Martin Luther once famously said “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.” The writer of the classic hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, Luther understood much of the power and beauty of music.
Throughout the history of God’s people, music has been a profound means and vehicle for worship of God. From the Psalms of David and the Sons of Korah, to the hymns of the early Church to hymns like “Be Thou My Vision”, “Amazing Grace” and “In Christ Alone”, music has played a powerful role in how God’s People worship Him.
In recent years, the evangelical Contemporary Christian Music industry has “rediscovered” the role that hymns can play in worship. Following along in the wake of the praise and worship sub-genre, hymns have found a strong niche and small appreciation amongst CCM consumers. Formerly relegated to dusty old hymnals, “dead and dying” churches and youthful ridicule, hymns have found something of a renaissance in the evangelical world through the work of the Michael W. Smiths and Chris Tomlins of the world. Fortunately for CCM, such remakes and covers struck a chord and a money-making sub-genre of a sub-genre of a pseudo-genre was birthed and bloated to the point of mockery, shameless profiteering and ugly self-promotion.
Thankfully, not everybody involved in the writing and remaking of hymns have been sucked into the dark CCM vortex. Through the efforts of artists and groups such as Stewart Townend, The Gettys, Sovereign Grace Music, Indelible Grace and Sandra McCracken, true, respectful, worshipful and artistic hymn-writing has made a genuinely strong comeback.
Of particular note is Sandra McCracken’s beautiful “In Feast or Fallow”. A collection of new hymns, old hymns, old hymns remade and even a classic in its original form and with its original title, “In Feast or Fallow” is a solid exploration of plenty and need, and a worthwhile expression of praise to God; in times of feast and even in times when life’s ground must for a time remain fallow. Describing the context of the hymns, McCracken says “There are life seasons of palpable spiritual springtime, when the flowers burst with color and new leaves shoot out of every stem. There are seasons of desert isolation and winter darkness. There are whole years when you have so much stored grain and wine that you forget who you are and where you came from. And there are other times when you have barely enough, and your soul is still and satisfied.” This theme is carried throughout the album with songs born of grief (“Petition”, written by Anne Steele, as a response to her fiancé’s untimely death a day before they were to be wed), a song praying for God’s blessing (“Give Reviving”), a song celebrating life (“Hidden Place”, derived from a journal entry McCracken wrote 10 days before the birth of her daughter), a song celebrating Advent (Martin Luther’s “This is the Christ”), a song born of study of the book of Judges (“Sweet Sorrow”), a song about justice (“Justice Will Roll Down”, pulled from Amos 5:24) and a classic about the amazing Grace of God (“Faith’s Review and Expectation” by John Newton). Throughout the album McCracken calls herself and the listener to look to Christ for Hope to the Father for unyielding love and to the Spirit for the strength to carry on, even in the midst of profound suffering and sorrow.
McCracken teamed up with her producer husband, Derek Webb, for recording the album and the result in a perfect blend of worshipful music and lyrics. Blending the old and the new, the sound moves from traditional to a nuanced (and greatly subdued) expression of the electronica sound that Derek utilized more obviously in “Stockholm Syndrome“. What is clear is that McCracken and Webb are a dynamic and effectively creative team. Marriage serves to strengthen two people as individuals, even as both become one. This truism is quite evident in McCracken and Webb, as both have become better artists through each other.
Finally, it is heartening to see the respect and sobriety with which McCracken approaches her material and the material of Saints long dead, as she adds her own magnificent contributions to the voluminous tome of work that came before. Respecting the Tradition, yet confidently adding to it, McCracken shows great sensitivity and artistry. The closing song in the album, “Faith’s Review and Expectation” is a brilliant cover of Newton’s famously classic “Amazing Grace”, sung with tact, class and true to its original form and intent.
Perhaps there is not better compliment to McCracken than to say that Luther and Newton (and the host of hymn-writing saints who came before and after) would undoubtedly be proud and would give a hearty amen to the chorus of the song “In Feast or Fallow”:
In the harvest feast or the fallow ground My certain hope is in Jesus found My lord, my cup, my portion sure Whatever comes we shall endure Whatever comes we shall endure
In an era when the music industry is dictated by the fickle proclamations of the almighty dollar and when art and creativity are often jettisoned to satisfy the wishes of the nameless, faceless masses, there is much refreshment to be had for music and art lovers in bands like The Decemberists. These craftsmen and craftswomen are truly skilled tune-smiths and their latest, grandest and most ambitious effort, “The Hazards of Love”, shows that their craft is finely honed. Written primarily by the acclaimed wordsmith, the front man of the band, Colin Meloy, this album is truly an epic tragedy that is seamlessly performed.
The story of “The Hazard of Love” begins with a young maiden named Margaret attending to a wounded fawn that she came upon in the woods beyond the Offaly Wall. As she tends the fawn’s leg he changes and shape-shifts into a handsome young man named William. The story then shifts to Margaret back in her abode with fourteen other young maidens lazily passing the time while Margaret pines for her lover. It turns out, though, William and Margaret have been expressing their love rather passionately, for she discovers that she is pregnant by him and is forced out of her bower. Removing herself to the dark woods about, she calls for the taiga to lead her to William. Hearing her call, he comes for her and they join together once again. Unfortunately for them, the Forrest Queen, William’s adopted mother, comes and attempts to guilt him into leaving Margaret. Although he knew that the Queen had indeed saved him as a child, he claims that she has no right over him and begs her to let him have this one night with his Love. The Queen assents to this, but with a strong sense of foreboding, informing William that she is through with him. The Rake then enters the scene, introducing his vile self, gloating over the untimely death of his wife and new child during birth and then of his despicably wicked murders of his three remaining and unwanted children. With wild lust in his eyes and heart, the scheming Rake steals Margaret away from her beloved William. Taking her to his castle, the Rake is frustrated by the raging River, but true to her jealous form, the Queen escorts him across so that he might have his way with Margaret before disposing of her. In an impassioned zeal, William gives chase, only to himself be thwarted by the River. In his second bout of tragic foolishness, William promises his life to the River if only he will be allowed passage this one time as Margaret is yelling wildly for her Love while the Rake gloats over her. Suddenly, a triumphant William, having safely crossed the River, slays the vile Rake, who is instantly met in the afterlife by the gleeful ghosts of his three slain children. Unfortunately, having promised his life to the river, William pays his debt and the story ends with the deaths of three more people, even as William and Margaret promise to each other their eternal fidelity.
Lyrically, this album is a challenge. Meloy’s artistic signature is his complicated use of the English language, both in its delightful alliterative rhyme and in its anachronistic vocabulary. Poetic lines such as
“The prettiest whistles won’t wrestle the thistles undone”,
“And when young Margaret’s waistline grew wider
The fruit of her amorous entwine inside her
And so our heroine withdraws to the taiga”,
and
“And isn’t it a lovely way
We got in from our play
Isn’t it babe? A sweet little baby”
are throughout the album. Even the twisted proclamation by the Rake that “All right, all right, all right! No more a rake and no more a bachelor, I was wedded and it whetted my thirst, Until her womb started spilling out babies, Only then did I reckon my curse” is disturbingly lyrical genius and creatively constructed.
And yet, the deliciously intricate lyrics tell only half of the story.
Musically, The Decemberists’ melodic chops truly stand out in this album. Moving from light and airy “indie pop” to hard rock to country and everywhere cheeky in between, the music helps you feel and imagine the story as it takes its tragic toll on the characters. With the steady pace of “Won’t Want for Love” the pulse quickens with the apparent and unknown danger that surrounds Margaret as she looks for her cherished lover. The mournful wail of the steel guitar presides over the tender moments of William and Margaret, becoming most sorrowfully sweet even as the waves roll over the loving couple one last bittersweet time. As the oppressively low rock riffs of the Queen’s theme pound the senses, the dread of William is keenly felt as his mother crawls onto the scene. The quickened action of Williams’s theme, with the constant refrain of “the wanting comes in waves” triumphantly reports the news of William prevailing over the Rake. And with the airy sounds of the Rake’s haunting murdered children cynically singing sweetly to him in the afterlife a curious satisfaction is experience in the sardonically ironic reunion.
The Decemberists do not write or play easy music. The listener must be willing to put effort into the participative act of listening to and understanding their music, and it takes a few listens to each of their albums to truly understand what is going on. As frustrating as that might be at times, it is an appropriate challenge, as we are so adept at lazily consuming art without any thought or effort put into engaging it.
As for the story itself, it is obviously not a happy tale. From the terribly controlling Forrest Queen turning her adopted son William into a shape-shifting fawn, to the demented Rake rejoicing over the death of his fourth child and his wife at birth and then subsequently killing his remaining children one at a time (maliciously burning his son for fighting back), to the tragic submission of William and Margaret and their unborn child to the cold reality of the river’s frigid waves; the story of The Hazards of Love is truly disturbing. Yet, there is something instructive here. Reading through humanity’s great epics (the Greek Oedipus Trilogy and the Irish Ulster Cycle for instance) one is struck with how terrible they all are. Every epic story, poem and play always deals in bloody murder, chilling fate and hopeless, helpless wickedness. Even the epic stories of love like Romeo and Juliet are fraught with sadness and tragedy. There truly are hazards of love. It is not safe to love. Love is not always happy, at least according to how we define happiness. Love was hazardous for William and Margaret, and never was their love greater than when death overcame them. Love was hazardous to the Forrest Queen, as it led her to revive a son whom then she lost. Love was hazardous to the Rake’s wife, as she loved a man who delighted in her death. Love was even hazardous for the Rake, who died at the hands of the impassioned lover William.
Even the apex of all story-telling, the Bible’s communication of the Story of Stories, that of Jesus the Christ, is itself terribly sad, although its end is truly happy. The Love of Christ was hazardous to Himself, as it led Him to slaughter. The Love of Christ is hazardous to us, as it leads us to die to ourselves. Love suffers wrongs and is patient in times of much trouble.
In much of humanity’s great literature and art, there are no happy endings. What is the reason for this? Simply put, humanity is very knowledgeable of and experienced with sadness, sin and suffering. It is what we know. It is what we understand. It is what connects us and connects to us. In this life we cannot escape it. Stories that deal in such depressing realities impact us in ways that nothing else can. The folks in The Decemberists understand this as they tell their stories.
Recently, I was fortunate to be able to interview Derek Webb about his new album, Stockholm Syndrome (available in stores today). During the interview we spoke about his music, the new album, the reasons he wrote the album and some of his thoughts on Twitter and other social networking tools.
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Transcript:
Me: How did you come to be a follower of Jesus?
Derek Webb: Kicking and screaming. I grew up in the south, so I was very familiar with the categorical spiritual language. There were no surprises or anything like that for me. You know, it was just by some mystery of the universe, partway through high school, after my sophomore year of high school, I chased a girl to a young life camp and, and I wound up kind of having an experience there. But, I can’t really explain.
Me: Ok, let’s move on to music. Um, what kind of music styles helped shape you as a musician and as an artist?
DW: Like generally, or specifically for this record?
Me: Well, first of all, what kind of music have you always enjoyed, and in terms of your art, what artists made you into who you are?
DW: I was always a fan of pop music, I mean, when I was really young I was, you know, I found my way into a lot of good pop music: Michael Jackson, Van Halen, anything that was on pop radio when I was a kid. But the first music that really connected with was like singer/songwriter music. Everything kinda changed when I heard Indigo Girls or you know, Bob Dylan or you know, those folks who… There just seemed to be something really, a kind of urgency about some of that music. There was something about the language, the words that these people were using, the way they were stringing the words together that was just … projected some kind of importance like the music was kinda of important. Even the way the words were coming out of their mouths. I was really attracted to that. I was immediately attracted to … music as a tool in service of, kind of something bigger than the music itself. And, even before I was aware of any kind of spirituality, and… that held pretty true over the years. I’m still very much into, you know, maybe not acoustic music like I used to be, where you would typically, where most people would typically find singer/songwriters, or folk, I mean, I think folk music would be a better category, because folk music doesn’t really imply a style. Its music is for folk. It is music about the people, kind of about what’s happening in the culture, Folk tells the story to the people. You know, the music that initially did that for me, that initially connected with would be. Bob Dylan … Woody Guthrie, Pete Sager. You know like the protest music, the protest songs of the 60s and 70s. That’s been a huge influence on me. Really formidable stuff. But then more recent years I have kinda traced the thread of folk music, music of the people, telling the stories, you know, of the people, out of acoustic music that I don’t really think does it as well as in the 60s or 70s into genres more like urban music, hip hop music. I think hip hop is really the new folk, in terms of telling the new stories, the unfiltered stories of the people. That’s really where you heard it now, more so than in a lot of places. And, which is kinda the music that has more recently been informing the music I’ve been making: the inorganic, urban, you know, electronic, programmed, computer based music that has been… I mean, I initially followed the concept there, and over time that sound and the possibilities of making music that way really compelled me, so that’s kinda of how I got where I am now, I think.
Me: Do you have any concept of where you think your music might go?
DW: Never. No, I have absolutely no idea. I am as surprised with every record as anybody else is. I never know what’s around the corner, creatively. I never could have guessed that I would have wound up a solo artist after ten years playing in a band I was really happy in, a great creative outlet for me… I never would have thought I’d wind up being a solo artist, and here I am seven years into that… you know I never would have imagined She Must and Shall Go Free would be a debut record for me, that I’d have written songs like that. I never would have imagined Mockingbird a few years later and I would never would have imagined Stockholm Syndrome, the sound and the content… I am on God’s good humor, I have no idea what’s coming next. I make no plans. I don’t make plans of any kind.
Me: In terms of your music, you said it kinda comes, you don’t know where it’s going… is that how you learned to write music, especially the lyrics … they’re exceptionally strong I think in many ways. Did you learn or have any formal training, or was it more along the lines of picking up a guitar, sitting down at a piano and learning how to write?
DW: Ya, it’s just all gut instinct, trial and error, I mean, I’ve been playing music, playing guitar, since I was seven years old, you know, playing piano a few years before that…. I never, I mean I can read music about as much as I can read Japanese, which is not at all. I don’t know how to read it, I don’t know how to write it down, I have zero musical training, it’s on pure instinct. You know, you do something for 20 some odd years, trial and error, you learn a few things. You find out what you weakness and strengths are, to turn one into the other or vice versa, you know, I just work at it. It’s my work, really enjoy it. I still enjoy it as much now as I ever have. So, you know, that’s probably why what goes in comes back out in terms of what I’m listening to and um really into. You know, because I don’t have anything to stick to. There’s not one kinda of music I’m trained in that I’m having to filter everything through. I make sharp turns. I do that because I grow up learning how to play music by listening to music. I learned how to play guitar buy listening to people play guitar. I’ve gotten pretty good at that. So, if there’s a style of music I really enjoy, then I can pick it up. I’ll adapt it. And try to, you know… you know you hear so many stories about guys like Dylan… Dylan didn’t grow up knowing much about music, but he’d go to friends houses who owned a lot of vinyl and he would just sit there in front of the record player, and learn, soak in as many songs as he good. as many styles of guitar playing and singing and he adapted all of that and made something tremendous out of it. you know, id never presume to compare anything to like Bob Dylan, but there are two positions. There are people who really are well trained, and that enables them to do one type of thing. There is a whole other community of artist throughout the years who’ve just listened to one another and learned from what cam before them. And I think I’m definitely a product of what came before me.
Me: Why the album Stockholm Syndrome?
DW: Well, I mean, really simply, it’s what I do here. I make records. I make music I like. It’s what I do. It’s my job. And you know, why specifically this record, why the sound of it, why the content of it… like I said, it’s serving beyond any kind of intention I had. I didn’t intend on making a record like this. When I sat down to do my job, this is what happened. You know, it takes no effort for me to make records to write songs. It’s just what I do. I feel like it happens more to me than I have influence over it. I kind of sit for it and wait for it to happen. You know, all I can say is that the job of any artist, myself included is to look at the world and tell you what they say. And that’s basically…at this point in my life, at the station of life that I’m in, the things that are interesting to me right now, that are compelling to me right now are the things you’re going to see on this album. When I look at my world and I tell you what I see, you know… I have no explanation for why I made it or for what’s on it. I have no explanation.
Me: Is there one song on the album that means more to you than the rest might?
DW: I don’t know, I mean, you know, there’s different… some songs wind up meaning something to you for really different reasons than the others… you know, I can generally say that this is my most fearsome personal record, for a lot of reasons, and one reason for that is because I feel like I’ve always known that I would eventually make this record. I’ve always known, deep down that I wouldn’t be able to go … I’ve been feeling the last few years that I wouldn’t’ be able to go much longer and not make certain statements on behalf of my friends. And a lot of the subject matter on SS deals with sexuality; it’s one of a few topics that emerge when I look at the project as a whole. Some of my closest friends and my best friends deal with this contradiction of they themselves being a particularly lifestyle in their sexuality and me as their friend and my community that I claim to be a part of: the Church, followers of Jesus, Christians, something that I’m in no way ashamed of, it’s part of my reality, the grid through which I look at the world and make sense of it. This community that I’m a part of … as their friends, having this incredible judgment and hatred of them. There came a point where I couldn’t continue to be friends with them… I couldn’t’ give answers anymore for my community and why they do these things and why they speak this way and why they treat their community a certain way and why they’re so fiercely known for it. There’s a book relevant to this discussion, called unChristian, by a guy named David Kinnaman. And there was a fascinating statistic in this book that troubled me quite a bit. It might have been one of the last straws that broke the camel’s back that led me to make this record at this moment in my life. He said that when polled, young adults who live in America who are not Christian were asked of the first thing when they heard the word Christian, what’s the impression they get when they heard that term, more than 90 some odd percent , in the mid 90s, said the word Christian to them is someone who hates gay people. That that was the first thing they think of. And, that is a really disconcerting statistic. If for no other reason, the issue of homosexuality aside, being known for something we are against and what we hate rather than what we love and what we are for is a fundamental problem in people’s perceptions of Christians, it’s a fundamental problem. And that should concern us by itself. The added complication of the fact that we are known for hating a particular group of people is .. .and especially for me personally a group of people with whom I am so acquainted, because of so many of my good friends, again my best friend that I have is in this community, and I didn’t need to see that statistic to know that that was the perception, that was the reality in the evangelical community in America. And I guess there just came a point for me to use whatever resources I had, my art, my music, to create a barricade between the people I love in my life, who are coming under this hatred, this judgment a barricade between those people and those judgmental people in my own community. I needed to put myself on the side of those being judged, joining them, and absorbing some of that on their behalf. Because they can’t help it. It’s that personal of an issue for me. That’s why this record was such a personal one for me.
Me: Does it discourage you when you get that same frustration from other Christians yourself?
DW: It doesn’t, I mean its discouraging in general that there’s not a more nuanced, a more loving discussion going on about these issues in general. I know that there is in some circles, but on the whole the perception is irrefutable, I mean its 90 some odd percent… regardless of how well some pockets of Christendom are doing on this issue, I know there are some who are doing great work. But, the perception is what it is. I would rather absorb the judgment and not the make comparisons to a great man, but Jesus wasn’t hated and killed because he took such a strong moral position against sinners. He was hated and killed because he loved people so radically that the “church”, the arrogant “church leadership” basically staged a coup, framed and murdered him because they couldn’t deal with how radically he was loving people who were complicated for them to love. And, so being on he side of people who are deemed you know, outsiders and sinners, whatever, is an age-old tradition, going all the way back to Jesus himself. So we need to be really careful that we are on the right side when it comes to these kinds of issues in our culture, because I think we send such a mixed message when we appear to be on the side and speak the language of those whom Jesus reserved his most harsh language for, rather than those for whom Jesus live his life with and gave up his life for. That’s more the side I’m trying to get on right now.
Me: Was this album written for, was the focus for your friends, was the focus for Christians or was the focus for both?
DW: I would say that I did not focus this album on or towards anybody. Again, this record was the process of me looking at the world and telling what I see. I think there’s going to be some of all of that one there. My intention was not in creating that. My intention was just in doing my job as an artist.
Me: One of the things I’ve seen on blogs and in talking to people, is the straight up truth is that you’re not one of the most well liked Christian artists out there. What would you say to people who hear what you say who get stuck on a curse word here or there or who have problems with one of the songs you write? What would your answer be to them?
DW: I would tell them that maybe they don’t need to waste any more time listening to my music. There’s a lot of music out there. Other than that, I have a pretty small tribe of people I think who really get and resonate with what I do and understand what I do. The music I make asks quite a bit of the listener, and there are not a lot of people who want music that does that. You know, if some people get hung up, I would tell them to listen to some other kind of music. There’s plenty of music out there, I’m sure there’s something else they’re rather listen to. I would ask people to be open minded, to give it a chance. But if they want repeated listening, they just don’t like it and don’t understand it, rather than wasting theirs and everyone elses time criticizing it ad nauseum, I would say, listen to something else. Maybe my music is not for you. I don’t have any real intentions for who this music is for. My job is to make it and do it as honestly as I can to try to remain trustworthy as an artist and to make art that people can trust and to put it out there and see who it resonates with. And, I don’t have a lot of control over that. I don’t have a lot of intention over that. The people who like it understand it. The people who don’t… maybe they just need to know that that is ok with me. It is ok with me that you don’t like my music. It’s ok with me that you don’t listen to it. That’s totally fine with me, I don’t have any problem with that. Because I’m not under any delusions that I make music for everybody and I don’t expect that everybody will like. I don’t make music for anybody, so I’m not shocked. If you don’t like it, listen to somebody else.
Me: I have one more question, and this is a bit of a turn from where the conversation has been. I’m a software weenie and I enjoy technology and I enjoy social networking and you used it extensively with this album. What is your opinion, what’s your perceptive on the role of social networking both in its role for you as an artist, and in social networking’s role in working for you as a Christian. Are there differences, are there similarities?
DW: I wouldn’t even know where to start in terms of me as a Christian. There’s not a category of my personality that’s me as a Christian that’s not integrated with me as an artist and me as a father and me as a brother and me as a husband and me as a human being, I don’t’ really think of myself as a Christian only. As an artist, I think its hugely important, because ultimately I am wanting to connect with people. I want to tell my story to people. I want to do that as efficient as I can. It used to be that you had to go door to door you had to go see the city and play concerts and get people to sit there physically in front of you to hear that music and hear those messages, and that’s still true to some extent. That’s still by far the most powerful way to do it. But social networking affords us all these new possibilities to connect to people. And ultimately as an artist I should be concerned with connecting to people well, using any resources at my disposal to tell my story to people. Social networking on the whole, many of these services which are free, have been a huge help in doing that work. Just like anything else, I think like, sororities, fraternities and handguns, social networking can be used for good or evil, they’re not inherently good or bad, I think you have to be very careful in how you use them, and when used in certain way they can be hugely helpful. They surely have for me, I think every artist is going to be different, but I’ve found them to be really helpful, absolutely.
Me: Well, for what it’s worth, the scavenger hunt was pretty fun.
DW: Ya, it was great, we did what we had to do. We certainly used every resource at our disposal to do it. It was just a matter of applying the same creativity you use to make songs, to making records to recording music and then distributing that music and figuring your ways out of tight spots with records labels and making sure that you’re making that connection, making sure the fans at least have the option of deciding for themselves whether or not they want to listen to a particular song and making sure they don’t get censured at the record labels. You want to make sure that people have that choice. You want to make sure they can hear what you intended and if they don’t like it or they don’t think that it’s appropriate, then that’s their decision. I at least want to make sure that fans have a chance to hear the music and make that decision for themselves. And a lot of online technology really enabled us to do that, so it was great.
Everybody serves and follows something or someone. The problem most people have with Derek Webb’s music is that it asks uncomfortable, pointed and sometimes even insulting questions of us (who say we serve and follow Jesus) about who and what we really serve.
Stockholm Syndrome is without a doubt Webb’s most uncomfortable line of questioning to date. Whether he is asking us (and himself as well) “What Matters Most” with regards to homosexuality or exploring our relationship to “The State” or considering our expectations of the Godhead or whether he is begging us to really love the unclean, Webb intentionally strikes very sensitive nerves in the American psyche. He is not a songwriter disposed to holding back lyrical punches. Simply put, his music intentionally hits where it hurts.
As for the title, “Stockholm Syndrome” is a “psychological response” of abducted hostages when they begin sympathizing with their captors. This abduction has many forms in American Evangelicalism. Whether it be captivity to government, political parties, causes or a safe Jesus of our own making, we have sympathized with and have identified ourselves with our captors. Even more damning, the real irony is that this captivity is often voluntary to begin with it. We create false gods and christs that we feel we can easily manage. The result is willing enslavement to our false and dead idols.
All of us have blackened eyes. We would rather pull out everyone else’s specks rather than remove our own logs. We would rather self-righteously condemn the homosexual than repent of our own sexual sins, and in repentance love fellow sinners. We would rather identify ourselves with political parties than humbly serve the One who reigns over God’s Kingdom. We would rather enslave ourselves to a manageable Jesus rather than submit to the Lion who is Good, but who is most assuredly not safe. We would rather be wooed by the party-boy Jimmies of the world rather than with brokenness be won by our faithful Bridegroom.
Still, even if we assume the best of us, we are still more concerned with doctrinal, moral, ethical, philosophical and political precision than with love. Like the church of Ephesus, we have left our first love and we have impugned Christ’s Name, spat upon His Bride and kicked the unrighteous in our self-righteous pride. Christ told Ephesus that if they did not repent, He would not permit them to be a Gospel Lampstand. Should we expect any better if we do not repent for our sin?
Is Webb and this album preachy? Yes, he (and it) is. Are his albums edifying? Not directly, and only with much effort on the part of the listener. Are his words and questions hard? Yes, and we’re better for it. Is he a flawed man and musician? Without a doubt.
But, is Webb becoming a left-leaning moralist, the opposite side of the pharisaical coin he’s been singing against since his days with Caedmon’s Call? I don’t think so. Watch the video from the Blood:Water Benefit Concert (at The Oaks Fellowship in Red Oak, Texas on July 10th, 2009) for a likely answer. (review continued below)
Musically, many have questioned Webb’s choice of experimental electronica for this album. Personally, I think it works. It is not extremely catchy and it is definitely a far cry from “Lover”, “Thankful”, “Saint and Sinner”, and “A Savior on Capitol Hill”, but it works for the subject matter. Experiencing the roller coaster ride of being taken hostage, fearing for your life, and coming to sympathize with your captors cannot be pleasant and the music of Stockholm Syndrome reflects that. More impressively remarkable still, is Webb’s ability to move from folk acoustic bluegrass to experimental rock to musical minimalism to classic rock to experimental electronica. He might not be the master of any of these stylings, but he is pretty darn good at all of them. Perhaps even more impressive, he can perform any of the songs from his previous albums and styles in a live set, with just him and his guitar and still put on a great show.
Lyrically, Webb is still at the top of his game. He is direct and pointed, but he is also able to write the most cerebrally intellectual lyrics of almost anyone in the world of “Christian music”. His employment of multiple dualistic comparisons to flesh out his subject matter is thought provoking and fully engaging. Even his harshest critics must admit, I think, the stimulating nature of his craft.
One final note and aside: I think that Webb’s music is understood best when coupled with the music of Andrew Peterson. Both musicians bring to mind the late, great Rich Mullins and both take parts of Mullin’s art and make it better. I do not believe that either can put it together individually as artistically and as genuinely as Rich did, but both artists, Webb the “preacher” and Peterson the “poet”, considered together are truly special.
In conclusion, Christ will preserve His Church. Webb knows and believes this. Yet, he asks us to ask ourselves hard questions within “American Christianity”. Are we truly working out our salvation with fear and trembling, loving others and repenting of our sin before God, or is it possible that many of us are as lost as those we seek to condemn? May God give us Grace to answer that question rightly.
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Martin Luther once famously said “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.” The writer of the classic hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, Luther understood much of the power and beauty of music.
