This took me four and a half hours. Appreciate this.

I just realized I forgot to post the valentines post I'd written last year around this time. Oops. I'll put that up later I guess. Anyways. 

Because I believe that music directly affects how we feel and who we are and how we act etc… It’s been really hard to find good music I like. The joys of being a music major who relies mostly on her ear. While I will listen to most of the stuff on the local christian stations… Sometimes it just gets so… boring. Cliche. The bands all start to sound the same (And what really worries me is that two of the 5 stations have announcers that sound exactly alike. Not like, one or two  of the radio hosts on the station. I mean all of them. All of the time. Air.1 and KLOVE’s people sound nearly identical.)

At the same time, I could go listen to any band that labels itself christian…. But.. Well. Anberlin for instance. Its generally accepted in christian only circles. Even the stations accept it. But I don’t think they pay enough attention to the lyrics… I don’t care how much you sing about the heart. I don’t care how much you focus on emotion. If Emotion was God…. Well, the only sin in such a world would be to make sense. But Emotion isn’t God. God is Emotion. (Squares are not rectangles. Rectangles are squares.) SO writing a bunch of songs about deep emotions doesn’t make you Christian. And anberlin doesn’t even go that far. Half their songs are bout chicks and being in love or losing that love anyways. (Challenge me on this. I dare you.)

Same honestly goes for, say, Emery. Go ahead. Sing sarcastically about human fallacy. But until the song “Fix Me” on  “We Do What We Want”, there hadn’t been so much direct Jesus music. Maybe a little. But not enough…

Because criticizing human sin nature, though fun and easy to do, is still focusing on human sin nature. And that isn’t going to help anyone. That just turns us all into giggling bitter critics. 

Over the past couple years I’ve been trying to bring my musical tastes into perspective. Narrowing them down. Picking away at the bands whose lyrics… Just… Don’t… Quite.. Ring.. True…

It’s been hard to do, I won’t deny that. And really painful at times. You get attached to a band, discover suddenly they have some really weird theology, that there’s meaning behind that one song you loved…  

Because if you’re depressed or extremely apathetic, the last thing you need is something that matches your mood. It makes you feel better yes, but only because it helps you accept the emotion. If that makes sense. 

(You can disagree. That’s ok. I’ve just been studying this for 4+ years is all.)

So now I’m putting together a list. Now keep in mind this is according to my musical tastes (Which tend towards extremely specific) I won’t judge you for your opinions, please don’t judge me for mine. Got it?

Awesome.

Keep in mind the only band I’ve ever seen live is Newsboys, who were on tour with Rebecca St James, and I was 10. So none of this is based on how the bands are live. 

Also, disclaimer, a lot of these are also based by personal lifestyle. Those bands that sing about redepmtion and have all the right topics… And also happen to claim Jesus as their own and call themselves christian. Because if I made a list of  only lyrically sound bands that have good musicality…. I’d probably have like, 5. 

Oh. And this list isn’t in any particular order. One really can’t rank one band as better than the next as it all falls into opinion anyways.

So here goes. 

1. Red. Lyrically sound, they make God their focus… And then they’re musically sound as well. You can listen and say they’re too cliche but if you actually know music you know what I mean. Most bands play around just a normal major or minor scale (Ionian mode or Aeolian mode) but Red goes out of their way to use other modes as well. And I greatly appreciate that. And bonus points for musicality and strings. 

2. Children 18:3. I don’t know them musically very much, but I am in school with their sister and I have met their parents. They’re a sweet family, very devoted to God. I appreciate their style musically from what I have heard, as well. Check them out.

3. Manafest. This guy is a 50/50 for me. I like half his stuff, I can’t really stand the other half. Manafest is rapcore btw. While I am not particularly fond of TFK (Thousand Foot Krutch), TFK joined with a rapper is more than palatable. Half the time, anyways. 

4. The Walking Tree. I just found these guys a few weeks ago. Their EP is like, $5 on iTunes (Which I suppose is pretty normal.) but they’re really good. Check them out. 

5. The Birdsongs. If you want to give them a try look up Will You Save Me. Or click this link. Their musical arranging on the song is to die for. The way the band supports the opening piano… The bass.. The eletrci… All so tasteful… Ahhh I could go on…. But I won’t. The band is a family, and the chick doesn’t play the piano believe it or not. I think she plays wither electric or bass. But she does sing. The band name is actually the family’s last name, which is probably the coolest last name ever. 

6. Satellites and Sirens. Perhaps you’ve heard this song on the radio? Believe it or not but the band started on craigslist. Talk about divine appointments eh? 

7. Gungor. This group does not and cannot be fit into a specific genre. I almost wish I was kidding. But only almost. It’s nice to have some variation for once. Most people know them for “Beautiful things” which was popular on the radio temporarily. But the rest of their stuff is fantastic too. 

8. Falling Up is fantastic, need I say more? Especially if you want electronic rock. Exit > Lights is a personal remix album, and we all know bands do better remixes than those silly attempts on youtube. This is a good song if you want to give them a try (That was really hard to choose just one song. So here.  And here.)

9. Write This Down is one of my staple bands. Not gonna lie. Do you know how hard it is to find a guy with a decent voice? I’m only up to 9 bands right now. That’s how hard it is. This is a good song for them..

 10. Deas Vail. The name means Servants of God. It's a pretty quiet not so much rock group. The band spends time together doing devotional and reading the bible. And the lead’s voice? He’s a guy. And he has one of the clearest voices ever, for a guy singing that high. It’s gorgeous. This. And this also, just cause it showcases his gorgeous range. 

Notice I haven’t listed anything with a chick singer yet? Before you ask me where fireflight is you have to keep in mind I’ve been studying voice since I was 10ish. I don’t have perfect pitch but I have a really strong ear. And I’m a girl. I tend to be really really picky about female vocals. Male vocals too, but not as much as female vocals. And I can’t stand Fireflight’s lead’s voice. Sorry :( Moving on. They do get an honorable mention though. 

11. Flyleaf. I do have some issues with them, most specifically being her vocal technique… But all things considered I still think she’s pretty phenomenal. Sad to hear that she’s left the band but hey, if I had a son I’d leave for him too. 

12. This Beautiful Republic.  This one and this one….I’m running out of different ways to praise these bands heh. I found these guys the first time I went on a hunt for decent non stereotype christian, like… 3 or 4 years ago. 

13. The Letter Black. Another chick band. Surprise of surprises, eh? It’s completely likely I just don’t look for them. It’s also possible there simply aren’t that many out there. For the record I’m pretty torn on this one too, vocally. I’m too picky for my own good :/ Especially considering if she were a guy I wouldn’t care so much. Anyways. This band is pretty great. 

14. Ivoryline. They are definitely not a staple band for me, and quite a bit of their stuff is based around acoustic guitar as opposed to electric drums and bass, but lyrically and theologically they are pretty unique. Least, I think they are. This for instance. Or this. But they’re definitely soft rock. 

15. The Wedding. This is the first by them I’d ever heard, and I was captivated by the mix in genre. It was all perfectly normal rock with outstanding lyrics and then suddenly! A saxophone? What’s this? Walking bass? But I’ll let you discover it for yourself. 

We’re at 15 now. 25 seems really far away….. I don’t know if I can make it that far. Looking back through this list a lot of the bands seem fairly stereotypical and cliche, just keep in mind. This is my argument to “There is no good Christian music.” I used to say that all the time. And a lot of these guys are somewhat cliche when compared to normal secular music. But that completely negates the point I’m making. Moving on.

16. Demon Hunter. I won’t lie, I usually forget these guys exist. But they’ve been around for over a decade. Gorgeous music, gorgeous voice. Probably one of the few with this kind of vocals that I like but.. He hits it just right. This band makes my heart all happy. A note of warning, this band dips into scream more than any I previously listed. So if that stuff bothers you skip them. But don’t call it demonic. Remember; demonic worships the devil. There is a real difference between demonic things and things that bother you emotionally. The spirit is not just your emotion. Do NOT get them confused.

17. Anthem Lights. Not gonna lie I don’t know too much about them so sorry if they suck, I just know there’s that one song they play on the radio about “get me out of my mind and into your heart” and I love the lyrics to it, and the music’s not half bad either. Don’t judge me.  

18. Nevertheless. This band isn’t technically classified as rock but that’s ok. This is one of my favorites by them. They don’t exist anymore though, sadly. They disbanded the end of 09. The lead’s voice is so.. Melodic. The band is just that way. Also this.

19. As Cities Burn. I love them. You may not. Their first album is screamo. The ones after that are… Less so. No screaming persay. But he does yell the lyrics. I was hesitant to list them simply because I know how most people feel about that but… Well. I love them and I’m running out of options. 

Speaking of which this is my last one. I’ll edit and add more if I can think of any. Comment to let me know. But the greatest thing about this last one?

It’s local. 

That’s right. Something decent from Kansas City. Shocker isn’t it?

Here’s the catch. Lyrically, they sound Christian. But since they’re indie rock and barely on charts I can’t find much about them. So I can only assume they love God. 

20. We Are Voices. Remember, this one is indie rock. It’s much softer than.. Everything else I’ve listed. So for all you who listen to screamo and freak out, this one is for you ;)

Honorable mentions are… Thousand Foot Krutch. I’ve tried but I can’t stand his voice, and they don’t really seem to sing about God so much as they sing about things happening and energetic fandom and people and things. Fireflight, I can’t stand her voice. Classic Crime, I love them musically and vocally but they feel really shallow when it comes to God. Blindside same reasons. Well, and also because their style isn’t quite my thing. The Send, also the same reasons. But The Send is fairly new so that could change. 

Honorable mentions counted thats 25, so in theory I made it. Celebrate joyfully! If I can remember more I’ll update and add them in. 

That’s all for now lovelies. I have errands to run, bills to be paid, and a job application to pick up if I can remember to… 

Until next time. 

~Silver

What is your music calling you to?

I’ve neglected to take a stand on music. It’s always been a hard subject for me. That’s part of the reason I never finished my purity series. I knew I’d have to write about music and what is good and what is bad, and I didn’t want to have to do that.

Ok, so maybe that was more than part of the reason. That was the reason. (Well, and I’m lazy. But you know.)

So, I apologize for that. Here’s a post on music. This is probably one of the most important things I’ll ever write.

(You: So here’s the part where you say music is bad, yeah?)

Well. Sort of. I’m not going to up and say, all music is bad. I will personally think a lot of music is bad for the heart, but I’d rather let you come to that conclusion yourself. 

Instead, I’m going to simply talk about music.

What do we know about music? We know a lot, right? (You: No. I’m tone deaf.) That’s not what I mean. I mean, what do we know about music as a force in society and how it affects us. (You: Yeah, I’m still drawing a blank)

Well think about it. If you’re depressed what are you going to listen to? Depressing music, right? And if you’re mad you’re probably going to listen to someone else just as angry. It makes you feel better, because you feel like you have power. Classic example being a depressed chick listening to Three Days Grace, and an angry arrogant white kid listening to Eminem.

Yes, I did just stereotype people by their music. Get over it. Stereotypes exist for a reason.

(Actually what I did was stereotype music by who’s listening. But you were gonna be too mad to catch that.)

I hear a lot from Christians that, it’s ok to listen to music as long as it has a good message.

This is one of the most singularly stupid statements I have ever heard. It’s like saying “It’s ok to listen to Hitler as long as you forget the holocaust.”

No. No, no, absolutely not. Music comes from the heart. We listen to music that calls to our hearts. If it matches how we feel, then we listen to it. Thing is, by doing this you’re supporting how you feel. You want to know why, even though life is great and you have a good job and a good family and you’ve never been molested used or abused in your life, you feel like killing yourself? It’s cause you’re busy listening to artists sing about their break ups and the people that have cheated on them. You’re listening to society justify itself, and all its anger, and all its emptiness.

Struggling with porn? Stop listening to Brittney Spears and Ke$ha.

Struggling with anger outbursts? Sick Puppies and Linkin Park are not for you.

Country music is not good for anyone.

The majority of music celebrates the strength of man. And Christian music isn’t counted out. You think Thousand Foot Krutch is good and Christian? I listen to them singing about how broke humanity is and I wonder, why is the focus on how much we Don’t see God?

Shouldn’t our focus be on Seeing God?

Christian music is based on the problems. It’s based on God saving us. It’s based on us being weak.

I don’t want to play your games, cuz lonely was a safer place. But you changed me when you called my name.

That worships God, right?

It’s not based on the places in the Bible where David’s singing about how even in his weakness God is strong. How even as man we can reach God because God loves us. Instead I hear Superchick singing about how we should stand our ground and be pure.

 Ok, so maybe I am a little over the top. But you have No Idea how much my heart burns on this subject.

Now, I’m not straight up condemning TFK and Superchick, or Relient K, or anyone else. I’m just using them as examples. I’m sure that, even if all their songs aren’t really worshipping who God is or calling Christianity to a higher standard of Holiness, their still good people.

That’s the problem though. They don’t call us to a higher level of holiness. It’s music about how God meets us in a place where we are, in our brokenness.

Saying nothing about how we’re falling to our faces out of respect.

It’s simply… So… Lazy. So self-loving.

I can’t stand it any more. I want music that tells me who God is, why I’m worshipping Him, and why I’m falling on my knees in worship. I want music that, instead of saying how it’s ok that I’m broken cuz God will save me, says God is my strength and I can look to Him. That I don’t have to be broken. That I am not of this world.

I want music that, instead of bringing God to this world, rather brings me to His world.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Next week, or sometime next anyways, I’ll post about secular music. And I'll probably read this over and post again so I have something more.. Concise. Better said. Right now I’ll just sit back and watch people comment about my biased, unabashed music bashing. (Cuz those comments are wonderful. They give me something to write about. They let me refine what I say till it has no mistakes. So please do flame this post. Kthxbai)

There really is no way to summarize and end this post.

~ Silver