i gotta have u

I am cool by extention

because these are my friends!

The Truth is...

Okay, so I've already revealed a number of things about myself here on the blog that have likely freaked people out. But once the cork comes out of the bottle, it all comes gurgling out....so here's another little splash....

I hate Christian music.

I don't listen to Christian radio. I don't buy a lot of cd's. If the first thing I hear about a new cd is that it's Christian, I probably won't be interested. There are some Christian artists that I am open to because they have built up credibility by actually producing both music and lyrics that show a modicum of talent, staying power or freshness. But there aren't that many.

(If you want to know why I hate Christian radio and Christian music, feel free to ask me because I'm not actually going to write anymore about it here....it's not the point. )

So that being said, I want to write about the new CD that my husband bought for me that was supposed to be a Christmas present but he just couldn't wait (Poopsie). It's Robbie Seay Band "Better Days" and the reason Robb knew I would like it was because Don Miller (Through Painted Deserts) recommends them. Of course, I realize I'm jumping on a bit of a bandwagon, but I will say that it's one of those CD's that lifts you out of yourself and breaks your heart it's so beautiful. I'd call it a cross between Dave Matthews Band and maybe Jars of Clay...but more talented.

So far my favorite song on this cd is "Breathing Air Again" and I'm going to bore you with the lyrics...feel free to stop reading right now because they won't mean much without the moody music behind it...bless them for not trying to be cheerful...


Take the time to start a new
Maybe it's in front of you
Take the time to walk down your street
And heaven knows who you might meet
Take the time to be okay
And laugh a bit along the way
You could take me for a ride
We could just drive all day

And we could breathe again
Step outside our front door
And gaze upon the stars
And know we're not alone
So run into the fields
Scream louder than you can
It's good to be alive
And breathing air again.

Take the time to stop and stare
Heaven's beauty everyhere
Take the time to think about
Someone else besides yourself
Take the time be okay
And laugh a bit along the way
You could take me for a ride
We could just drive all day.

Maybe you wouldn't like it. It's very hopeful and honest and free. They affirm our sinfullness and how great it is to be hidden in grace. They don't try to say it all.

"Here come better days...."

The Song ....

Oh, yeah, and if you are tempted to believe that a song is not such a big deal, U2's "Who's Going to Ride Your Wild Horses" was the song that made me choose Robb. I was in the car with my high school boyfriend (on a break during my Freshman year of college). This song came on and I realized that I was with a guy who didn't feel this way about me and wouldn't know how to if he tried. But Robb "got" me and this song at the same time....

You're dangerous 'cause you're honest
You're dangerous, you don't know what you want
Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot
For any spirit to haunt

Hey hey sha la la
Hey hey

You're an accident waiting to happen
You're a piece of glass left there on the beach
Well you tell me things I know you're not supposed to
Then you leave me just out of reach

Hey hey sha la la
Hey hey sha la la

Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea
Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna fall at the foot of thee

Well you stole it 'cause I needed the cash
And you killed it 'cause I wanted revenge
Well you lied to me 'cause I asked you to
Baby, can we still be friends

Hey hey sha la la
Hey hey sha la la

Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea
Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna fall at the foot of thee

Oh, the deeper I spin
Oh, the hunter will sin for your ivory skin
Took a drive in the dirty rain
To a place where the wind calls your name
Under the trees the river laughing at you and me
Hallelujah, heavens white rose
The doors you open
I just can't close

Don't turn around, don't turn around again
Don't turn around, your gypsy heart
Don't turn around, don't turn around again
Don't turn around, and don't look back
Come on now love, don't you look back

Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea
Who's gonna taste your salt water kisses
Who's gonna take the place of me

Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna tame the heart of thee.

Seriously, U2...amazing

I've been wanting to blog about U2's performance on Conan O'Brian last night all day...some random thoughts....

Bono has really big feet!

The best example of truly postmodern Christians I can think of, complete with an amazingly beautiful optimistic dispensationalism. I am a glass half-empty-girl myself, but I find optimists crazy-attractive. As much as I believe that the world really stinks sometimes, they believe just as thoroughly that tomorrow is another day wherein something great might happen. Bono is wildly optimistic about how much an Irish rock star can accomplish for good in his lifetime....He reminded me what this is all about again....what all this headache of packing and church stuff and being apart from Robb and all the other misery is about....to accomplish something that reflects in some small way how much God has given us and how we can reflect His grace to the needy ones around us. Call it hero-worship or falling for a celebrity if you want, but I think that that is what a musician/poet is for....to call attention to the details in life we can't express or don't notice, and therefore remind us of the greater picture. To "give some words to what we almost feel" as Chris Rice said. It goes without saying that Robb is an optimist, and I would follow him to the end of the world....he makes me believe crazy and wonderful things are possible.


Seemingly so serious, in their all-black clothes and deep, still lyrics, they made me laugh out loud. "In the year 2000" is Robb's favorite Conan bit, and having The Edge with that gooney necklace thing was just so dang funny. I felt deeply happy and satisfied for the first time in days. They made me believe again that this world is a pretty nice place in spite of sin and illness, because at least we can still laugh and create and do rightly by others. Lighten Up, Girl!

I'm always wary of celebrity-worship. Let's face it, our culture is so vulgar that way. But Jesus was famous. Sometimes people are just so very good, you can't help standing there with your mouth open, just being amazed. I remember the glory days of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. I could have cared less about the NBA, but there was just something about how great Jordan was, that I was sucked in. I couldn't help being interested. U2 is that way for me....they are just so good at what they do, I can't help hanging on their every word. Maybe because, like Jesus, they are good at maintaining some mystery. I maintain 2 percent skepticism....Bono could be the antichrist afterall. Leading the charge to erase the national debt in 36 poverty stricken countries, uniting the likes of radical Hollywood stars with Right wing conservatives to eradicate AIDS in Africa, not to mention his work regarding Apartheid in South Africa could make a guy pretty popular all over the globe. But I'll try to be optimistic. They could just be a great band.

The acoustic "Stuck in a Moment"....so good. Made me want to cradle my guitar and touch base with my soul...

"Some things you shouldn't get too good at...Laughing, Crying and Late Night TV....."

The Weepies

No, I'm not writing about my emotional state. I've been searching for a long time to explain the genre of music that I like best. CCM is usually too trite. Country is a little too flannel. Rock is too hard. Pop is too young. So I found this radio station through itunes called Radio Acoustic. (check under Americana in case you'd like to look.) It's a little more folksy, celtic, and alternative than what you usually find and it amuses me, though I hardly know any songs, except for maybe a remake of Seal's "Kissed by a Rose" and it wasn't anything to write home about (although, that is kind of what I'm doing here...hmmm....I digress) So I heard this band, The Weepies, playing a song called "somebody loved" and I like it a lot. So I bought the song. I don't know if I can reccommend the whole CD since I see another song on the album (incidently named Happiness) was titled "Dating a Porn Star." But here it is....

Somebody Loved
Words and music by Deb Talan and Steve Tannen

Rain turns the sand into mud
Wind turns the trees into bone
Stars turning high up above
You turn me into somebody loved.

Nights when the heat had gone out
We danced together alone
Cold turned our breath into clouds
We never said what we were dreaming of
But you turned me into somebody loved.

Someday when we're old and worn
Like two softened shoes
I will wonder on how I was born
The night I first ran away from you.

Now my feet turn the corner back home
Sun turns the evening to rose
Stars turning high up above
You turn me into somebody loved.

©2002 Deb Talan & Steve Tannen (ASCAP/BMI). All rights reserved.

About 12 years ago, Robb turned me into somebody loved. It's been transformational for me in so many ways....and it's exactly like a girl always dreams of it.

10 years ago, I found out that God had made me somebody loved before time began.

So I played that song over and over yesterday just to remind myself.

No weepies today.