Friday, July 11, 2008

TGIF

TGIF. It reminds me of watching Step by Step and Family Matters. When I was 12 I didn't exactly have the busiest social calendar. After I got tired of batting practice with a whiffle bat and lightning bugs in the summertime, I was pretty much ready to check out the meaningful message at the 22 minute mark of Full House. Now my Fridays pretty much consist of awesomeness. I usually take a solid nap after work, eat at least half a pizza, and curse the Cardinals' bullpen. Sometimes I even walk to DQ to get a blizzard. Crazy I know.

Ok, without having a theological debate, what constitutes something being spiritual? I realize "spiritual" is a bit of a loaded word and I'm nowhere close to a being a zealot where I would criticize someone's answer. I thought about this the other night as I was listening to Radiohead's In Rainbows album. Most of you will probably scoff at that statement, but I find it pretty dang spiritual hanging out in my apartment listening to Radiohead. Your response might be the standard "But Cale, Radiohead doesn't even sing about anything spiritual!". I think that's exactly my point. I've probably said it before, but I don't know hardly any lyrics to any song. I know Mary Had a Little Lamb and the Star Spangled Banner or whatever, but I do not pay any attention at all to lyrics. I know this sounds terrible, especially coming from a DJ, but I'm just being honest. I don't "connect" to songs in that sense. I've never once in my life had a song "speak to me". But I love the music aspect. And I would suspect that more people than you might think are like this. Emotionalism plays a big part in how people connect to different mediums. The only example I can come up with in the traditional spiritual sense (church) is the song Shout To the Lord. If you haven't heard this song, you should. It's a jam. That probably sounds funny, but it's a great song. I'll tell you how I know it's a good song. I've never been to a church service in my life (and I've been to plenty) where this song was played and people didn't get crazy excited. After examining the lyrics, they really aren't that much different than most of the modern-day church songs. But this song has an awesome beat. It really does. It sucks you in. When the chorus starts, people love it. I know what you're thinking. You think this is sacrilege. I would have to disagree. There are probably way better songs about Jesus and such. Civilla Martin calls in and agrees. (By the way, that's the second time I've referenced Civilla Martin in my blog. I need bonus points.) But Shout to the Lord is a charged up emotional song. So one could argue that it's not necessarily what the song says, but how that song/book/passage takes that person to a deeper, spiritual level. Radiohead could be singing about monkeys in purple space suits. I wouldn't know the difference. The thing is, I FEEL spiritual when I listen to them. I'm certainly in no position to judge what takes you to that place, and some of you may never want to get there anyway. You may be too busy sitting in every seat at the Rose Bowl. However if your answer is Rob Zombie, my mother would like to have a word with you.
I think it's funny that people think this commercial is strange. Are Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton supposed to be that different? One is African-American. The other is Caucasian. Other than that, they are both leaders of slanted organizations that say ridiculous things about tumultuous events. The most surprising thing about this commercial was that Pat Robertson didn't break the couch because his legs are just so freakin' strong!

I probably have more for ya, but we'll get to it next week. Have a great weekend!

1 comment:

Blessed Mama said...

I think the point of music is to awaken the emotions. That's why the psalmists did it--to express their feelings about God. Other folks do it to express their feelings about other stuff. It's art, a form of expression. Some are really good at it and get the job done. Apparently Radiohead falls in that category. Darlene Zschech (or whatever) brings others into worship with Shout to the Lord. I agree that music can be spiritual without being about God. I have a lot more to say but this comment box is reminding me to stop.