Christian rebranding of music
I have noticed in my short time as a Christian, that churchianity likes to rebrand worldly things and “Christianize” it. I have noticed in the realm of music, they will take a secular song, have it sung in a Christian setting and somehow the godless lyrics are transformed. Consider the following examples:
Monkies, I’m a Believer. This song has absolutely, positively nothing to do with God. It is a song about being in love with a girl. Well, a few years back at a vacation bible school performance they changed the female pronouns to male, so instead of ” I saw her face” it become “I saw his face,” which I can only assume was supposed to mean Christ.
I thought love was only true in fairy tales
Meant for someone else but not for me.
Love was out to get me
That’s the way it seemed.
Disappointment haunted all my dreams.Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.
I’m in love, I’m a believer!
I couldn’t leave her if I tried.I thought love was more or less a given thing,
Seems the more I gave the less I got.
What’s the use in tryin’?
All you get is pain.
When I needed sunshine I got rain.Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind.
I’m in love, I’m a believer!
I couldn’t leave her if I tried.
Nope, no God in those lyrics.
Also, at the same event, they performed the song, Soul man but only sang the main chorus:
I’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.
I’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.
I guess this is some sort of hidden allusion to being a Christian, I am not sure. Maybe we can figure out why they skipped most of the song:
Comin’ to ya on a dusty road. Good lovin’ I got a truck load.
And when you get it you got something so don’t worry cause I’m coming.I’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.
I’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.Got what I got the hard way and I’ll make it better each and every day
So honey don’t you fret ’cause you ain’t seen nothing yet.I’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.
I’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.Listen. I was brought up on a side street. I learned how to love before I could eat.
I was educated from good stock. When I start lovin’ I just can’t stop.I’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.
I’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.Well grab the rope and I’ll pull you in give you hope and be your only boyfriend
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahI’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.
You’re a soul man. I’m a soul man.
I’m a soul man. I’m a soul man.
Seems to border on sex to me. Many people seems to think that the songs from the 50’s and 60’s are harmless, but I was shocked when I actually starting listening to the lyrics of many popular songs. My wife, who used to be a die hard oldies fan, said that sex was sung about alot in music back then too. I guess we know why it was called Rock ‘n Roll from the beginning…
Another song, In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel.
love I get so lost, sometimes
days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
when I want to run away
I drive off in my car
but whichever way I go
I come back to the place you areall my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the insidein your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
the heat I see in your eyeslove, I don’t like to see so much pain
so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and aliveand all my instincts, they return
and the grand facade, so soon will burn
without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the insidein your eyes
the light the heat
in your eyes
I am complete
in your eyes
I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes
the resolution of all the fruitless searches
in your eyes
I see the light and the heat
in your eyes
oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light,
the heat I see in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
in your eyes in your eyes
I can’t confirm this, but this seems to be your typical love song as Peter Gabriel’s site doesn’t go into detail about the reason behind his songs. Nichole Nordeman is the artist who rebrands the song, if you have iTunes, go here.
I guess we can take any secular vague love song, sing it in a Christian setting, and automatically the lyrics change meaning! Of course, the same could be said for most CCM today. Some of the lyrics only contain vague references to a pronoun which, if a Muslim were to sing the song, they would think it was to allah.
September 19th, 2005 at 12:14 pm
Brandon,
Sometimes it is best not to be around what currently passess for Christianity. Their condition is airborne and creates antibodies which make folks almost immune to the real thing.
Keep your insight in place—-do not relinquish the discernment you have been given.
I am still expecting to see a new group organized called Hookers for Christ!
pastor dc kanz
September 19th, 2005 at 6:42 pm
Thanks David for the kind words. One thing I have noticed in my short time as a believer is the almost complete lack of discernment in the traditional church setting. We have youth pastors, children’s director, worship leader, etc, but I have yet to find a position dedicated to testing the spirits. Of course the structure of church is another topic.
The only true antidote is the Word. If we read it, live it, love it, share it, dwell on it, and ask for wisdom from God, the Holy Spirit can teach us and protect us from false doctrine.
September 20th, 2005 at 2:17 pm
Brandon,
In looking at our historical heritage I have found some very helpful tools, some over 500 years old, which were used in the past to train believers in Biblical doctrine.
Those who used these tools were the means by which Europe was delivered from the dark ages. I also believe that the basic constuct of Western Civilization started when the the scriptures were translated into English and the tools that our brethren then compiled as the training tools.
Some things you might look into:
Geneva Bible/King James Bible/Tyndale Bible
(These are reliable because of the Greek and Hebrew texts that were used. The modern ones have opted for a text concocted by men who deny the resurrection, the authorship of the Penteteuch by Moses, the second coming, etc…)
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (the original three volume Foxe’s not the Reader’s Digest Version.)
The Westminster Confession 1689 and the Westminster Catechism. (The New England Primer, containing much of the smaller catechism, was the 2nd grade text book in American Public schools for the first 200 years in this country.)
The Heidelberg Catechism.
These are the major tools used by our forefathers in the faith to train a generation that literally altered the face of the earth. That’s the kind we need again.
Sorry if these are thing with which you are already familiar. I still use them.
dc kanz
November 26th, 2005 at 6:42 pm
I was in a Family Christian book store one day several years ago and heard the Nicole Nordeman version of “In Your Eyes” played over the PA. I thought to myself, “What does this have to do with God?” and asked a clerk stocking shelves the same. She said she thought Nicole Nordeman was turning it into a love song from God to us. Granted, nobody can put words into God’s mouth, so to speak. But I l ike the metaphor. So I guess the question is, does God actually love us in the intense way portrayed in the lyrics to “In Your Eyes”? In God’s eyes are we complete? Is there a light and heat to God’s love for us? Or does God merely tolerate us?
By the way, I linked to your blog from the Slice of Laodicea blog commentary section. I commented on Ingrid’s post of 11/22 about Harry Potter. I basically said that Christians should use individual conscience to figure whether Harry Potter and other secular movies/tv are a good thing. If you would like to know more about that, email me and we can talk about it.
November 27th, 2005 at 6:58 am
Rhonda,
Thanks for visiting. The thing is Rhonda, you can’t change the meaning of the lyrics. If Peter Gabriel’s focus of the song is the love of a woman, then a Christian artist who sings the same exact lyrics doesn’t change it into a song about God. It is still about the love of a woman. Does that mean if a freemason were to sing the same song, it’s meaning would somehow change to be about the all-seeing eye?
Mainstream christianity seems to have this desire to rebrand everything in sight. It started with pagan Xmas and continues today with entertainment.