You can take the girl out of the country…

On March 12th (yes, I’m a bit behind), Phil and I went to see Brad Paisley in concert. Cowboy-hat-wearing, country-guitar-picking, down-home-singin’ Brad Paisley. I wore my Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame 2005 Inductees t-shirt; just to prove that even though I may be a little bit country I’m also a little bit rock and roll. But I needn’t have worried, my lack of cowboy hat and/or boots did set me apart. And that, I discovered, is the major drawback to the country concert — big ole’ cowboy hats on good ole’ boys screening the action. Oi vey!

Despite my limited view, and the fact that I spilled a good percentage of my Fruitopia all over my jeans and the floor just as the concert was starting, I enjoyed the concert. Johnny Reid and Terri Clark opened. Johnny Reid was quite good — that boy’s got pipes! Terri Clark was also really good. I’ve never cared too much for her, but she was surprisingly very entertaining. I found I knew more of her songs than I thought I did, and that I enjoyed them. She was also a good entertainer. She engaged the crowd and was quite funny. It was great seeing Brad in concert too — I really enjoy his music. So does Phil (the reason we went to the concert — his Christmas present), but he was a little disappointed with the concert.

I guess I must accept it, admit it, and embrace it — I like country music. You can judge me as you wish.

The Rock[star]s will cry out

I think one of the surest testaments to God’s existence as well as His desire to have a relationship with His children, is the longing for Him that each human possesses. One of the surest testaments to this longing is our art, our literature, our music — expressions of the pursuit of fulfillment of the void. SO many “love” songs are actually sentiments more appropriately reserved for God. Human relationships can never replace a relationship with God. We will never get from another person the things we can get from God. And so these modern day psalmists are actually penning words that express in meaningful ways love of, need of, and praise of God.

Exhibit A:

PUSH

Every time I look at you the world just melts away
All my troubles all my fears dissolve in your affections
You’ve seen me at my weakest but you take me as I am
And when I fall you offer me a softer place to land

Chorus
You stay the course you hold the line you keep it all together
You’re the one true thing I know I can believe in
You’re all the things that I desire, you save me, complete me
You’re the one true thing I know I can believe

I get mad so easy but you give me room to breathe
No matter what I say or do ’cause you’re too good to fight about it
Even when I have to push just to see how far you’ll go
You won’t stoop down to battle but you never turn to go

(Chorus)

There are times I can’t decide when I can’t tell up from down
You make me feel less crazy when otherwise I’d drown
But you pick me up and brush me off and tell me I’m ok
Sometimes that’s just what we need to get us through the day

(Chorus)

Written by Sarah McLachlan

Home

Michael Buble’s song Home is currently one of my favourite songs. The first time I heard it was while the credits ran on some movie that I saw in the theatre (for the life of me I can’t remember the movie, but I think I liked it). I was moved by the song, maybe because of residual feelings from the movie. This happens to me a lot — the whole music-movie connection. Sometimes a song will make a scene that much more intense (obviously this is the intent and I am merely a pawn in their game, vulnerable to their manipulations), or because of the events in the movie, the song becomes much more moving to me. More often it is the music that affects the movie experience. In Daredevil, which isn’t a movie meant to tug the ole’ heartstrings, the Evanescence song My Immortal plays during a funeral scene that also includes a moment of romance. It was one of the most intense movie moments I’ve had (and indeed, it is a beautiful, beautiful song). One of the reasons I love movies is their ability to transport me into different lives, different experiences, different emotions and if I’m able to lose myself in those moments, I become as emotionally engaged as if I were experiencing the same thing the characters are. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it greatly affects me.

Anyway, I was talking about Home. I really like the music and the words and Michael’s voice, but what I like most about this song is the reminder that I am NOT home. It is a reminder of that nagging feeling I constantly have that I want to go home. The feeling that I am not at peace here, that there is something better, that I miss a home that I have not known but that will fulfill a lifetime of longing. I think I am someone who needs to work on contentment — I am no Paul. But I think that some of my discontent with this life is due to the fact that we were not made for this life, we were made for something grander and something within us longs for that.

How Shania Twain taught me about God’s love

I must make yet another confession. I like country music. Please don’t judge me. It gets worse. I like Shania Twain. Seriously, it doesn’t make me a bad person.

Currently one of my favourite Shania songs (they don’t stay favs for long — I don’t know if you’ve noticed, her songs are beginning to sound very much the same…) is “I’m Jealous”. It’s a song about being so in love that the protagonist is jealous of the moon, the sun, the wind, and the rain for their ability to caress her lover’s skin. The chorus is as follows: “I don’t want to share you with nothing else, gotta’ have you to myself, I can’t help it I’m so in love, I just can’t get you close enough”.

It occurred to me that that is how our jealous God feels about us. And the neat thing is, the wind, the sun, the moon, the rain, are all gifts of His love, they are a caress from Him. This was an emotional moment for me. I struggle with understanding God’s love for me, and maybe even accepting it. So anything that can help me to gain an understanding that I am the object of this incredible, undeserved love is great, even if it is a country song.