The Singer and You

Key of Zed, the duo of Mike Charko and Keith Shields, has just released a new original single. For fans of Blue Rodeo and a few other bands, you will recognize the references to a few other songs in the lyrics. See how many you can catch. (At a later date I will release an annotated version of the lyrics that will identify the references.) The story of this song is that the woman in the Blue Rodeo song "Try" is now older and more introspective and the lyrics are her answer to the man who said those words to her.

The Singer and You

(Lyrics and Music by Mike Charko and Keith Shields; copyright SOCAN)

(Listen here) 

Blue Rodeo on the stereo

(And) teardrops in my eyes

Reminding me of five days in May

And how I said I’d try

Was it just bad timing?

Or something I should have done?

That keeps me looking through the crack in the window

And wishing for the sun

And the singer and you and the devil too

They want to tell me what I should do

They want to tell me what I should do

Right is right and wrong is wrong

With every move I made

I couldn’t be what you wanted me to be

Every time you played

Old songs, rehearsed to a tee

Left no room to breathe

And the spirits of tunes - left unsung

Like the ghosts in me

And the singer and you and the devil too

They want to tell me what I should do

They want to tell me what I should do

Guitar solo:

Bridge:

Bop shoo bop bop bop she bop

Bop shoo bop bop bop she bop

Bop shoo bop bop bop bop she bop

My solo written by you

Was singing the blues

How could I get the rhythm from you?

There’s nothing left to do

Rising star or wounded heart?

Were you teaching me to fly?

Could the bad inside of me

Really be the lie?

And the singer and you and the devil too

They want to tell me what I should do

They want to tell me the things that I should do

Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop

Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop

Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop

Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop

Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop

Bop shoo bop; bop bop she bop

Marc Martel, The Impersonator

Marc Martel is one of those guys for whom I have the greatest of respect. He is talented beyond the level of many in the music industry and has made music with a diverse group of people. This Christmas, I am glad to see him making music with Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant. They have put together a Christmas album and are following it up with a limited tour in support of the album.

Of course, Martel has made music with many other artists including Jason Gray, Buddy Greene, Plumb, Scott Mulvahill, and Ron Block of Alison Krauss & Union Station. But beyond collaboration and Christmas music, Marc Martel was formerly the front man for CCM band downhere and leads his own Ultimate Queen Celebration, where he impersonates Freddie Mercury with great panache.

His first solo album: Impersonator contains the following title song. The entire album is filled with great original songs that speak of life on the road and the challenges of sounding like (and even looking like) another famous singer. Perhaps the most tragic song on the album is this title song. In it, he recognizes the value of impersonation but also laments that his own voice and personality gets lost in the music. And he finds himself saying that, “you would not have me any other way.” Read and listen to the words below.

Marc Martel – Impersonator

I wonder if my own eyes would recognize
Whatever I become when I live your lies
I should've made a break, for the fire escape – warning signs I didn't take
And all the things you bought – just to break

But I am the impersonator
You can be the reason for my insanity
I am the impersonator
I give you everything you want from me
Whatever makes you happy

What's done is done, this is what I become
And now you would not have me any other way – so why stay?
Let me go on, like nothing's wrong, just to keep you holding on
A flash before my eyes as I fade away – and I fade away

I am the impersonator
You can be the reason for my insanity
I am the impersonator
I give you everything you want from me
Whatever makes you happy

And so I, I put on my show with my life
I wear the weight of my disguise, to drown out the silence
So you never read the signs
I lose myself to have you, and you don't even have a clue
I am the shadow, who keeps you in the light

And I am the impersonator
You can be the reason for my insanity
I am the impersonator
I give you anything you want from me, but you know
I'll never make you happy
Whatever makes you happy.

Songwriters: John Randall Fields / Lily Kershaw / Marc Martel; © Strawberrius Music.

Can't Erase It

Jars of Clay, the band from Greenville, Illinois, has a song entitled “Can’t Erase It” on the If I Left the Zoo album. The lyrics are written below. It is a song that captures the angst of trying to be one thing when we know we should be something else. Read the lyrics, listen to the song, and read some thoughts about the song below.

Can’t Erase It

Follow the crowd and love everybody now
'Cause love is the best thing for you now
But you changed your mind you let everybody down
But down is the best place for you
It's easier that way you know it's

So wrong can't embrace it
wish sometimes for any other you
But you can't erase it and you won't escape it

Don't waste your time
Your words only confine you
To all of the things you've buried now
Don't ask them why
Their wisdom will leave you blind

But blind is the best thing for you
It's easier I know, you know it's

So wrong, can't embrace it
Wish sometimes for any other you
But you can't erase it, and you won't escape it

How long will you face it
Till the weight comes crashing down on you
'Cause you can't erase it, and you won't escape it

Songwriters: Charlie Lowell / Dan Haseltine / Matt Odmark / Stephen Daniel Mason

Can't Erase It lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Capitol Christian Music Group

Dan Haseltine, in an interview once said that this song is "About fighting our deepest desire to be who we are not." Why do we have such a strong desire to be something we are not? Because we want to fit in with the majority and just like when we were in high school, we have this strong desire to fit in with the cool kids.

There are many things that can get in the way of being who God has made us to be. The majority culture says, “You don’t need God, just 'follow the crowd and love everybody.'” We hear this very regularly on our various media sources and we begin to believe that this is the way to live. But it is easy to change our mind and not really want to “love everybody.” It is truly hard to simply boost ourselves up to a level where we can love everybody. Bitterness and anger are the result. On our own we cannot love everybody.

If we follow the crowd, we are not being who we truly are. We are conforming to the image of what the crowd thinks we should be. If we follow the crowd, we will do things that we know are “so wrong” and we just won’t be able to embrace that they are right. We can’t erase the things we’ve done. We can’t escape the weight of going against God and against who he has made us to be. But there is one who can “erase it.” God says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Furthermore, “… his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:11, 12). Jesus’ death on the cross was the ultimate way for him to remove the weight of sin and erase our wrong doings: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).

If we bury the wrongs, ignore the wrongs, or embrace the wrongs, the weight will crush us. Instead we must acknowledge and confess and receive release from the weight.

Hello Cruel World

I just discovered the Essentials album by Gretchen Peters. She has written songs for Bryan Adams, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, and many others. "Hello Cruel World" is one of my favourite songs on the album. It is full of angst and tensions of good and evil. It makes one think about the struggles of this world and the struggle of light and darkness, Jesus and the devil. The piano and strings are beautiful, she sings one of the sweetest "oohs" in all of pop music, and the bass line is melancholic. Enjoy this song and meditate upon the goodness of creation and The Fall.

Hello Cruel World

(Words and Music by Gretchen Peters)
(Listen to the song here)

haven’t done as well as I thought I would

I’m not dead but I’m damaged goods

and it’s gettin’ late

I’m a rusty hinge, a squeaky wheel

at the bad end of a shaky deal

cursed by the hand of fate

and ooooooh – I’m a very lucky girl

yeah ooooooh – hello cruel world

I’m a ticking clock, a losing bet

a girl without a safety net

I’m a cause for some concern

you don’t live this long without regrets

telephone calls you don’t wanna get

stones you’d rather leave unturned

but ooooooh – the grain of sand becomes the pearl

yeah ooooooh – hello cruel world

some folks go the easy route

numb the pain or put the lights out

either way they got to go

me I’m gonna stick around

in for a penny in for a pound

cause I hate to miss the show

and ooooooh – I’m a very stubborn girl

yeah ooooooh – hello cruel world

hello cruel world

©2011 Circus Girl Music, administered by Carnival Music (ASCAP)

Cuddy Cavalcade

He may have a “Skyscraper Soul” but his music continues to reach new heights. Jim Cuddy came to Calgary on March 1 and brought with him, in his own words, a "cavalcade of stars." Cuddy gave plenty of space to his two sons who featured in two or more songs each. They are up-and-coming musicians who will blaze their own trail, but the proud father has given them a platform to allow the Canadian public to get to know them. They show great promise. Barney Bentall was also brought on stage to join the Jim Cuddy Band for a few songs and added much to the show.

Cuddy did a great job of featuring his new album as well as playing old standards from his Blue Rodeo music. The new music was sufficiently familiar to the audience as each concert ticket sold included a digital download of the album "Constellation." I might have liked to see a few more songs from Light That Guides You Home and Skyscraper Soul, but the Calgary audience was pleased with his Blue Rodeo selections. I was continually impressed by the level of professionalism of The Jim Cuddy Band. They are an outstanding collection of musicians who bring their best to the game at every concert and they were a pleasure to watch. Anne Lindsay, the only female member of the band, is a virtuoso violinist, and Colin Cripps and Bazil Donovan (both members of Blue Rodeo) are musicians with many years of studio and road experience.

Jim Cuddy is a Canadian treasure whose music stands the test of time. The concert was one of the best I have ever seen.

Favourite Moment:
Anne Lindsay featured in the song "Five Days in May." Lindsay (violin), Steve O'Conner (keyboard), and Colin Cripps (guitar) filled in the parts that one would have thought might be missing without Greg Keelor on this amazing Blue Rodeo song.

Coals and Water

Coals and Water

(Performed by Angel Snow)

(Music and Lyrics by Angel Snow)

(Listen here)

Fortune tellers dancin' 'round inside my head
I'm tryin' not to lose everything she said

Even so in standing at the foot of my bed last night
This mountains gettin' higher with every step
I'm trying not to lose everything I've kept

Captured by the fortune tellers in my mind


Ooohh, they always come back again
Every time freedom tries to pull me out
They suck me back in
Oooohh, we gonna' let that fire burn you
Tell me how you’re gonna' walk on coals and water too

Can you taste these words fallin' from my mouth
"Ain't old fashioned love what it's all about?"
I heard an old black man shout Christmas eve

Should've known better than to run to you
My heart started talking to me way to soon

Damn those fortune tellers in my mind

Oooohh, they always come back again
Every time freedom tries to pull me out
They suck me back in
Oooohh, we gonna' let that fire burn you
Tell me how your gonna' walk on coals and water too

Tell me how you gonna’ walk on coals and water too

Hazel Grey

“Hazel Grey” is a duo consisting of Pete and Josanna Justine. They have written more than 50 songs together and recorded five albums of songs. “Was There Music in the Air?” is from their 2010 album by the same name as the band, Hazel Grey. It captures the first moments of God’s creation before there were humans who could tell us what could be seen or heard.

Was There Music in the Air?

(Hazel Grey Music; Peter and Josanna Justine; CCLI)

(www.hazelgreymusic.com)

(Listen to the song here)

The Spirit hovered over the waters.

The Spirit hovered over the waters.

Could they capture your reflection?

Stay calm within your presence, Lord

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

And were there colours in the heavens

That danced with their Creator

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

I am overcome, Oh Lord

By the splendor of a holy king.

And I am overwhelmed, Oh Lord

In the depth of your love for me

The depth of your love

Swallows the ocean’s majesty

The heavens above, echo the symphony of glory

The Spirit hovered over the waters.

The Spirit hovered over the waters.

Was the radiance of morning

Consumed within your glory, Lord?

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

And did you whisper to creation

Or did you shout in celebration

And did the mountains sound like thunder

When you formed them in your power, Lord

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

I am overcome, Oh Lord

By the splendor of a holy king.

And I am overwhelmed, Oh Lord

In the depth of your love for me

The depth of your love

Swallows the ocean’s majesty

The heavens above, echo the symphony of glory

The Spirit hovered over the waters.

The Spirit hovered over the waters.

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

Was there music in the air?

The Spirit hovered over the waters

“Where were you when … the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4, 7).

“For the Lord your God is living among you.
    He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
    With his love, he will calm all your fears.
    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:17).