I like country music. (Yikes! I almost can’t believe I said that in public.) A big reason that I like it is the very reason that it often gets made fun of–the writing.* I think country music today has the strongest song-writing of any genre. I just picked up Clay Walker’s A few Questions CD from 2003 from Half.com for next to nothing. There are two songs on that CD that struck me as honest, authentic, and interesting.
A Few Questions
How in this world can we put a man on the moon,
And still have a need for a place like St Jude’s?
And why is one man born,
In a place where all they know is war?
An’ a guy like me,
Has always been free.An’ how can two people who built a lovin’ home,
Try for years an’ never have a child of their own?
When somewhere out there tonight,
There’s a baby no-one’s holdin’ tight:
In need of love.
To me, that don’t add up.But I wasn’t there the day you filled up the oceans.
I didn’t get to see you hang the stars in the sky.
So I don’t mean to second guess you,
Or criticise what I don’t understand.
These are just a few questions I have.An’ why did my cousin have to die in that crash?
A good kid, only seventeen, I still wonder ’bout that.
It seems unfair to me,
Some get the chance to chase their dreams,
An’ some don’t.
But what do I know?I wasn’t there the day you filled up the oceans.
I didn’t get to see you hang the stars in the sky.
So I don’t mean to second guess you,
Or criticise what I don’t understand.
These are just a few questions I have.Why do I feel like you hear these prayers of mine.
When so many oughta be ahead of me in line?
When you look down on me,
Can you see the good through all the bad?
These just a few questions I have.
Keep in mind that this is on a mainstream country release, not a “Christian” album. Nevertheless, Walker deals with the reality that this world is deeply messed up. Anyone who takes an honest look around should see that. Sometimes I think the Church is too quick to jump to all things work together for good and not lament the devastation wrought by sin.
Another track on the same CD was interesting to me…
Jesus Was A Country Boy
All decked out and made up for T.V.
Askin’ for some money from God’s people
Talkin’ all that high theology.
Well, I might be just an ol’ blue collar
And there’s things about the lord that I don’t know
But I bet he never had a million dollars
Or wore a lot of stylish fancy clothesChorus
Cuz Jesus was a country boy
Walkin’ down a dirt road with everything that he owned
He never met a stranger
Born in a barn underneath the stars his mama layed him in a manger
Swimmin’ in the river
Fishin’ for his dinner
Livin’ with the sinners like me
Makes me think that Jesus was a country boy
(Oh yes and I believe that Jesus was a country boy
2nd time only)My daddy never cared much for religion
And my mama worried a lot about his soul
She’s hit her knees and pray for him on Sunday
While daddy hit his favorite fishin’ hole
You see daddy was a rebel and a rambler
But I always knew he loved my mama so
I never doubted he’d make it to heaven
Cuz it’s not who you are, it’s who ya know
And daddy knew…
Now, I’m not advocating avoiding the regular gathering of the saints, but the line about it’s not who you are but who you know is more theologically astute than many of the songs I hear on Christian radio.
*Please spare me the jokes about playing the country song backwards and the guy getting his job back, dog back, etc. 🙂
I’ve been listening to more country lately too. Similar to the Country Boy song but regarding God’s providence, eternal treasure, and evangelism, I recently downloaded:
Three Wooden Crosses
Performed by Randy Travis
A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher,
Ridin’ on a midnight bus bound for Mexico.
One’s headed for vacation, one for higher education,
An’ two of them were searchin’ for lost souls.
That driver never ever saw the stop sign.
An’ eighteen wheelers can’t stop on a dime.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there’s not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It’s what you leave behind you when you go.
That farmer left a harvest, a home and eighty acres,
The faith an’ love for growin’ things in his young son’s heart.
An’ that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children:
Did her best to give ’em all a better start.
An’ that preacher whispered: “Can’t you see the Promised Land?”
As he laid his blood-stained bible in that hooker’s hand.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there’s not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It’s what you leave behind you when you go.
That’s the story that our preacher told last Sunday.
As he held that blood-stained bible up,
For all of us to see.
He said: “Bless the farmer, and the teacher, an’ the preacher;
“Who gave this Bible to my mamma,
“Who read it to me.”
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there’s not four of them, now I guess we know.
It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It’s what you leave behind you when you go.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway.
As some of you may already know, I slowly converted to Country music over the last 10 years. When recording a local artist in 2004, whose tastes were decidedly country, I definitely “crossed over”. Anyway Brad Paisley always has one spiritual song on each release. Here’s the latest. Remember folks, it’s art, not a doctrinal statement (not that they are mutually exclusive). I dig the chorus.
When I Get Where I’m Going (Rivers Rutherford/George Teren (ASCAP)/(BMI)
When I get where I’m going
On the far side of the sky
The first thing that I’m gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly
I’m gonna land beside a lion
And run my fingers through his mane
Or I might find out what it’s like
To ride a drop of rain
Chorus
Yeah when I get where I’m going
There’ll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I’ll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I’m going
Don’t cry for me down here
I’m gonna walk with my grand daddy
And he’ll match me step for step
And I’ll tell him how I missed him
Every minute since he left
Then I’ll hug his neck
Repeat chorus
So much pain and so much darkness
In this world we stumble through
All these questions I can’t answer
So much work to do
But when I get where I’m going
And I see my maker’s face
I’ll stand forever in the light
Of his amazing grace
Yeah when I get where I’m going
There’ll be only happy tears
Hallelujah
I will love and have no fear
When I get where I’m going
Yeah when I get where I’m going
as found on http://www.bradpaisley.com
I liked the Dukes of Hazard when I was in 7th grade… Does that count for anything?