Category Archives: Music

Discipleship, Life, Music

Watered-Down Love

Happy Valentine’s Day!

A few years ago I purchased the Bob Dylan Collection, a digital box set, from iTunes. The collection included every single Bob Dylan song, bootleg, and album from Bob Dylan (’62) to Modern Times (’06).

As I sifted through all the tracks, I came across a handful (ok, more than a handful) of songs that I had never heard before. One of the songs that I came across wasWatered-Down Love from the 1981 album Shot of Love.

The first time I listened to this song the lyrics seemed instantly familiar to me. The song is a contrast between pure love and the cheap, imitation that the world tries to pass off to us as love. Bob seems to say to us what Paul had to say to the church in Corinth.

Watered-Down Love
Shot of Love
Bob Dylan

Love that’s pure hopes all things,
Believes all things, won’t pull no strings,
Won’t sneak up into your room, tall, dark and handsome,
Capture your heart and hold it for ransom.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

Love that’s pure, it don’t make no claims,
Intercedes for you ‘stead of casting you blame,
Will not deceive you or lead you to transgression,
Won’t write it up and make you sign a false confession.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

Love that’s pure won’t lead you astray,
Won’t hold you back, won’t mess up your day,
Won’t pervert you, corrupt you with stupid wishes,
It don’t make you envious, it don’t make you suspicious.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

Love that’s pure ain’t no accident,
Always on time, is always content,
An eternal flame, quietly burning,
Never needs to be proud, restlessly yearning.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

I hope that no one would ever dedicate this song to you or me. Jesus said that people will know that we are his disciples by the way we love others. For too long, the people of God have been known more for what we hate than for what we love.

Paul writes, “If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. Itdoes not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil butrejoices with the truth. It alwaysprotects, always trusts, alwayshopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1Corinthians 13:1-8)

Let’s resolve to live everyday loving those around us with a pure and unadulterated love. A love that lifts high the name of Jesus. A love that seeks to bring hope and healing. A love that is fueled by the Holy Spirit.

Let there be NO watered-down love around here.

An earlier version of this essay was posted on August 28, 2009.

Music, Playlists, Resources

Music To Move By

Two weeks ago I started training for something I have wanted to o for a few years now- a half marathon. I am planning on running the White Rock Half Marathon this December. That means I have 282 days to get fit and ready for race day. I am using the Run 10K app right now to get back into the rhythm of running on a consistent basis. One of the cool features of this app is that a “running coach” will speak to you and tell you when to walk, jog, or run. I love this app and it has really helped me stay focused and on track for my runs 3 times a week.

While the app is great and the “running coach” is a good tool, my energy and attitude are fueled by a great running music playlist. Today, I wanted to give you a peek into what beats are helping pump my legs and increase my heart rate.

Every workout play list I have has a mixture of genres and artist. There are a few songs that get added to my playlists consistently over time (the Main Stays) and there are also new songs that rotate in and out on a pretty frequent basis (the New Additions). Enjoy this week’s playlist.

Main Stays
All These Things I’ve Done by the Killers (Hot Fuss)
Live Your Life by T.I.-feat Rihanna (Paper Trail)
Working Man by Rush (Vault Edition)
Rise Above 1 by Bono, The Edge, & Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: The Musical)
Won’t Get Fooled Again by the Who (Who’s Next)
Surrender by Cheap Trick (Heaven Tonight)

New Additions
We Take Care of Our Own by Bruce Springsteen (Wrecking Ball)*
Call Your Girlfriend by Robyn (Body Talk)*
Comeback Kid by Sleigh Bells (Reign of Terror)
Shake It Out by Florence + The Machine (Ceremonials)*
What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger) by Kelly Clarkson (Stronger)*
All of the Lights by Kanye West (Fantasy)
Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls) by Foster the People (Torches)

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my listening habits. Add these songs to your running mix and watch the miles add up!

*These songs have a great potential to graduate to Main Stay status very, very soon.

Bible Study, Life, Music, My Life, Thoughts

Bring Me a Harpist!

This weekend I’ll be preaching in 2Kings 3 as we continue in our UNSTOPPABLE series.

In ch 3, there is a fascinating story about the King of Judah, Israel, and Edom coming together to make war against the King of Moab, who has decided that he no longer wants to pay tribute to Judah. The political intrigue in this whole scene rivals anything out of Egypt or Lybia on CNN today. The 3 kings feel God is calling them to make war on Moab but they now find themselves, their armies, and their provisions marching circles in the desert. They are tired and severely dehydrated. They decide to seek God’s counsel (finally) by speaking to Elisha.

I won’t spend any time on this on Sunday, but there is something in v. 15 that captured my attention and made me stop and think.

2Kings 3:15 ESV
“But now bring me a musician.” While the musician was playing, the hand of the LORD came on Elisha.

How cool is that? Music aided in Elisha’s communication with the LORD. Warren Wiersbe writes, “The music of the harpist brought quietness to the prophet’s mind and heart and helped to facilitate his communion with the Lord.”

I can definitely relate to that. Music and song help me connect with God too. When I study or when I need to get my mind and heart right, I often do so through music. You can often find me singing alone at my desk early Monday mornings before I open up my Bible. Listening to music through my headphones while I read different books often helps me shut out unnecessary distractions like my cell phone. I love listening to Bethoveen’s 6th and 9th symphonies to put me in the right frame of mind or in the background while I write. Lots of great mediation on lessons, classes, and discussions have happened on long car rides listening to music.

I would have loved to have been there while the harpist played and Elisha communicated with God. Wouldn’t you like to know which Psalm Elisha liked to listen to?

How about you? Is there any song or music that helps put you in a place physically, cognitively or spiritually where you are more ready to commune with God?

Music, Playlists

Music Friday: Couples Slow Dance Playlist

Looking for that perfect song to request for the Couple’s Skate? Maybe you want to sway back and forth with that girl that is your friend at the Junior High dance? You want to burn your wife a love song mix? Look no further than my Couples Slow Dance Mix for your inspiration. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

  1. End of the Road by BoyzIIMen
  2. The Dance by Garth Brooks
  3. Take My Breath Away by Berlin
  4. I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith
  5. Come Away With Me by Norah Jones
  6. Wicked Game by Chris Issac
  7. Un-thinkable by Alicia Keys
  8. In My Life by The Beatles
  9. No Ordinary Love by Sade
  10. Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley
  11. Drive by The Cars
  12. The Blower’s Daughter by Damien Rice
  13. Flame Turns Blue by David Gray
  14. When The Stars Go Blue by Ryan Adams
  15. She’s Got A Way by Billy Joel
  16. God Only Knows by The Beach Boys
  17. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You by Bryan Adams
General, Music, My Life, Playlists

Friday (Play)List: Top 20 Songs Pt 1

To continue with My Life in (Play)Lists series that I started last week I am revealing to you today the list of My Top 20 Favorite Songs. Remeber that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine is dating that guy that is obsessed with the song “Desperado” by the Eagles? That song would come on the radio and he would stop talking, close his eyes, and drift away completely tuning out everything but the song. Yeah, that’s what happens to me whenever these 20 songs are played. I’ll reveal 10 this Friday and 10 next Friday. Enjoy!

1) Beautiful Day / U2 (All That You Can’t Leave Behind)
Out of all the U2 songs out there, this one grabs my attention every time. I love the bass groove that opens the song. When the drums kick in at the chorus I’m gone- you’ve lost me to the music. Love this song so much! I remember listening to it a lot during the first year we were married in our little apartment off campus. The music is only enhanced message of the song’ “What you don’t have, you don’t need it now, It’s a Beautiful Day!” Maybe I can hook a speaker up to my tombstone and blast this song across the cemetery. Forget the Eternal Flame- I’ve got an Eternal Soundtrack!

Favorite Line: “You’ve been all over, And it’s been all over you, It’s a Beautiful Day!”

2) In My Place / Coldplay (A Rush Of Blood To The Head)
From the open drum beat to the first notes on the guitar, In My Place grabs my attention and holds on for 4 minutes. Whenever this song plays I dance. If it comes on in the car, the sunroof opens and the windows roll down. It is just that simple.

Favorite Line: “Singin’ please, please, please, Come back and sing to me. Come on and Sing it out!”

3) Let’s Stay Together / Al Green
I wish I was a great soul singer like the Rev. Green.

Favorite Line: “Since we’ve been together, Wooo, Loving you forever is what I NEEEEEeeeeeddd”

4) In My Place / Coldplay (A Rush Of Blood To The Head)
From the open drum beat to the first notes on the guitar, In My Place grabs my attention and holds on for 4 minutes. Whenever this song plays I dance. If it comes on in the car, the sunroof opens and the windows roll down. It is just that simple.

Favorite Line: “Singin’ please, please, please, Come back and sing to me. Come on and Sing it out!”

5) If I Can Dream / Elvis (’68 Comeback Special)
I’m a big Elvis fan and this is without a doubt the greatest Elvis song in his cannon. Since this is from the ’68 Comeback Special the energy and the passion is turned up to 11. It is so real you can almost feel the heat of the studio lights and the sweat from his brow. Elvis believes every word of this song and he makes you believe it too.

Favorite line: “While I can think, while I can talk, while I can stand, while I can walk, while I can dream… please let my dream… come true.”

6) Shelter From the Storm (Alt Take) / Bob Dylan (Jerry Maguire Soundtrack)
Any true Dylan fan can tell the difference between the album releases and the numerous alternative takes that have been leaked, released, and traded around for years. While I cannot give you any technical reasons this alternative take of Shelter is different the Blood on the Tracks original I can tell you that this is the superior one. This song totally envelops me whenever I listen to it.

Favorite Line: “I bargained for salvation, She gave me a lethal dose.”

7) Won’t Back Down / Johnny Cash feat. Tom Petty (American III)
We live a world that settles for mediocrity. I hate that. When things get tough or the pressure is on we wither and melt. Hearing Cash’s weather-beaten voice is a bit of motivation for this young pup to keep pushing, keeping shipping, and keep standing firm when everyone and everything else settles for less that what they deserve.

Favorite Line: “I know what’s right,I got just one life, In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around, But I’ll stand my ground, And I won’t back down.”

Eight) All These Things I’ve Done / The Killers (Hot Fuss)
Invisible Children used this track for a simple yet powerful video highlighting teens leading the charge and sounding the cry for children in Uganda who were being abducted and forced to serve in illegal armies. I don’t know if it is because of the video or because of the song but I get completely lost inside this song and I still get goosebumps every time I listen. Great song.

Favorite Line: “If you can’t hold on, Hold on.”

9) Fix You / Coldplay (X&Y)
A modern day hymn complete with organ, longing, promises, and reverence. Is there anything about this song that isn’t absolutely perfect.

Favorite Line: “Tears stream down your face, when you lose something you cannot replace.”

10) How He Loves / John Mark McMillian (The Medicine)
Another song that gives me goosebumps. It is worship in the raw and John Mark McMillian dedicates every word to Almighty God. A simple song with simple lyrics suddenly becomes complex and earth-shattering when the implications of these lyrics sink in. Our great and mighty God loves us enough to send his Son to earth to die in our place and offer us real and eternal life. Oh How He Loves!

Favorite Line: “I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about… How He Loves Us!”

Life, Music, Playlists

Top 20

Music plays such a big role in my life. Recently I was in Barnes and Noble and I saw a book entitled “Music Listography: Your Life in (Play)Lists.” This book/journal is designed for you to list everything you love about music. Some the lists include “90’s Music,” “Favorite Shows You’ve Seen Live,” and “Musicians You’d Bring Back From the Dead.” When I flipped through the book I knew I just had to have this book and fill it with everything I love about music.

The first two lists in the book call for you to list your Top 20 favorites. Here is my offerings:

Your Top Twenty Favorite Bands– (In no particular order)

U2
Counting Crows
The Police
The Beatles
Coldplay
Dave Matthews Band
Matisyahu
Hillsong United
Ray Lamotagne
David Crowder Band
Bob Dylan
Pearl Jam
Elvis
Led Zeppelin
The Who
Jars of Clay
Muse
Weezer
The Killers
Jack Johnson

Top Twenty Albums You’d Bring If You Were Leaving Planet Earth In a Spaceship (Again, no particular order)

The Joshua Tree (U2)
Achtung Baby (U2)
Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd)
August and Everything After (Counting Crows)
What’s Goin’ On (Marvin Gaye)
Recovering the Satellites (Counting Crows)
Live at Stubb’s (Matisyahu)
Live at Luther (Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds)
X&Y (Coldplay)
Jesus Freak (DC Talk)
Continuum (John Mayer)
In Between Dreams (Jack Johnson)
Fumbling Toward Ecstasy (Sarah McLaughlin)
Illuminate (David Crowder Band)
IV (Led Zeppelin)
Rearview Mirror (Pearl Jam) – I know it’s a Greatest Hits collection. Who cares?
Jars of Clay (Jars of Clay)
Nirvana: Unplugged (Nirvana)
O (Damien Rice)
With Hearts As One (Hillsong United)

How about you? What are your Top 20 Bands/Albums?

Best of..., Firm on the Rock, Music, Resources

Top 10 Songs to Wake Up To

10) I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Sometimes you want a song to help ease you into the day. Your snooze button is 9mins. This good-morning groove clocks in at just over 11min. Take that extra couple of minutes to get reoriented to a brand new day. Just try to lay still when this sweet groove hits your ear. I dare you.

9) Sunday Morning – No Doubt
First comes the snare drum. Then the bass groove. Then the guitar solo. Then the dancing in front of the mirror while brushing your teeth.

8) Hard to Handle – The Black Crows
You’ll be up and out the door with a hitch in your step and the chorus in your head all day. “Hey little thing let me light your candle. Cause mama I’m sure hard to handle!”

7) Livin’ On the Edge – Aerosmith
(Boom. Boom. Boom.) We’re livin’ on the edge! The drum beat and the inspirational lyrics will help march you out of bed to meet the day with purpose and determination.

6) Alive – Pearl Jam
The opening guitar solo on this song will blow the sheets right off your bed. “Alive” won’t ask you to get up. It makes you get up.

5) Till I Hear It From You – Gin Blossoms
Another song to gently awake you and help you begin your day.

4) Can’t Stop Lovin’ You – Van Hagar Van Halen
I can’t stop singing the chorus at the top of my lungs.

3) Best of You – Foo Fighters
Dave Grohl’s voice is a refreshing splash of cold water in the morning. I highly recommend this song if you have to wake up earlier than usual.

2) Tom Sawyer – Rush
Waking up to this song feels like your being announced at a packed stadium full of cheering fans. Do you have a make-it-or-break-it meeting in the morning? Do you need some extra enthusiasm in the AM? Then wake up to Tom Sawyer, shake it out, and scream “Game on!”

1) Beautiful Day – U2
A heart beat rhythm is only one of the great aspects of this Good Morning song. When this song wakes you from your sleep you can’t help but believe that it is going to truly be a Beautiful Day. It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday. It almost doesn’t matter what the day threatens to bring. As you open your eyes, don’t forget that “After the flood, all the colors came out.” You are known. You are cared for. You are loved. It will be a Beautiful Day.

Firm on the Rock, Music, Remarkable, Thoughts, U2

All That Can’t Leave You Behind

I’ve been listening to one of my all-time favorite albums, U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind, most of the evening. I absolutely love this album. It reminds me of early college life and all the new experiences and fun that come with time of your life. We’ve been rearranging some furniture in the house tonight but I have found myself a little distracted. You see, it seems as though some lyric or line captures my attention and pulls me into the music. This has happened on each and every song (yes, even New York and Wild Honey). So, as we listened, I collected my favorite lines or verses below.

To me, music doesn’t get much better than Beautiful Day, lyrics don’t get much better than Stuck In a Moment, hope doesn’t get much better than Walk On, and love doesn’t get better than Grace.

Beautiful Day
See the Bedouin fires at night / See the oil fields at first light and / See the bird with a leaf in her mouth / After the flood all the colors came out

(Beautiful Day ranks #1 on my “Greatest Songs to Wake Up To” list)

Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
And if the night runs over / And if the day won’t last / And if our way should falter / Along the stony pass / It’s just a moment, this time will pass

(Perfect finish.)

Elevation
Love, lift me out of these blues / Won’t you tell me something true / I believe in you

(Narrowly beat out the line A mole living in a hole / Digging up my soul. Narrowly.)

Walk On
You’re packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been / A place that has to be believed to be seen

(The live version takes you home with a chorus of “Hallelujahs” at the end.)

Kite
Who’s to say where the wind will take you / Who’s to say what it is will break you / I don’t know where the wind will blow / Who’s to know when the time has come around

(When Bono dedicates this to his late Father I dare you not to tear up.)

In a Little While
In a little while I won’t be blown by every breeze / Friday night running to Sunday on my knees

(There’s an entire youth group message series contain here in)

Wild Honey
Did I know you, did I know you even then / Before the clocks kept time, before the world was made / From the cruel sun you were my shelter / You were my shelter and my shade

(Every album needs some throw away ditty. Thankfully these lyrics narrowly save this one. Narrowly.)

Peace On Earth
Their lives are bigger than any big idea

(This song is bigger than any one lyric.)

When I Look At the World
So I try to be like you / Try to feel it like you do / But without you it’s no use

(“When you see as God sees, you will do what God says.” – A. Stanley)

New York
In the stillness of the evening / When the sun has had its day / I heard your voice whispering / Come away now

(Every album needs an odd track.)

Grace
What once was hurt / What once was friction / What left a mark no longer stings / Because Grace makes beauty / Out of ugly things

(Boom.)

Bonus: The Ground Beneath Her Feet was a bonus track on some of the early presses of ATYCLB. No lyric hit me but I rocked out some sweet air guitar to the Edge’s solo.

Music, Popular Culture

5 Alternatives to Album of the Year

1 Comment

The Grammy Awards—or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry.

Behold the consequences of abandoning your mission. This year’s Grammy nominations are in and they are horrible!!! Sure there are some good nominations across the board but I am dumbstruck by the mediocre choices for Album of the Year. Surely, surely they could have come up with some more deserving alternatives to nominate for the big prize. Instead, we have a hodgepodge of noise being passed off as credible “achievements in the music industry.”

If I were choosing this year’s Album of the Year my choices would look decidedly different. Here’s a look at my choices for Album of the Year. (For recordings released during the Eligibility Year October 1, 2008 through August 31, 2009)

The Resistance // MUSE (over I Am… Sasha Fierce // Beyonce)
Why reward a bloated double album of pop standards when you can reward a single bloated album of rock genius? You might not yet know who MUSE is but you soon will. These guys are huge across the pond. 2009 brought us The Resistance, MUSE’s biggest release yet. This space-opera-concept album, is full of haunting lyrics, driving beats, and even a three part symphony. The first single, Uprising, should be nominated for song of the year too. A very fitting anthem for 2009.

Day and Age // The Killers (over The E.N.D. // The Black Eyed Peas)
If you award the BEP with Album of the Year, then Autotune wins. Is that what you want? Is that the kind of world you want your grandchildren to inherit. Like Beyonce, BEP are the “big name” nominees. Sure they’ll bring in the viewers and put on a lavish light show but you aren’t supposed to awarding lasers. Remember, Autotune or saving humanity. The choice is yours.

For some good dance beats, strong music, and real voices try to sit still listening to the latest release from The Killers.

Nails on a Chalkboard // 1000 Angry Cats (over The Fame // Lady Gaga)
I would also rather listen to Fran Drescher sing the complete works of Frank Sinatra than to sit and listen to this crap. If you feed it, it will hang around. I say starve this Fame Monster and put us out of our misery. Too harsh?

Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King // Dave Matthews Band (over Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King // Dave Matthews Band)
Way to go Academy. This was a good nominee for Album of the Year. 1) The album is DMB’s best release in years and is a fitting tribute to their fallen founding member, LeRoi Moore. 2) The music is tight with every arrangement perfectly balanced. 3) There is an epic quality to sound. Hands down this my favorite DMB album since Before These Crowded Streets.

Backspacer // Pearl Jam (over Fearless // Taylor Swift)
I’m not a hater. I like Taylor Swift, her music, her lyrics, and her eye makeup but I am unwilling to say she deserves to win the big prize. Give her a songwriting award or a pop award but not Album of the Year. Instead, look to Pearl Jam for a solid and self-produced album. This is a big step forward for this Seattle band. The songs are driven by great music but the strength of these tracks come from the lyrics and vocals. Listening to Backspacer sounds familiar and brand new all at once.

(Obligatory Statement) U2’s No Line on the Horizon would be my real choice for Album of the Year. Yeah, yeah, yeah- I know. I might be biased (Who I am I kidding? I most certainly am biased.) but musically, lyrically, sonically NLOTH is leaps and bounds, over and above any of the real nominees for Album of the Year. It may not be the “best” U2 album but it is an awesome listening experience and a classic album. 20 years from now I will stand by that statement.

20 minutes from now you’ll be asking “Who is Lady Gaga?”