Christian Rock is the most hypocritical thing ever....

[sallycinnamon78]

This thread, serious or oherwise, reminds me strongly of a South Park episode.

Cartman: [turns around] Our band should play Christian rock! [beams with pride]
Kyle: Christian rock?!

Cartman: All right, guys, this is gonna be so easy. All we have to do to make Christian songs is take regular old songs and add Jesus stuff to them. [some sheet music is shown. Cartman has already crossed out the original author's name] See? All we have to do is cross out words like "baby" and "Darling" and replace them with [writes next to "baby"] Jesus.

Cartman sings
Don't ever leave me, Jesus. I couldn't stand to see you go.
My heart would simply snap, my Lord, if you walked on out that door.
I promise I'll be good to you, and keep you warm at night.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, why don't we just... shut off the lights.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

My Catholic church has a full band playing at the youth mass. It is far from traditional.

 

[verte76]

My Catholic church has a full band playing at the youth mass. It is far from traditional.

Hey, so does mine.

 

[Flying FuManchu]

Christian rock isn't hypocritical. Mediocre, maybe...

 

[Earnie Shavers]

There's a difference between Christian Rock and rock by Christians. I've heard plenty of Christians make great rock, but never any even moderately good Christian Rock. Who are considered the best ? (Musically, not just the biggest).

 

[Earnie Shavers]

"Party Girl" is most assuredly *not* about Ali.

And neither are songs like Velvet Dress, Mysterious Ways, Even Better than the Real Thing.... but we all know those are just Bonos vivid imagination....

 

[80sU2isBest]

There's a difference between Christian Rock and rock by Christians. I've heard plenty of Christians make great rock, but never any even moderately good Christian Rock. Who are considered the best ? (Musically, not just the biggest).

Steven Curtis Chapman, David Meece and Steve Taylor are amongst the best of all time, in my opinion.

And they aren't just "good, for being Christian artists", as some would say. These guys are very talented, no matter who you put them up against.

Steven is a mainstay on Christian radio, but his music and lyrics are so much better than 95% of Christian music.

Here is a link to my fave CD by him:



David Meece is an excellent song-writer, and one of the 2 best pianists I've ever heard, and I've known a lot of excellent pianists.
He wrote the song "We Are The Reason", which is the most covered contemporary Christian song of all time.

Steve Taylor was the satire king of Christian rock. His lyrics were funny, intelligent and his music very unique.

Here are some of his lyrics:

EASY LISTENING

Gather-me-grandchildren if you love a good mystery
Gather-me-grandchildren for a little church history
It's 2044
You're avoiding our turn-of-the-century ways

How did we strike it rich?
Kissing up to the powerful
How did we make our pitch?
Satellites by the towerful
Why do you young people have to go and get caught up in a radical phase?

My conscience was clear and my wallet was full
I didn't hear none of this "sacrifice" bull
Tough times call for a backtrack
Gimme that old-time easy listening

Cuddle up, yeah, yeah
12 hours, twice a day
Cuddle up, yeah, yeah
Simmer down
Attaway

Color me old-fashioned, but I still remember when
The sermons were affirming, 'cause the Lord liked us better then
It's 2044
And I don't want to be my brother's keeper no more

Color me chicken yellow if I liked it in the ozone
Call me lemon jello if I lacked a little backbone
We're King's Kids, dang it
And we used to know what a housekeeper was for

Tickle my ear and I'll pay for your show
Sing about stuff that I already know
Whisper sweet nothings
Pour a nightcap
Gimme that old-time easy listening

Cuddle up, yeah, yeah
12 hours, twice a day
Cuddle up, yeah, yeah
Simmer down
Attaway

Cuddle up, yeah, yeah
Order now, don't delay
Cuddle up, yeah, yeah
Sleep it off
Drool away

Gather-me-round children, 'cause your faith is a mystery
Gather me grandchildren for a little church history
It's 2044
And I miss our turn-of-the-century ways

How did we strike it rich?
Kissing up to the powerful
How did we make our pitch?
Satellites by the towerful
Why do you young hotheads have to go and get caught up in a radical phase?

I'm ok, you're ok, we're ok, so
I think I'm gonna buy my own radio show
Spread the good news and the Barry Manilow
Happy talk, no rock, non-stop easy listening

*****

SINCE I GAVE UP HOPE, I FEEL A LOT BETTER

Enter the young idealist
chasing dragons to slay
exit the hustler
packing up his M.B.A.

Freshmen scream in a classroom
was there a sound?
first degree in the vacuum
I'm on college ground

Took a class
big fun
modern ethics 101
first day learn why
ethics really don't apply
Prof says, "One trait
takes us to a higher state
drug free, pure bliss
get your pencils, copy this:

"Life unwinds like a cheap sweater
but since I gave up hope I feel a lot better
and the truth gets blurred like a wet letter
but since I gave up hope I feel a lot better"

Top of the class sits Ernest
he was brightest and best
till the professor lured him
to the hopeless nest

Now he lives for the shortcut
like a citizen should
tells the class with a wink
"only the young die good."

He says, "Ideals? Uncouth.
fatalism needs youth
eat well, floss right
keep the hungry out of sight
save face--nip and tuck
praise yourself and pass the buck
don't forget the best advice
everybody's get a price

"Life unwinds like a cheap sweater
but since I gave up hope I feel a lot better
and the truth gets blurred like a wet letter
but since I gave up hope I feel a lot better

"While the world winds down to a final prayer
nothing soothes quicker than complete despair
I predict by dinner I won't even care
since I gave up hope I feel a lot better"

Nazis plead in a courtroom
"Pardon me, boys"
profits fall in a boardroom
did they make a noise?

Someone spreads an affliction
company's nice
someone sells an addiction
puts your soul on ice

Half wits knock heads
candidates in double beds
good guys defect
"I can't precisely recollect"
teacher's pet theory's fine
if you're born without a spine
can't you spell wrong?
sing it to him Papa John

***************

SMUG

Strike this little pose
Chin up in the air
Lips together tightly
Nostrils in a flare
Now look like you care
Very nice!

Practice in the mirror
Brushing back a tear
Very sincere
A promising career could begin right here at home
If you've got that smug...
That smug...

chorus:
Hey mama hey mama lookee what your little babies all have become
Hey mama hey mama don't it ever make you wish you'd been a nun?
Vain and fickle, were we weaned on a pickle?
Is it in our blood?
Rome is burning
We're here turning smug

Strike another pose
Power politics
Swallow their conventions
Get your power fix
We love to mud wrestle
We love to be politically Koreshed

Practice that smug
Post it like a man
One part Master Limbaugh
Two parts Madame Streisand
Now pretend you're in a band
My, my, we're looking smug
Very very very very

(chorus)

All you smug-starved millions in the thick of the search
Welcome to our church
Whatcha wanna solve?
We can help you evolve from merely self-righteous
To perfectly smug

Strike the proud pose of our country club brethren
Friendly as a tomb
Fragrant as the bottom of a locker-room broom
Now what's the matter?
Hey...get off your knees...that part don't come 'til later...
God will not be pleased...

(chorus)
Hey mama hey mama lookee what your little babies all have become...
Rome is cooking
My, we're looking smug




[

 

[u2bonogirl]

another good band is delirious
they have a distinctly un-christian rock sound
Personally I think most contemporary christian music is bland.
I used to play on the music team at my old church before I moved and we could freakin rock. I was the electric guitarist and they gave me freedom to rip off Edge every week
Christian music doesnt have to be boring...or maybe it does. lol

bonos sexual references are about ali?
damn
I thought they were about me

 

[Irishteen]

This thread, serious or oherwise, reminds me strongly of a South Park episode.

Cartman: [turns around] Our band should play Christian rock! [beams with pride]
Kyle: Christian rock?!

Cartman: All right, guys, this is gonna be so easy. All we have to do to make Christian songs is take regular old songs and add Jesus stuff to them. [some sheet music is shown. Cartman has already crossed out the original author's name] See? All we have to do is cross out words like "baby" and "Darling" and replace them with [writes next to "baby"] Jesus.

Cartman sings
Don't ever leave me, Jesus. I couldn't stand to see you go.
My heart would simply snap, my Lord, if you walked on out that door.
I promise I'll be good to you, and keep you warm at night.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, why don't we just... shut off the lights.

That was a great episode, "It sounds like your in love with Jesus" "What don't you love Jesus", "yes we love Jesus, but it sounds like your in love with Jesus" "Love Jeus, in love with jesus whats the difference" or something like that.

 

[Sherry Darling]

Jars of Clay is allright--solid songrighting. Michael Caird does some nice work but you have to like the acoustic thing. I still enjoy of the old Amy Grant "classics" (Thy Word, El Shaddi, etc) but it's an 'adult contemporary' sound, LOL, not rock really. DC Talk has some of my favorite Christian songs ("What If I Stumble"). Audio Adrenaline is supposed to be high energy but I haven't heard much of them. My friend loves PFR, and they do have a great song called "Where Does That Kind of Love Come From" with some great harmonies.

Most of it's pretty Top 40 bland.

And some of the most powerful, honest spiritual songs I've heard are by "non Christian" artists. I love "Shadow of Doubt by Bonnie Raitt, for example, or "Reason to Believe" by Springsteen.

 

[Ft. Worth Frog]

I agree 80s, Steve Taylor is a great songwriter. Jars of Clay, like SD said are good. They kinda get made fun of for that "Flood" song that was popular 10 years ago, but their sound has changed over the years. Often, I think people make fun of Christian artists solely because they are Christian, not because they have actually listened to the music and found it artisitically dull. That being said, 95% is bland and boring.

Though not necessarily a Christian "rock" band, Caedmons Call is probably my fave, up there with Delirious. They play a sort of alternative fold style. Their first several albums are definitely not your typical mainstream CCM, mostly because of the songwriting. When one of the singers, Derek Webb, left a couple of years ago to go solo, it was a great loss to the band. However, Webb's solo stuff is great. Actually, I think his latest album is somewhat inspired by Jim Wallis. Though not liberal theologically, Webb's songs lean liberal politically. His sound ranges from Wilco to Allison Krauss to U2 to whoever you want. Very good musically.

 

[coemgen]

Mute Math. Check it out. They're starting a revolution in Christian music by not sounding Christian!

 

[u2bonogirl]

theres a band called relient K
theyre like pop punk I guess, but they have a lot of talent. Ive seen them live
The cool thing about them is that they have the christian message in their music but not in all of it
If they feel like singing a song about going to prom, or a shitty job they do
I think thats a more effective way of reaching their target audience than just singing oh praise jesus
But thats just me

 

[stammer476]

Steve Taylor was the satire king of Christian rock. His lyrics were funny, intelligent and his music very unique. [

Ah, yes. The great Steve Taylor.

My favorite song of his was "I Want to be a Clone."

__


I'd gone through so much other stuff
that walking down the aisle was tough
but now I know it's not enough
I want to be a clone

I asked the Lord into my heart
they said that was the way to start
but now you've got to play the part
I want to be a clone

chorus:
Be a clone and kiss conviction goodnight
cloneliness is next to Godliness, right?
I'm grateful that they show the way
'cause I could never know the way
to serve him on my own
I want to be a clone

They told me that I'd fall away
unless I followed what they say
who needs the Bible anyway?
I want to be a clone

Their language it was new to me
but Christianese got through to me
now I can speak it fluently
I want to be a clone

(chorus)

Send in the clones
Ah, I kind of wanted to tell my friends and people about it, you know
What?
You're still a babe
you have to grow
give it twenty years or so
'cause if you want to be one of his
got to act like one of us

(chorus)

So now I see the whole design
my church is an assembly line
the parts are there
I'm feeling fine
I want to be a clone

I've learned enough to stay afloat
but not so much I rock the boat
I'm glad they shoved it down my throat
I want to be a clone

Everybody must get cloned

 

[80sU2isBest]

Great Stuff, that "I Want To Be A Clone". It was great in concert.

 

[80sU2isBest]

FREE STEVE TAYLOR MP3s

For those of you interested in obtaining Steve Taylor MP3 free of charge, with his expressed written consent, a few of his CDs are available at

http://www.onfritz.com/TaylorDownloads.html

My fave CDS are I Predict 1990 and Squint. I think most of you would like Squint best.

 

[shart1780]

I don't think rock music is hypocritical per-sey... but it is alot of times.

So many bands that claim to be singing for the glory of God are blatantly prideful and singing for their own glory. Pride is a huge sin and no one promoting God should have the "hey look at my awesome talent" syndrome going on.

 

[jphelmet]

mat kearney (matkearney.com)
excellent, nothing trite or watered down about his lyrics.

I think you will find in a lot of Christian denominations today embrace rock music, music in general, art, and culture in very different ways than they church did in the past.

A clear understanding of what the Bible actually says on the subject is quite helpful in filtering out the 'Rock music is the devils music' crowd.

As a Christian, I listen to almost no 'Christian' music. Although I have a very different worldview from Thom Yorke or Jeff Tweedy I worship God through listening to Wilco and Radiohead (and many, many others). I thank God for the talents He has given them, and can absolutely see the beauty of the creation of music and what a wonderful gift it is. I often disagree with their stances on political issues, or even lyrical content- but that doesn't make their music void of value.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

The Alarm

Just wanting to say that I totally agree with you about these guys. I've been getting into this band within the last year and a half or so...they've got some good stuff .

Also, sallycinnamon, LOL, I've seen that "South Park" episode. Funny stuff .

Angela

 

[80sU2isBest]

Angela, a few years ago, there was a deal going that if you bought all the remastered ALarm CDs, Mike Peters (the singer) would record any Alarm song you wanted him to specially for you and record a special dedication just how you wanted it. Even if he got the same song requested by multiple people, he recorded it specifically for each person. He recorded "Walk Forever In The Light" over 200 times. I had him record "ONly Love Can Set Me Free" with a goofy little dedication.

 

[BVS]

Angela, a few years ago, there was a deal going that if you bought all the remastered ALarm CDs, Mike Peters (the singer) would record any Alarm song you wanted him to specially for you and record a special dedication just how you wanted it. Even if he got the same song requested by multiple people, he recorded it specifically for each person. He recorded "Walk Forever In The Light" over 200 times. I had him record "ONly Love Can Set Me Free" with a goofy little dedication.

Whoah, that's crazy dedication there...

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Angela, a few years ago, there was a deal going that if you bought all the remastered ALarm CDs, Mike Peters (the singer) would record any Alarm song you wanted him to specially for you and record a special dedication just how you wanted it. Even if he got the same song requested by multiple people, he recorded it specifically for each person. He recorded "Walk Forever In The Light" over 200 times. I had him record "ONly Love Can Set Me Free" with a goofy little dedication.

I've heard about that. That's a really nice gesture on his part, and pretty cool that you got a dedication .

Angela

 

[80sU2isBest]

He's doing video dedications now, if you feel like buying some concert DVDs.

 

[80sU2isBest]

Whoah, that's crazy dedication there...

Yeah, Mike loves his fans.

 

[beegee]

i remember steve taylor. he did meltdown at madame tussauds. for those of you who don't know, i grew up in a fairly fanatical, semi-panicky church environment. secular music was not allowed. it was considered a sin, for reasons i could not explain to you now. so us pre-teens listened to artists such as steve taylor, undercover (god rules!), and stryper. (hey, we did what we could)

many posts in this thread mention U2 as a christian band, which is quite amusing to me on a very personal level because way back in 1984, i was able to convince my parents that U2 was, indeed, a christian band - thanks to articles like the one 2hearts mentioned.

for christmas that year, there was a copy of unforgettable fire under the tree.

and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

[BVS]

Yeah, Mike loves his fans.

I just can't imagine spending that much time in the studio "re-doing" a song. Seriously he re-recorded it everytime? Or did he just re-record the dedication?

 

[BVS]

i remember steve taylor. he did meltdown at madame tussauds. for those of you who don't know, i grew up in a fairly fanatical, semi-panicky church environment. secular music was not allowed. it was considered a sin, for reasons i could not explain to you now. so us pre-teens listened to artists such as steve taylor, undercover (god rules!), and stryper. (hey, we did what we could)

many posts in this thread mention U2 as a christian band, which is quite amusing to me on a very personal level because way back in 1984, i was able to convince my parents that U2 was, indeed, a christian band - thanks to articles like the one 2hearts mentioned.

for christmas that year, there was a copy of unforgettable fire under the tree.

and the rest, as they say, is history.

I have a friend who grew up in a very fanatical home(for the life of me I can't remember the denomination, but they wouldn't allow women to play any role in the church except secretary, yet they allowed us to watch the shining at a lock-in ) He wasn't allowed to listen to anything secular except country music(which I found odd because all the popular country songs of the time had to do with drinking, crashing weddings and kicking ass) and U2, but as soon as AB came out the congregation changed their mind and U2 was put on the banned list.

 

[indra]

I just can't imagine spending that much time in the studio "re-doing" a song. Seriously he re-recorded it everytime? Or did he just re-record the dedication?

If he knows the song well, I can't see why even re-recording it should take all that long. I mean I have whole albums which were written and recorded in a week to ten days, so it doesn't sound completely out of whack to me.

Whatever he did, it's still a pretty impressive thing.

Isn't The Alarm the band that had/has these big fan gatherings? Or am I thinking of someone else?

 

[shrmn8rpoptart]

There's a difference between Christian Rock and rock by Christians. I've heard plenty of Christians make great rock, but never any even moderately good Christian Rock. Who are considered the best ? (Musically, not just the biggest).

switchfoot is pretty amazing, and even better live. the lead singer john foreman has talked with bono about africa, and they're helping with the ONE campaign.

i've heard them say in interviews that they are not a "Christian band", instead they're just a group of Christians who play rock music and don't claim to have all the answers.

 

[BVS]

If he knows the song well, I can't see why even re-recording it should take all that long. I mean I have whole albums which were written and recorded in a week to ten days, so it doesn't sound completely out of whack to me.

Whatever he did, it's still a pretty impressive thing.

Isn't The Alarm the band that had/has these big fan gatherings? Or am I thinking of someone else?

Yeah but no matter how many times you do it, if you are doing it 200 times and each one is asked to be different will take time, you're going to make mistakes and have to restart. He said one song he did 200 times, let's say it's a 3 minute song with dedication(which is a very conservative number). If he recorded it without mistakes or breaks between songs that one song took 10 hours of studio time. That's a lot to do for free, especially given the fact that that's just one song, who knows how many request he got in total.