suffering already acknowledged. As we are told that “perfect love drives out all fear,� we can see that the understanding of hope, truth, and love show the Heroes a better way (I John 4:18). This better way does not rinse away the stain felt in “Pulling Back the Skin� and “Suicide Baby,� as past hurts inflicted on others are rarely rolled back so easily.

A fitting mixed closure to this album is “Angels in Top Hats, Cups Full of Blood.� A car crash has rendered ‘Janie’ comatose and the singer wants to know what the hope that apparently she shared with him will bring to her present situation. He asks her if she can “hear my prayers hit the ceiling?/Can you tell me if my words have a meaning?/Can you tell me what my hope is to look like?� House of Heroes has rocked hard, critiqued hard, and asked some hard questions—in the end, the fact that they dare to ask their questions of faith makes them heroes to admire.

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Yellowcard: Ocean Avenue

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Yellowcard rocked out Ocean Avenue in 2003 but unfortunately, I did not experience them until late 2004. The album has been playing in my car for the last sixth months and I feel obliged to give them a shout-out here in my blog. Ryan Key’s vocals (and guitar), joined with the violin and vocals of Sean Mackin, the guitar of Benjamin Harper, the guitar and vocals of Pete Mosely and the drums of Longineu Parsons III provide ample rock and roll. The lyrics within the songs provide the listener with something to reflect on and upon further review, to relate with as well.

The first four songs deal primarily with interaction between lover and beloved in ways that speak to reconciliation and steering clear of past mistakes. “Way Away� and “Breathing� bring former and present relationships to the forefront of the band’s attention. In the first, the singer differentiates himself from someone/something who seems to hold back his words and belief—in the second, regret for the hurt the singer has caused a lover builds up and that forces separation that he cannot take back. “Ocean Avenue� yearns for all of the past problems and things that forced them apart to be forgotten so that the old days of love and fun could be returned. The singer takes the blame here but says in “Empty Apartment� that the other caused the separation by walking out. Pain and loneliness are prevalent in these first four but the overlying theme is one of hope: broken relationships may be restored in the future.

“Only One� addresses the pain that the singer feels and the desire he has to share those emotions with the person who understands him. Intended it seems for the woman who he admires, he addresses the mistakes that he has made and the pattern of leaving that he has come to expect of himself. The words Yellowcard uses here could describe the ways that we walk out on our relationship with God—we often feel the distance between us, and become discouraged by our feelings of inadequacy. While at times of wholeness and wellness we might understand God’s love for us, in these times we feel unworthy and disjointed from Him.

Death rises up to temper the optimism of the band but in “View from Heaven,� Yellowcard reflects on the absence of a loved one, apparently now dead, and looks to meet them again. Key sings “I hope that all is well in heaven/’cause it’s all shot to hell down here/I hope that I find you in heaven/’cause I’m so lost without you down here.� “Believe� also touches on death but from the perspective of someone saved, in a near death experience, who thanks the person who gave up life for them. “You still came back for me/You were strong and you believed� precedes each chorus of “Everything is gonna be alright� (three times)/�Be strong believe.� Given our assurance that we will see our loved ones (and many more!) again in heaven, the presence of death dampers but does not put out the fire of a Christian’s hope. The One who rescued each of us while facing certain death also provides us with the same emphasis on a hope and future—“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future� (Jeremiah 29:11).

Yellowcard remains hopeful, regardless of past mistakes, present blunders and loss of loved ones. While the spiritual aspects might require ‘reading into’ the lyrics, the bands effervescent attitude is a welcome addition to rock and roll. And when it comes down to it, I agree with them: the view from heaven will be much better than the view down here!

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