Danny ChaiLong boring rambling entry that absolutely no one will get through.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I actually don’t listen to music a ton, which is kind of ironic. Reason is, when I do, I get totally encompassed by it. I mean totally; it’s hard for me to concentrate on anything else. Without even realizing it, I find myself thinking through chord changes and absentmindedly air fingering piano chords (relative ones; I don’t have perfect pitch). So there’s not really anything like background music in my life. There’s foreground music, and if I want to accomplish anything else, I have to turn the music off.
But every once in a while I gorge on music, like this evening, when I decided to rip all my Out Of The Grey CDs and I decided to listen to them while doing it. And wow, it was like meeting up with an old friend. Out Of The Grey is my favorite band. The fact that they’re not more popular angers me to no end. Worse, I can understand objectively why they aren’t, why they don’t appeal to everyone. And that enrages me even more. Just, as good as their music is to me, I feel like there’s even still so much more potential in the music. Argh. Anyway, I feel so strongly about them that if anyone ever wants an OOTG CD, I will buy it for them. I’m 100% serious.
Anyway, the feelings OOTG evokes in me are totally complex, because it’s kind of like the soundtrack of my formative years. You know how that is, right? You associate music with times in your life when you listened to it. Well I listened to OOTG a ton throughout the 90s. So whenever I listen to them I’m flooded with all the emotions of those times in my life: youthful exuberance, the feeling of unlimited young potential, the first stirrings of love, bitter heartbreaks, depression, camaraderie, loneliness – everything wrapped up a big mushed up ball of emotion. It’s crazy how powerful the music is for me.
The other thing is, I think listening to a lot of OOTG makes me a better man. I mean that. They really write incredible lyrics that, when I meditate on it, feels like something akin to prayer. See, that’s something that people who aren’t into Christian music at all can never understand. Try as you might, you’ll never find deep meaning in lyrics like “Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa.” I’ve tried. But after a couple hours listening to OOTG, I feel like God is calling me to be a more passionate Christian. That’s the unique power of good Christian music.
Like, here’s the lyrics to one song I was digging tonight, from their latest (maybe last) album, 6.1 (xangaers take note: I’m actually going to explain them instead of randomly posting lyrics with no context or rationale whatsoever):
Out Of The Ordinary
Scott and Christine Dente, Chris Donohue and Ken Lewis
There are days of redemption and days of regret
And all of the days n between
And sometimes I wonder at all I forget
As the days go by
Made in the image of more than a man
Wonderfully, fearfully made, I
Eternity living inside of me
And still the days go by
But I try
I’m living this life out of the ordinary
I’m opening wide for the extraordinary
And it’s all just a dream that you’ll slowly reveal
But you promised you’re making me real
And now hope is the difference for all who believe
And the hope gives me strength where I stand
The difference is coming alive in me as all the days go by
How the time flies by
I’m living this life out of the ordinary
I’m opening wide for the extraordinary time
I’m learning to love
Out of the ordinary now
And I know it’s a dream that you slowly reveal
And I know that you’re drawing me near
And isn’t it right and isn’t it good
How your love makes me real
Didn’t it all go by so fast!
Song totally struck me tonight. Just, we were meant for extraordinary lives. But despite that, time still just seems to fly by without much extraordinariness to it. I’m freaking almost 30 now. What the heck happened? What happened to the years of my life? Did I live my life out of the ordinary? Quite the contrary, I feel like many times I willingly pursued and continue to pursue the ordinary. In terms of career, how I spend my time, what motivates me, what I want. I want what everyone else wants rather than the extraordinary. How boring.
But like the song says, the thing about the Christian life is that it’s about hope, not regret, and that message really resonates with me. Doesn’t matter where we think we are now or what we wished we had done. We can open ourselves to extraordinary things God has for us. Very encouraging.
The last song on that album also resonated with me. Since no one’s reading by this point anyway, I’ll type those lyrics out also.
I Want Everything
Scott and Christine Dente
I’m on this journey to the Holy Land
My heart is searching for a sacred romance
Following the echoes of a love song long ago
I watch for my returning hero
All these diversions and distractions
Leave my desires unsatisfied
Because he set eternity inside my heart
I’ll be restless ’til I’m resting in his arms
I’m gonna keep searching
I gotta keep hoping
‘Cause I want everything, I want everything
I’m never gonna settle
‘Cause I want better, I want everything
I want everything he promised me
You’ve given me a heart for the journey
You’ve given me a part in this story of yours
I’m a new creation, I can’t stay the same
I have an exception someday things will change
I’m gonna keep searching
Gotta keep hoping
‘Cause I want everything, I want everything
Never gonna settle
‘Cause I want better, I want everything
I want everything you promised me
I want holy, I want lovely, I want grace
I want passion, I want poetry and coffee
Oh, I want everything
Dang, totally speaks to me. I think it was C.S. Lewis who said this, right? That our problem isn’t that we want too much but that we settle for too little. We pursue the trifling things of this world when infinite joy is being offered. I feel like I settle every single day. Settle for a boring, “normal” life, settle for filling up time with diversions and distractions, when none of these things give me what I know I fundamentally want and need – purpose and passion.
So yeah, I want to be more greedy, if that’s the right word. I want holy, I want passion. I want spiritual gifting. I want to hear God. I want everything. Great song. I’m telling you, OOTG makes me a more passionate Christian.
Starts with B. Ends with G. Rhymes with “snoring”.