Classic Worship Songs: Laurie Anderson - From the Air

"the mind is taken captive as the imagination wanders through the senseless violence, the needless hate, and the heartless cruelty human beings foist upon each other.  The unshakable bareness of soul and the uncertainty of the future are tellingly anchored to the extermination of the spirit."

Zacharias, Ravi Can Man Live Without God (Nashville Tennessee Thomas Nelson  House Publishing Group)  1973. (page 4)

Laurie Anderson

"From the Air"

(from Big Science [1982])

---

Good evening. This is your Captain.
We are about to attempt a crash landing.
Please extinguish all cigarettes.
Place your tray tables in their
upright, locked position.
Your Captain says: Put your head on your knees.
Your Captain says: Put your head in your hands.
Put your hands on your hips. Heh heh.
This is your Captain--and we are going down.
We are all going down, together.
And I said: Uh oh. This is gonna be some day.
Standby. This is the time.
And this is the record of the time.
This is the time. And this is the record of the time.Uh--this is your Captain again.
You know, I've got a funny feeling I've seen this all before.
Why? Cause I'm a caveman.
Why? Cause I've got eyes in the back of my head.
Why? It's the heat. Standby.
This is the time. And this is the record of the time.
This is the time. And this is the record of the time.
Put your hands over your eyes. Jump out of the plane.
There is not pilot. You are not alone. Standby.
This is the time. And this is the record of the time.
This is the time. And this is the record of the time.

Classic Worship Songs: Prince Caspian

There is no hope outside of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ: "The end of life is summed up in one word confusion a suitable epitaph for the morning after of life itself, which promised not laughter but tears.  Despite all its melodrama and pardonable overkill, the underlying message of the futility of life is irresistible." Zacharias, Ravi Can Man Live Without God (Nashville Tennessee Thomas Nelson  House Publishing Group)  1973. (page 6)   Oh, to be Prince Caspain, 

With nothing to return to but the demons in their caves. 

Oh, to be Prince Caspian afloat upon the waves (3x) 

Oh, to be Prince Caspian, 

and the children in the fields are sewing seed and chaffing wheat 

Oh, to be Prince Caspian with stumps instead of feet. 

Oh, to be Prince Caspian! (8x) 

Oh... 

Oh, to be Prince Caspian afloat upon the waves (3x) 

Classic Worship Songs: The Day John Henry Died

"We have educated ourselves into imbecility." Malcolm Muggeridge

I watched the rain; it settled in. We disappeared for days again.
Most of us were staying in, lazy like the sky.
The letters flew across the wire filtered through a million liars.
The whole world smelled like burning tires the day John Henry died.

We knew about that big machine that ran on human hope and steam.
Bets on John were far between and mostly on the side.
We heard he put up quite a fight. His hands and feet turned snowy white.
That hammer rang out through the night the day John Henry died.

When John Henry was a little bitty baby nobody ever taught him how to read
but he knew the perfect way to hold a hammer was the way the railroad baron held the deed.

It didn't matter if he won, if he lived, or if he'd run. 
They changed the way his job was done. Labor costs were high.
That new machine was cheap as hell and only John would work as well,
so they left him laying where he fell the day John Henry died.

John Henry was a steel-driving bastard but John Henry was a bastard just the same.
An engine never thinks about his daddy and an engine never needs to write its name.

So pack your bags, we're headed west and L.A. ain't no place to rest.
You'll need some sleep to pass the test, so get some on the flight
and say your prayers John Henry Ford 'cause we don't need your work no more.
You should have known the final score the day John Henry died.

Classic Worship Songs: Beginning to see the Light

Exploring the Post Modern signs of transcendence we view the archeological footprints of music left by the Poets, Philosophers, and relevant "prophets" of the modern age.   Don't worry (mom)  I have not lost my mind or am feeling bleak, its just an exploration  in cultural Artifacts. 

(reed) 

Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Some people work very hard, 
But still they never get it right. 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Now I'm beginning to see the light. 

Wine in the morning 
And some breakfast at night. 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Here we go again 
Playing the fool again. 
Here we go again 
Acting hard again. 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Now I'm beginning to see the light. 

Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
I'm beginning to see the light. 
I wore my teeth in my hands 
So I could mess the hair of the night 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Hey I'm beginning to see the light. 
I met myself in a dream 
And I just wanna tell you - everything was alright 
I'm beginning to see the light. 
Here comes two of you, 
Which one will you chose? 
One is black, one is blue. 
Don't look just what to do. 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Now I'm beginning to see the light. 

Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
Some people work very hard 
But still they never get it right 
Well I'm beginning to see the light. 
There are problems in these times 
But none of them are mine 
Baby, I'm beginning to see the light. 
Here we go again, 
I thought that you were my friend. 
Here we go again, 
I thought that you were my friend. 
How does it feel to be loved? 
How does it feel to be loved?

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/v/velvet+underground/#share

Classic Worship Songs: Questions

We shall have empathy with the world, 

but we fight to be outside of it, so that we can help others through the pits of untruth...  it does not help the one stuck in the pit if we come down and join them, even if we bring a comfortable reading chair, a computer, a desk, a Television,  a jukebox of great tunes, we are still in the pit.  And soon we will  grow weary and sense that something is missing, that missing piece can only be filled up by the God that is there.

The Moody Blues (written by Justin Hayward)

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door
With a thousand million questions
About hate and death and war?
'Cos when we stop and look around us,
There is nothing that we need,
In a world of persecution
That is burning in its greed.

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door
Because the truth is hard to swallow
That's what the war of love is for

It's not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me
It's more the way that you mean it
When you tell me what will be

And when you stop and think about it
You won't believe it's true
That all the love you've been giving
Has all been meant for you.

I'm looking for someone to change my life,
I'm looking for a miracle in my life
And if you could see what it's done to me,
To lose the love I knew
Could safely lead me through.

Between the silence of the mountains,
And the crashing of the sea,
There lies a land I once lived in,
And she's waiting there for me,
But in the grey of the morning,
My mind becomes confused,
Between the dead and the sleeping,
And the road that I must choose.

I'm looking for someone to change my life,
I'm looking for a miracle in my life
And if you could see what it's done to me,
To lose the love I knew,
Could safely lead me to
The land that I once knew,
To learn as we grow old
The secrets of our soul.

It's not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me
It's more the way you really mean it
When you tell me what will be

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door
With a thousand million questions
About hate and death and war?
'Cos when we stop and look around us,
There is nothing that we need,
In a world of persecution
That is burning in its greed.

Classic Worship Songs: King Crimson: 21st Century Schizoid Man

"the mind is taken captive as the imagination wanders through the senseless violence, the needless hate, and the heartless cruelty human beings foist upon each other.  The unshakable bareness of soul and the uncertainty of the future are tellingly anchored to the extermination of the spirit."
Zacharias, Ravi Can Man Live Without God (Nashville Tennessee Thomas Nelson  House Publishing Group)  1973. (page 4)

Randy Singer: Fatal Convictions

Randy Singer Unveils Islam in America

When the earth is shaken to her (utmost) convulsion, Surah 99:1-7

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."⁸Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
John 7:53-8:11

Good books are good books. This is a good mystery story in the style of Tom Clancy, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane and G.K. Chesterton. 
Singer utilizes good writing, like G.K. Chesterton did before him in the life and times of priests (Father Brown series) who work to uncover crime and the shadows of Christianity's current condition.

Alexander Madison is part lawyer, part pastor, and part time chivalrous swindler. Alex takes a case where a Muslim Imam is accused of instigating honor killings. "Fatal Convictions is a story of lawyer willing to risk it all and the women who must choose between faith and love."  Amazon.com

Randy Singer also critiques our Protestant condition in worship. He points out that Christian worship seems to be a circus event where God has left the building. He shows that Islam does not take Christianity seriously because we disgrace God in our worship lived out in our lives. He shows that Islam is willing to worship with their hearts and living out their faith for Allah; while few American Christians are willing to sacrifice anything, and put themselves before God. 
Randy Singer's portrayal of Islam is fair and is not a characterization of evil. Americans often see Islam as a group of fanatics who treat their women like dirt. However, Islam is complex. America's flat characterization of Islam is a beast that needs to be slaughtered. We need to learn as much as we can about Islam so that we can intelligently defend our position. Otherwise we appear to be  blabbering dogs barking at shadows passing a wire fence. 

This book deserves a definite cluck, cluck, and cluck! I enjoyed reading every page. 

I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their [...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 [...] : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 

Classic Worship Songs: Who Will Answer?

King Crimson: Epitaph (Classic Worship Songs)

"The end of life is summed up in one word confusion a suitable epitaph for the morning after of life itself, which promised not laughter but tears.  Despite all its melodrama and pardonable overkill, the underlying message of the futility of life is irresistible."
Zacharias, Ravi Can Man Live Without God (Nashville Tennessee Thomas Nelson  House Publishing Group)  1973. (page 6)

Classic Worship Songs: Thela Hun Ginjeet Part One Primus

I want to see dancing to the LORD as we celebrate the LORD's day.  This would make us all move really well.  So why not?  As long as our hearts are aligned with God on his day.  I imagine even God wants something different in music some times.

"Become one with Mr. Tim Alexander's kick drum and all will be right with the world."-Les Claypool