Well the good thing about this shutdown is that is has given me plenty of time to finish this.
#15 What this World Needs - Casting Crowns
Being an unabashed Big Country fan, Dolberry has always been fascinated by "one-hit" wonders. What factors have to come together for a band to have one huge song then drop back into obscurity? In some cases it simply appears to be a case in which the stars are aligned just right ... and the song taps into a contemporary but very finite zeitgeist ... and gets propelled into the mainstream. In other cases, it appears that the artist simply had the resources for ONE big statement, one exceptional piece of art that ... through its sheer power .... forces its way into the mainstream. The first class of one-hit wonder is analogous to a virus. Songs like "The Pina Colada Song" and "Mickey" or "The Fox" (now) spread quickly from person to person until they eventually provoke an immune response that eliminates the virus. These songs generally disappear as fast as they emerged, never to be heard from again. The second type may be imperfectly compared to bacteria in that the song itself is an organism with its own functions and characteristics. These songs tend to have a little more staying power and can retain their popularity for long periods (e.g., "In a Big Country" or "99 Luftballoons" or "Take on Me") ... although some of these hits are probably are pathogenic.
Regardless of type ... being a one-hit wonder shouldn't be viewed as failure ... one triumph of this regard is one more then the many who have zero. I love Stuart Adamson's quote about being the 39th ranked "one hit wonder" of all time ... "If we're known for nothing more than just that one song, I'd be pretty happy with that." Anyway, this extended intro is a long-winded way of introducing the #15 song which mentions one hit wonders ...
Sample lyrics: What this world needs is not another one hit wonder with an axe to grind / Another two bit politician peddling lies / Another three ring circus society / What this world needs is not another sign waving super saint that's better than you / Another ear pleasing candy man afraid of the truth / Another prophet in an Armani suit
We can't strap ourselves to the gospel because we're slowing it down / Jesus is going to save the world ... maybe the best thing we can do is get out of the way.
This is a pretty seditious song for a band so firmly beloved by K-Love. I'm surprised they weren't lambasted for it. Oh ... after 15 secs of googling ... I found multiple blogs/comments lambasting them for it. Very good, internet, you never let me down. Anyway, if you want to read a blog way better than this one, I point you to this one from a friend considering how the failure of many churches to address the full spectrum of moral issues is pushing young Christians away from the GOP and maybe even away from God. I hope the next 0-20 years of Christiandom will (actually, it's probably already started) feature a pendulum swing back in the direction winning others through Christ-like behavior at the expense of self-defeating (often largely hypocritical) political activity.
#14 Re-Education (Through Labor) - Rise Against
First, great band name. With the possible exception of Rage Against the Machine, here's a band whose name most matches it's style. (Dolberry also would have accepted Five Finger Death Punch.) Second ... like Rise Against ... Dolberry once lived in the Chicago suburbs and can fully understand why they're so angry at the world. The second or third time you have to wear a long-sleeved shirt to a baseball game in late May, you're ready to go Occupy something.
Sample lyrics: We crawl on our knees for you / Under a sky no longer blue / We sweat all day long for you / But we sow seeds to see us through / 'Cause sometimes dreams just don't come true / Look now at what they've done to you.
The title takes its name from the Chinese prison system and the lyrics are written from the POV of a repressed population. Before you jump to the conclusion then that it's about China ... here's what Tim McIlrath (lead singer) has to say about the song: "It's talking a lot about the 9-to-5, dog-eat-dog lifestyle, and what we are asked to do to simply make ends meet nowadays, and I think it's a feeling shared by people all around the world and especially in this country." That seems like a reasonable sentiment. It stands in stark contrast to the video for the song which features people dropping off backpack bombs all over Chicago w/ the final scene showing the Windy City in flames. Err ... you kinda lost me there Rise Against ... even though the prospects of Dolberry never getting another U of Chicago fundraising plea is somewhat tempting.
#13 The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead - XTC
OK, I promise this is the last of the "Christian" songs. The song talks about what it might look like if the Messiah had come to earth somewhere around 1992 instead of somewhere ~ 2-4 BC.
Sample lyrics: Peter Pumpkinhead pulled them all / Emptied churches and shopping malls / Where he spoke, it would raise the roof / Peter Pumpkinhead told the truth / But he made too many enemies of the people who would keep us on our knees ...
Peter Pumpkinhead was too good / Had him nailed to a chunk of wood / He died grinning on live TV / Hanging there he looked a lot like you / And an awful lot like me!
Peter feeds and houses the poor ... gives the religious establishment the holy whatfor ... makes enemies ... preaches a steadfast message of love ... gets slurred and eventually crucified by the religious movement of the day. In the old days it was the Pharisees ... there'd probably be a fight to be first stonethrower in line these days. Despite the depressing theme ... it's at least reassuring to know that some within the Christian church recognize and remind that the goal is to be beholden to Jesus as opposed to pastors, churches, and/or the religious experts who are more about rules then people. That all our gold is no good unless used to benefit others. That any kind of love is all right.
What's that? It was written by an atheist? ... well ... ahh crap.
#12 Rockin at the T-Dance - The Rainmakers
In 1981, a walkway across the atrium of the Hyatt hotel in Kansas City collapsed killing 114 people who'd gathered there for a "tea dance". The subsequent investigation determined that the building architects had communicated poorly with the contractors actually building the skywalk. Everyone was in a hurry to get the job done. Everybody assumed someone else was doing the math (the engineering calculations that determine whether the structure was safe). But somewhere along the way, a design change was made for expediency, nobody checked the weight loads, and the resultant skywalk could barely hold its own weight, let alone that of scores of people watching a dance below.
Sample lyrics: Take a trip with me in 1967 / With Grissom, White, and Chaffee on a rocket ride to heaven / A dead-end date aboard AS-204 / It was American made / Only the best for our boys / And we were rockin' at the T-Dance.
Take a trip with me to Kansas City MO / To the Hyatt House, to the big dance floor / You can still see the ghosts / But you can't see the sense / Why they let the monkey go and blame the monkey wrench.
In the end, there were lawsuits and lost licensures. Additional regulations and quality control steps were instituted. People had to live with the mistakes they'd made. Other people had to live without loved ones. And of course, 114 people lived no more ... all for a mistake that everyone admitted could have been uncovered by a 1st year engineering student. Sometimes life just doesn't make sense. Maybe singing out some of the anger helps.
#11 We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions - Queen
There should be a law that these two songs always have to be played together, like they always were on the radio in the 80's. They work well together ... conveying the truism that any meaningful victory is always associated with some sort of a fight.
Sample lyrics: Buddy you're a boy make a big noise / Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day / You got mud on yo' face / You big disgrace / Kickin' your can all over the place / Singin' we will we will rock you / We will we will rock you.
We are the champions, my friends / And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end / We are the champions / We are the champions / No time for losers / 'Cause we are the champions of the world.
It's going to be a fight to make this world a better place. We're going to have to resist our selfish urges to build ourselves at the expense of others. We're going to have to call out and resist those who sows seeds of doubt, despair, and hate. We're going to have to take some shots and come back stronger. We're going to have to forgive ... even when nursing a grudge feels so right. We're going to have to laser focus on our goal. In the end people of love will rock. In the end people of love will prevail. Though victory may not ultimately look like what we expect.
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