Three Songs

(I originally typed this entry before the Doulos one, as I was waiting for the photos to load onto Photobucket. And I had some problems with transferring the photos to Blogger, so I had to manually edit the HTML code for the pictures in the Doulos entry. Although this story comes after Doulos, feel free to scroll down and read the Doulos Photoblog first. I would recommend it in that order.)


Three songs.

One heard while in the jeep, on my way to my grandmother's house after the Doulos trip.

Another I played on the piano this morning.

The third through my discman, just before sleeping last night, and again this morning.


* * * * *

Breakaway
Kelly Clarkson

Written by Matthew Gerrard, Bridget Benenate and Avril Lavigne. (I'm not sure if Clarkson herself had a hand in writing the song.)

Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I just stared out my window
Dreaming of a could-be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray (I would pray)

Trying not to reach out
But when I'd try to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I pray (I would pray)
I could breakaway

1st Chorus:
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky
I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway

Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)
And breakaway

1st Chorus

Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging around revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway

2nd Chorus:
I'll spread my wings
And I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk
Take chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway


Of all her songs, I like this very much, besides 'The Trouble With Love Is'. While in the jeep last night, I was soaring along with the song.


* * * * *

Memory (alternate lyric)
From the musical Cats

Words by Trevor Nunn, after T.S. Eliot

Daylight, see the dew on a sunflower
And a rose that is fading
Roses wither away
Like the sunflower I yearn to turn my face to the dawn
I am waiting for the day

Memory, turn your face to the moonlight
Let your memory lead you
Open up, enter in
If you find there the meaning of what happiness is
Then a new life will begin

Memory, all alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Burnt out ends of smokey days
The stale cold smell of morning
The streetlamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning

Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I mustn't give in
When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

Sunlight, through the trees in summer
Endless masquerading
Like a flower as the dawn is breaking
The memory is fading

Touch me, it's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is
Look, a new day has begun


'Memory' is a classic. But the musical omits three verses from this seven-verse version written by lyricist Trevor Nunn. This 'alternate lyric' just goes to show how much he was influenced by T.S. Eliot.

Virtually every other song in the musical uses words written by Eliot himself in his book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, but 'Memory' incorporates themes and images from Eliot's other poems, such as the line 'burnt out ends of smokey days' from his poem, 'Preludes'.


* * * * *

If I Had to Die for Someone
Petra

Words by Bob Hartman. Music by Lonnie Chapin and John Elefante.

I wear my seatbelt in the car I buckle up for safety
I run for cover from the storm
I wear a Band-Aid on my knee I look both ways when crossing and I flee
Any danger I can see

And if I try each day to save my life in every way I can
How could I understand the way
You died for me

Chorus:
'Cause I don't know if I could even if I think I would
If I had to die for someone
If I had to die for someone else
How could I ever give my life to set the guilty free
When I cannot imagine
If I had to die for someone else like me
Someone else like me

I keep away from falling rocks and I don't play with matches
I lock the door I don't know why
It seems to me I'm much too old to wear a scarf out in the cold but
I want to live until I die

I guess I love my life a little more than I should love it
And if I had to I don't know if I could
Lay it down

Bridge:
And I am glad that You are not at all like me
'Cause You laid down Your life and did it willingly
It still amazes me to know
It's me that You were thinking of
No one else could have a greater love
A greater love

Chorus


I don't agree with certain elements of Petra's theology, but their anthemic songs are in that tradition from which U2 emerged, and they are very inspiring. This is the first song from their album God Fixation, which I bought from Doulos yesterday, and it almost instantly asserted itself as a classic in my ears when I first listened to it.

The song was inspired by John 15:13, in which Jesus says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

When I heard the chorus, I was gripped by the staggering nature of Christ's sacrifice for us. Paul writes;

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

--Romans 5:7-8

For 'righteous' and 'good' people, someone might possibly dare to die, though rarely. But Christ died for sinners--the Holy One for thankless parasites. I cannot imagine dying for someone like me, but God gave His life for the scum of the universe.

What kind of God is this?


* * * * *

Lately I've been wondering if God might be calling me into full-time ministry.

Maybe I've been keeping too much company with staffworkers from SU and FES.

Maybe repeated encounters with Doulos over the past week or so had something to do with it.

Maybe it was because I've been going to seminary over the past three years.

Maybe it's none of the above, or all of the above. Maybe there's something else.

I just feel some sort of prompting/prodding in that direction.