A long while ago, actually December 31st, 2008, i wrote this - and i've had it on my to-do list to post since then =P I've put it off long enough, so, here it is: my end-of-year rant =P
Well today must really be a day for writing - this is my third post today! I just can't stop writing since it's the end of the year... I've spent the day so far just sitting and thinking, and then writing. I've still got to write about my new year's resolutions, and my new 6 month plan! But right now i'm gonna postpone that and talk about something i think a couple of you have already written about - fake Christian music. This stuff really gets my goat. You know the kind. The "music" with generic lyrics that can be taken four thousand different ways, where you don't know if the artist is singing about God, his girlfriend, or his grandma, and where the music is uneventful, just mainstream 2 chord 3 note melody crap. Now i say this with risk of sounding like a hypocrite. I have no problem with music that is deemed "secular" where the artist only sings about relationships, or things of that nature. And of course i have no problem with singing about God or your grandma. What i absolutely hate is when the lyrics are so generic to be taken to be any of the above - that is the tip of the iceberg to a bigger problem - Greed. Think about it. These artists have no passion for anything except money. They will write "music" that is appealing to all, crafting generic chord progressions, melodies, and most of all lyrics, that can be taken any number of ways, just to appeal to as large an audience as possible. Here's an example. Artist "A" writes one of these type of songs, and his producer and publisher send it to numerous radio stations. Christian radio station "WABC" listens to "A's" song, interprets it to be talking about the artist's relationship with God, and plays it for it's audience, who interprets it the same way. At the same time, secular station "WXYZ" reviews the song, determines it to be about the artist's relationship with his girlfriend, and plays it for it's audience, who also interprets it this way. This happens all across the board. The song gets a huge amount of radio play, which in turn generates a huge amount of record sales which... guess what... makes money!! Now of course there's nothing wrong with money. But when an artist compromises his beliefs and decieves countless thousands of people , claiming to be a "christian" artist on some stations and a "secular" artist on other stations, the artist shows a lack of integrity and a love for money that completely sickens me. I despise artists such as this. Write Christian music, write secular, write BOTH, but for God's sake, and all of ours, Don't write something that can be taken as both!! This concludes today's rant =P
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2 comments:
Hmmm. I have definitely heard you talk about this before. I totally think there are way too many Christian artists that don't sing directly about God. But...
There are many artists that write songs that can be taken both ways, not for money, but to reach out to a larger group of people. They don't say God's name because there are many people who will flat out reject the song as soon as they hear religious words. I think most Christian artists that do write this kind of song are not out for money, but are trying to reach out to a wider audience. If these people call themselves Christians and are accepted as such, then they should have no other reason than evangelism for writing songs. I'm not saying that there aren't the bands out there that are only in it for the money, but even a lot of secular bands aren't in it for the money, or the fame, but to reach out to people.
Even some of David's Psalms could be interpreted as either (not the entire chapter, but maybe several verses).
My point is, most "Christian" artists are, in fact, Christian and use their music to reach out to people, not to make money. I don't know of any bands that, as you say "claim to be a 'christian' artist on some station and a 'secular' artist on other stations." Bands either are Christian, or they aren't.
Some bands, like The Fray, and As I Lay Dying hardly sing about or never sing about God at all. The members of the band all claim to be Christians though, and many people have been directly impacted by these people and their lives, or positively influenced through their music.
I don't know if you opinion has changed on this matter since December, but mine certainly has.
I hope that made sense. =D
Hey Nathan, first off good to see a new post.
I think I've defiantly heard you talk (if not rant) about this topic before, and to be honest, I don't know weather I agree or disagree...Hmm...Well I guess it all depends on if overall the music glorifies God.
I also recognized some "Bob Kauflin" sayings in that post as well. Way 2 Go!!!!
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