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

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.

Miracle Girl

In my family, I have developed a tradition. With the arrival of each grandchild, I write a song. Whitney arrived nearly five months ago in November. So, I am a little behind on getting her song written. Her parents, Lauren and Dean, have been very patient. So, I give you "Miracle Girl."

Miracle Girl

A miracle even before she was born

Coming into their life, it soon was clear

She would be one who would change their world

Always keep growing, and lead us from here

Miracle Girl making a believer of me

Every time I greet you, new miracles I see

Telling the world that you believe

Miracles will happen when God is near

Light in her eyes, as this little one grew

Her face had a charm that welcomed you

More than the trait of eyes of blue

You knew that this was a Godly hue

Miracle Girl making a believer of me

Every time I greet you, new miracles I see

Telling the world that you believe

Miracles will happen when He is near

Her life won’t be easy, time takes a toll

There will be moments, of scoffs from the crowd

The Spirit inside gives her strength to stay whole

Determined to keep living her faith out loud

Hey, Miracle Girl, you’re a wonder to see

And you are bringing miracles to be

Follow her, and you will soon believe

Supernatural things are easy to see

As the years wear on and life takes its course

Her face will always stay tuned to the light

She’ll take each moment for better, for worse

Leading many to change wrongs to right

Miracle Girl making a believer of me

Every time I meet you, new miracles I see

Telling the world that you believe

Miracles always happen when He is near

Five Minutes

Gretchen Peters writes songs that tell stories and offer insight into the human condition. “Five Minutes” is an example of a song that tells the story of a broken and flawed woman.

Five Minutes

(words and music by Gretchen Peters)

(From the album Hello Cruel World)

(Listen to it here) 

I've got five minutes to sneak a cigarette

Five minutes to myself

Back behind the screen door of Andy's luncheonette

And I ain't got time to worry 'bout my health

My boss Andy says I smoke myself to death

Andy he reminds me some of you

Back when you were Romeo and I was Juliet

West Texas Capulet and Montague

Now I don't think too much about you anymore

We weren't much more than kids

It was nearly twenty years ago I shut and locked that door

Now I've got five minutes

Not much time to reminisce

Most nights I come home from work and I pour a glass of wine

Sometimes it's three or four before I stop

And Jessie makes a sandwich if I sleep through suppertime

And she leaves me on the couch to sleep it off

Now Jessie just turned 17 and she's wild as she can be

And there ain't nothin' I can do

Last weekend she ran off to meet a boy in Tennessee

Just like I used to run to you

I gave her hell when she came home this afternoon

Mascara runnin' down her face

Seems like history repeats itself, and it ain't up to you

And in five minutes

Your whole life can change

Andy he's good to me, and I can see it in his eyes

He'd love to take your place

But somethin' deep inside me just withers up and dies

To make love to him and only see your face

Somehow I've let myself go gently down the stream

A fine example I have set

Between the working and the livin' and the ghosts that haunt my dreams

I've got five minutes and I'm gonna smoke this cigarette

There is so much I like about this song, but perhaps my favourite is the ambiguity in the line that says, “Most nights I come home from work and I pour a glass of wine, sometimes it's three or four before I stop.” We get the impression that there is a problem here. Through the rest of the song, we see history repeating itself in her daughter and we see both women drawn to men who are not good for them. They are lost and need to find a clear direction in their life.

From my Christian worldview I can’t help but think of flawed women in the Bible and how Jesus sees them and shows love toward them. Perhaps the woman in “Five Minutes” is a bit like the Samaritan woman in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John. Both women seem to be searching for something more and looking in all the wrong places. The human condition is difficult. We are prone to wander from the better paths and stray so easily into destructive paths. There seems to be so little time in life to ask the important questions and find the true path and so we muddle on in the way we have always lived. Perhaps even the author of “Five Minutes” is searching for something more.

“…those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” - Jesus (John 4:14).

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)

The Greatest Showman

The Greatest Showman (2017)

(Directed by Michael Gracey; written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon)

(Spoiler alert: if you want to be completely surprised by the themes contained in this film, see the movie before reading this blog.)

Those who regularly read this blog will not be surprised to hear that I enjoyed another musical. The Greatest Showman is top-notch musical entertainment and leaves one with things to consider. The whole time I watched the show I felt drawn to finding a community theatre company in which I could sing and act. I wanted to be Hugh Jackman as much as he wanted to be P.T. Barnum. As I left the theatre I was reminded of the realities of life that would get in the way of such aspirations, but I suspect that musicals like this do inspire others to act, sing, dance, write stories, and compose music. Such movies are good for our collective consciousness.

The movie tackles several contemporary themes as it follows the life of the man who invented “showbiz.” The theme that is perhaps most prevalent is the idea that every life matters and that our differences should be celebrated. I found that the actors, director, and producers did well to make this an important theme without clobbering the audience with the concept. Yes, there are moments when Lettie Lutz (the bearded lady) is overpowering with the message of celebrating differences; but there are also times when we see that P.T. Barnum and others who revered diversity were flawed and simply enjoyed a good “freak show.” The film is accurate in recognizing the struggle we all face in embracing those who are exceptional.

The movie also contemplates questions about status and station in life. Barnum is shown to have been born into poverty and low social-standing and he is always on a search to achieve a greater status. He is never satisfied with money or fame as long as he is treated as a lesser citizen. Never is this clearer than in his interactions with his wife’s parents and their high-society friends.

This naturally leads to introspection about the question of “when is enough, enough?” Capitalism, and the search for a good life with sufficient wealth is seen to be in conflict with diversity, status, and satisfying relationships. Of course, these questions also affect two significant love stories held within the movie. Barnum’s quest for status, fame, and money get in the way of his relationship with his children and his wife, Charity. Meanwhile, Phillip Carlyle, who comes from a wealthy family of high social-standing finds it hard to leave behind the adoration of high-society to fully embrace his love for Anne Wheeler, a common trapeze artist in the circus.

The singing, dancing, lyrics, special effects, and colours of the movie are all well-done. I encourage you to see it for yourself and let me know your reactions.

Tin Man

A well-written song will always work on my emotions. Miranda Lambert’s song “Tin Man” is one of those. It is a great concept and a simple structure with no real chorus except the ooohs. She speaks of being broken-hearted and wishing she didn’t even have a heart. Then, the final verse expresses her desire to put on armour and never have to deal with love again. A fitting song for a woman who has just experienced a very public divorce.

Tin Man
(Lyrics and music by Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, and Jon Randall)
(Listen here while you read the lyrics.) 

Hey there Mr. Tin Man
You don't know how lucky you are
You shouldn't spend your whole life wishin'
For something bound to fall apart
Every time you're feeling empty
Better thank your lucky stars
If you ever felt one breaking
You'd never want a heart 

 ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo 

Hey there Mr. Tin Man
You don't know how lucky you are
I've been on the road that you're on
It didn't get me very far
You ain't missing nothing
Cause love is so damn hard
Take it from me darlin'
You don't want a heart 

ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo
ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo 

Hey there Mr. Tin Man
I'm glad we talked this out
You can take mine if you want it
It's in pieces now
By the way there Mr. Tin Man
If you don't mind the scars
You give me your armor
And you can have my heart 

ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo
ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo