music

Just listening to some Clash on my iPod and really appreciating the production of the song “Train in Vain”. It has a wonderful stereo effect not only on the instruments, but on the vocals as well. The vocals were recorded twice, once in the left channel and once in the right channel. The effect is very cool. This got me to thinking about the difference between the written music including the lyrics, and the enjoyment of the experience of music.

I liken this to the written words of the Bible and the experience of relationship with God. I mean the music and the Gospel, when it comes down to it, is just ink on paper. The notes are all there and the words to accompany the notes are there, but to just look at it, it doesn’t mean much. Yes, the lyric may be very touching and even if you can read music the melody might be delightful to hum, but until it gets put together with all of the fullness of the instruments and the vocals it is just a sheet of paper.

Same thing with the Bible. There are words on paper. Some of the words are touching, and some of the stories are filled with intrigue and romance. So we read them, choose for them to be true, and then exhibit faith that we trust and believe in God, His son Jesus, and His death and resurrection. We believe Jesus can save us from hell, and we believe that he can wash away our sins and forgive us. But we still live a life that is trying to be more pleasing to God than it is experiencing the relationship with God. We try to follow the rules, we concentrate on the spiritual disciplines, we pray more, and sometime we believe that if we are not continually asking for forgiveness we could die and not go to heaven.

Now if we take the words of the Bible and translate it into the Story that God is telling it can help us understand our story a lot better. We get a glimpse of a God who loves us furiously, and He pursues us continuously.

Let’s take some song examples:

“Think” - Aretha Franklin; when you look at the music the lyrics are good, but the melody seems to stay in one place during the chorus and if you hummed it would sound quite silly. Now listen to Aretha sing it and WOW!! She nails it! So much emotion in her voice and the song comes to life.

“The Messiah – Hallelujah Chorus” – Handel; Here is one where you look at the lyrics and go wow, how many times can they say Hallelujah in one song? It is based on writings in Isaiah and the lyrics are good, but just looking at the lyrics, they are repetitive at best. It is one of the most powerful worship songs ever.

My last example is that of music that sometimes has inconsequential or somewhat abstract lyrics, but the music is exceptional. The Progressive Rock bands of the 70’s come to mind here with their complex music structure including augmented chord progressions, and more of a Classical /Jazz influence than Rock. The music had texture and emotion in the music alone.

God is telling a story that is filled with emotion, rhythm and texture that goes way beyond ink on paper.

Eyes and ears can provide the knowledge, but only the heart can bring you the full experience of God.