Danny ChaiDavid Crowder posted a long Q&A on his blog. As you probably know, I’m a huge David Crowder fanboy. Love his music, love how thoughtful he is. The other thing I love is that he’s a little odd. Not that I always resonate with – based on YouTube videos, I frankly find his concert manner, even his writing, a little annoying. But normal is boring, and that he’s not, well I like that. That Jieun is quirky is honestly one of the big reasons I married her. (To those who didn’t know her quirkiness in college, you missed out.)
Anyway, he says some interesting things in it (along with some boring things). One completely accurate observation he makes is about Lost, and J.J. Abrams in general:
i don’t watch lost, and here is why: j. j. abrams can’t be trusted. yeah, i know what you’ll say, you’ll say, “but lost is awesome. if it ended today, i’d be happy.” you would speak naively! this would mean you have lived your life thus far spared by the devastation mr abrams leaves in his wake. but chances are great that soon you will feel the pain completely that i allude to. he lulls you in supremely and then crushes you with his farcical conclusions. sure, he creates a complex and compelling story layered with subtext and subtlety and interwoven storylines and you swallow whole and then comes the climax and denouement and you will say aloud, “no! this is ridiculous!! you’re ruining everything! how could you do this to me? do you hate me? mr. abrams, you are an evil, evil man.” and there is history supporting this! felicity! alias!!! go look at the message boards. bet you didn’t know that the last season of alias involved vampirezombie things and large red floating spheres. well, it did! and so i swore, “no more mr abrams, no more! never again will i fall for your savage malevolent brutality.”
Dude, that’s totally true. Everyone (including me) is excited about the last season of Lost, but man, guy’s got a mixed track record. The last season of Alias was easily the worst final season of a great TV show in history. I loved that show, and the last season left me angry. Red floating spheres. Zombies. And the last episode… man, I’m getting angry just thinking about it. So yeah, he reminded me that I should probably temper my expectations with this season of Lost. There’s a not insignificant chance that it will totally suck.
He also mentions that the tracks in Church Music each correspond to what they view as a significant stage in church music history arranged in chronological order (spanning from the first track, “Phos Hilaron,” the oldest known hymn outside of the Bible, to “In The End”). I had not realized that. Along with the whole album playing uninterrupted. Seriously brilliant.
Also like that he reads Chuck Klosterman. Man after my own heart.
And he also says that his favorite worship album is “I Bow Down” from Vineyard’s Touching The Father’s Heart. I also find that fascinating. That was a good album.
His thoughts on theologically rich worship songs are also interesting, and I think very true.
Do you think there will soon be a resurgence of new, deeply theological worship songs (i.e. hymns)? I’m dying for more truth and less feeling.
Kevin. yes. i think it may be helpful to you to realize that it is less the fault of those creating the music and more the fault of the container that they are attempting to use, which is the modern pop song. our previous container, the hymn, was based on a genre of literature, poetry, which was fantastic at carrying philosophical and theological ideas. a song (hymn) would spend years looking for the proper musical setting because the lyric or content was the most important element. pop music is not content based, it is melody based. so, those who excel in the writing of modern congregational song are those who excel at melody rather than those who excel in the composition of theologically rich ideas in repetitive metrical form. and you’re also talking about an era where the poetry section in a bookstore can hardly be found, when in the past it was one of the more competitive genres. so, gifted writers are less inclined to hone their poetic inclinations. all of that said, there are many within progressive church settings that share your frustration, the solution of which seems to be an attempt at collaborative efforts and the building of bridges between high church and low church traditions. and this is exciting to me.
He’s a thoughtful guy. Big fan.