Danny ChaiYet another song I really like, and I know it’s boring but sucks for you. Again, no mp3, just because I can’t find the CD. Which is really sad, because it’s one of those few songs from that era that sound too interesting to be “Christian” music.
The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes & The Pride Of Life
Mike Roe
Well, I feel
Like I have to feel
Something good all of the time
With most of life I cannot deal
But a good feeling I can feel
Even though it may not be real
And if a person, place or thing can deliver
I will quiver with delight
But will it last me for all my life
Or just one more lonely night
The lust, the flesh
The eyes
And the pride of life
Drain the life
Right out of me
Well, I see something and I want it
Bam! Right now!
No questions asked
Don’t worry how much it costs me now or later
I want it and I want it fast
I’ll go to any length
Sacrifice all that I already have
And all that I might get
Just to get
Something more that I don’t need
And Lord, please don’t ask me what for
The lust, the flesh
The eyes
And the pride of life
Drain the life
Right out of me
And I love when folks
Look right at me
And what I’m doing
Or have done
And lay it on about
How groovy I am
And that I’m looking grand
And every single word
Makes me think I’ll live forever
Never knowing that they probably
Won’t remember what they said tomorrow
Tomorrow I could be dead
The lust, the flesh
The eyes
And the pride of life
Drain the life
Right out of me
For a while in high school and college I was really into alternative Christian music. I listened to almost everything out there and I think I’m qualified to say that with very few exceptions, “alternative Christian” is a synonym for “bad”. I mean, some truly horrific music produced in those days, a lot of it just noise with barely perceptible elements of rhythm and melody. The Prayer Chain (one of the supposed “best” bands from that era) had a song that was typical of the time, Dig Dug, that consisted in large part of weirdo chanting and a chorus of “dig in deep”. I actually own this album, in addition to a bunch of other alternative Christian albums I hate by DigHayZoose, Lifesavers, and others.
So yeah, I think I’m qualified enough to say that the complete list of good alternative Christian artists up to the mid 90s is The 77s, Sixpence None The Richer (they were alternative at one time), Steve Taylor, The Choir, and some of Poor Old Lu (2 band names inspired by C.S. Lewis. Interesting). That’s the complete list, excepting the Lost Dogs, who were made up of the frontmen of several alternative bands but didn’t produce alternative music.
OK, I’ve lost everyone but I don’t care. Anyway, yeah, the 77s are the best of them, and they were actually signed with Island at one point but got lost in the shuffle. And this is one of my favorite songs by them.
Dave has written before how a fear of his is of being found out that he doesn’t know anything. I’ve never had that fear, but I’ve had something similar, more spiritually related: my fear is that someday everyone will come to believe I’m a spiritual fraud, that they’ll realize how truly evil and sinful I am. And I am truly evil. People would be shocked if they really knew. It’s not that I’m intentionally hypocritical. It’s just that dealing with the sin in my heart is a constant, exhausting struggle. My sin is always before me.
What I love about this song is that it perfectly captures the weariness I feel in fighting (and frequently failing) against my sin. If you’re not familiar, the song is a riff on 1 John 2:15-17, which reads: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
Each verse is a riff on themes in the passage, the first on The Lust and The Flesh, the second on The Eyes, and the third on The Pride of life. I just resonate with that a lot. In general, I resonate with the passages about weakness in Scripture. Like the guy who can only pray, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” That’s me. Or when they say “Lord we believe… help our unbelief!” That’s exactly how I feel. I’ve been reading through Genesis and just got through the story of Joseph, and while I aspire to that, I just can’t relate to that. My walk is not about inner strength but about struggling with who I am and the grace and mercy of God.
And it’s tiring, being sinful. It really is. I love how he sings the line, “drains the life right out of me”. The whole song, there’s such weariness in his voice, and it just perfectly captures the feeling of fighting against sin. Anyway, it’s a feeling I resonate with a lot. A sinner in need of grace. And that’s why I love the song. There just aren’t many songs like that out there.