Category Archives: Music

Music, Theology

Haunting

My Enemies Are Men Like Me
Mockingbird
Derek Wbb

(vs. 1)
i have come to give you life
and to show you how to live it
i have come to make things right
to heal their ears and show you how to forgive them

because i would rather die
i would rather die
i would rather die
than to take your life

(chorus)
how can i kill the ones i’m supposed to love
my enemies are men like me
i will protest the sword if it’s not wielded well
my enemies are men like me

peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication
it’s like telling someone murder is wrong
and then showing them by way of execution

because i would rather die
i would rather die
i would rather die
than to take your life

(chorus)
how can i kill the ones i’m supposed to love
my enemies are men like me
i will protest the sword if it’s not wielded well
my enemies are men like me

when justice is bought and sold just like weapons of war
the ones who always pay are the poorest of the poor

Derek Webb

Music

Wipe Away Transgression, Set the Captives Free

Open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?
We know where we’re going;
We know where we’re from.
We’re leaving babylon, y’all!
We’re going to our father’s land.

Exodus, all right! movement of jah people!
Exodus: movement of jah people!

This is such a great jam: Exodus by Bob Marley. For some reason I have found myself singing this song today, all day. I love it!

Music

iTunes Statistics

My buddy Scott and his wife have been living over in England for the last few months. Over at his blog, he posted survey results from his iTunes music library (via Sarah), I thought that I would join in on the fun and post the results from my own library. When your done reading, let me know about your music libraries. This should be good. Enjoy.

Number of songs: 2975

Sort by song title:
First Song: … Baby One More Time- Britney “KFed Is Killing Me” Spears
Last Song: Zooropa- U2

Sort by time:
Shortest Song: (Repeat/Return) or When the Seventh Angel Sounded His Trumpet, and There Were Loud Voices In Heaven, Which Said: “The Kingdom of the World Has Become the Kingdom of Our Lord and of His Christ, and He Will Reign Foreverandever Etc…- David Crowder Band (00:10)
Longest Song: How Do I Become the Incarnation of Christ?- Mike Cope (1:17:14)

Sort by album:
First Song: I Am – !Hero (Rock Opera Soundtrack)
Last Song: The Wanderer- U2 & johhny Cash (Zooropa)

Top Five Most Played Songs:
1) Square One -Coldplay (X&Y)
2) Sometimes You Can’t make It One Your Own- U2 (HTDAAB)
3) Angel- Sarah McLachlan (City of Angels OMPS)
4) Fix You – Coldplay (X&Y)
5) City of Blinding Lights- U2 (HTDAAB)

First song that comes up on Shuffle: Mofo – U2 (Pop)

Search the following and state how many songs come up:
Sex? 1
Death? 3
Love? 191
Hate? 2 (1 song, 1 “Lost” episode)
God? 85
Texas? 10
You? 403

Music, News, Popular Culture

GAURD YOUR EARS!!!

In 1969 a legendary rock album was released called Tommy. The rock-opera told the tale of young Tommy Walker who becomes deaf, dumb, and blind after witnessing a murder.

This tale of a deaf, pinball-playing kid was given to us by one greatest and loudest rock bands ever to grace a stage: The Who. (named The World’s Loudest Rock Band by Guiness)

The Who’s guitarist, Pete Townsend, is one of the world’s great guitar players and, apparently, he is also now a safety inspector. Townsend has ben going deaf for a number of years. I always belived that the cause of his hearing loss was due to their infamous Smothers Bros. performance. Townsend believes otherwise.

The Who’s live performances were traditionally extremely loud. For most of the 1970s they were listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the loudest Rock band in the world, measured at 130 decibels, though other bands, notably Deep Purple, have since taken over that dubious honor. Townshend’s later partial deafness and tinnitus is well known; popular legends hold that the members of the band suffered permanent hearing loss from their loud concerts, or that Townshend’s right ear was damaged as a result of being too close to the drum kit when Moon detonated an oversized concussion bomb in it at the conclusion of a performance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967. Townshend, however, maintains that the true cause was listening to the music at high volume through headphones.

Now Pete Townsend has come out to discuss the dangers of listening to loud rock music…. on your iPod.

According to ABC News,

Guitarist Pete Townshend has warned iPod users that they could end up with hearing problems as bad as his own if they don’t turn down the volume of the music they are listening to on earphones.

Townshend, 60, guitarist in the 60s band The Who, said his hearing was irreversibly damaged by years of using studio headphones and that he now is forced to take 36-hour breaks between recording sessions to allow his ears to recover.

“I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal components deaf,” he said on his Web site. “Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired. If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you MAY be OK … But my intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead.”

Pete, I appreciate your heart-felt public service announcement but if I do shell out the money to see you and Rodger this summer I am going to pay for those extra decibels so CRANK IT UP OLD MAN!!!! My Ge, Ge, Generation likes it loud!

Music, Popular Culture, U2

A Noble Spirit Embiggens the Smallest Man

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Last night U2 performed in Nebraska for the first time. According to one fan review, Bono took a moment to apologize for something that he has been criticized about quite frequently over the last few years. During Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own, Bono apologized for his use of foul language in the past. According to Shaun Grantski‘s review on U2tours, Bono told the crowd

I’ve been known to use colorful language in the past…and I’m really working on stopping it. I do not mean to offend anyone; it’s just the way I grew up and the culture we’re in…it’s all around us.

Bono’s “colorful language” caused quite a stir at the Golden Globes when he and the Edge accepted an award for the song The Hands That Built America from the film The Gangs of New York.

Everyone of us deals with different struggles and shortcomings and celebrities are no different. It takes a big man to admit that he isn’t perfect. Good on ya, Bono.

Best of 2005, Music

Top Albums of 2005

This year was a good year for great music. My three favorite bands all released albums and I was able to catch a couple of them on tour this year as well. For what it’s worth I wanted to live out my small fantasy of writing reviews for Rolling Stone here on my site. So with out further ado, Here is a list of my favorite albums of the past year. They are listed in no particular order because that wouldn’t be fair to any of the bands that don’t have The Edge as a guitarist. Enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
U2

The boys from the north side of Dublin do it again! If this isn’t the best album of the year it sure is the most fun. Unos, Dos, Tres, Catorce! Top Tracks: Original of the Species, Crumbs From Your Table, Yahweh, City of Blinding Lights

Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney released a wonderful album this year that hasn’t gotten much attention. Instead of being backed up by George, Ringo, and John, Sir Paul’s back-up band is— Sir Paul McCartney. On the first song alone, Paul plays 9 different instruments. Although there are no “radio-friendly-Top-40” breakout hits this album showcases Paul’s musical and lyrical prowess. The album stays with you long after you have placed the disc back in its case.Top Tracks: Fine Line, Jenny Wren, Too Much Rain

X&Y
Coldplay

Chris Martin and Co. came back with a vengance this past year and brought with them a great album. Nothing I could say here could capture the places that this album can take you. Stop right now, buy this album and listen to it! Pure genius. I believe that in the coming years this will be one of those definative records that everybody owns. Get yours today. Top Tracks: Fix You, Square One, A Message, Talk, The Hardest Part, Kingdom Come

Jagged Little Pill-Acoustic
Alanis Morrisette

I can remember listening to the original Jagged Little Pill back in high school. Alanis Morrisette decided that the best way to re-release this classic album was to reunite with uber-producer Glen Ballard for a thorough re-telling of every song, note for note. I bought this CD at Starbuck’s thinking that it would be the usual “unplugged” album. I was wrong. The songs were re-crafted to work within the acoustic setting. The sounds were just as fresh as they were back in ‘95. A few misses but still one of my favorite albums of 2005.

Live at Stubb’s
Matisyahu

A Hasidic Jew who sings Reggae in the vein of Bob Marley and the Wailers. If it wasn’t real it would be a terrible, off-color joke. Well, it is real and it rocks! Matisyahu spent a summer as a Phish-head traveling around the country. He got in touch with his Hasidic roots and began to lay down some heavy beats. I loved this live album. Recorded in Austin, TX, Live at Stubb’s showcases Matisyahu’s deeply spiritual lyrics and captures the raw, enigmatic vibe of this blistering set. Check this album out.

Stand Up/ Weekend on the Rocks
Dave Matthews Band

An ambitious album from DMB followed up by an end of the year live release. Nine tracks from Stand Up are featured on Weekend 2 CDs and the live concert DVD proving that the only way to experience Dave Matthews Band is live. The live album highlights of Stand Up’s hip-hop heavy beats show that the new stuff can stand side by side old standards like “Everyday,” “41,” and “Crash Into Me.” The CDs and the DVD are actually the best of Dave and Co. four day stand at Red Rocks Amphitheater. You can purchase the Complete Weekend on the Rocks from the Official DMB online store (8CDs and 1 DVD) for $59.00. Top Tracks: Stand Up: Dreamgirl, Everybody Wake Up, Hunger for the Great Light. Weekend on the Rocks: American Baby, Time of the Season, Bartender (16+ minutes of pure jam bliss).

Late Registration
KanYe West

Right up front: Micheal Felker cares about KanYe West! Everybody’s favorite conflicted rapper released his second album in the fall of 2005. Much like his comments concerning the Hurricane and the Pres., Late Registration is filled with socially conscious lyrics (“Diamonds from Sierra Leone”) and socially irresponsible lyrics (“And I know that the Government administered AIDS”). Much like the artist himself, this album is full of contridictions but it is still one of the best albums of 2005. Top Tracks: Heard ‘Em Say, Diamonds From Sierra Leone, Bring Me Down, Hey Mama

Honorable Mention
Get Lifted
John Legend

Redemption Songs
Jars of Clay

In Between Dreams
Jack Johnson

A Collision
David Crowder* Band

Music, News, U2

HTRAAC

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or, How To Rock an Awards Ceremony.

U2’s latest release, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb has been nominated for 6 Grammy Awards. Way to go guys!

BTW, next week my end of the year Best of 2005 lists will be posted. This year I’ve chosen to highlight my favorite albums and books. Keep your eyes open for the lists.

Song of the Year – Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal – Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
Best Rock Song – City of Blinding Lights
Best Rock Album – How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
Producer of the Year – Steve Lillywhite, for How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
Album of the Year – How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

Music

Banner Pic

I had a great time at TobyMac’s Winter Wonder Slam concert last night. There were a whole host of up-and-coming Christian artists such as Barlow Girls, Grits, Matthew West and, my favorite, John Reuben. For the banner pic this week I used a picture of a Fender Stratocaster and a line from one of Reuben’s songs, Do Not. (The link is for the video. Please give it a few seconds to load) The whole evening was great and a lot of fun. Below are a few of my favorite pictures from last night. Enjoy.

John Reuben TobyMac1TobyMac2WinterWonderSlam