Songs on Autopilot

Cowboys Singing About Cowgirls in First Person (ask Kara)*

Nearly always there’s a song that's either stuck or singing itself in my head —often without asking my permission. Sometimes that's OK with me.  Sometimes it's not.  

At times a song will gain entrance into my secret (and scary) mental chambers by the grace (or bad taste) of some outside source; at other times a tune will spin there all by itself, teaching itself to me as it does.  Sometimes this internal activity is meaningful, sometimes benign, sometimes banal and sometimes even lethal (think “It’s a Small World” and what you want to do to yourself after it's made it's 3 trillionth round).  

When I first heard “Ten Thousand Reasons” by Matt Redman I invited it to sing its heart out and the song complied and stayed happily for days.  Contrast that with my drive back from the Philadelphia area not long ago when the radio station I was listening to included in its programming “Only the Good Die Young” by Billy Joel.  Each word, bridge and musical interlude set up camp in my brain for almost as long as Matt's song did, but I didn’t enjoy it quite so much because I don't believe most of the lyrics and find some of them completely offensive-- especially the "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints/The sinners are much more fun" lines.  I've asked my brain to eject that song, but my brain doesn't always obey me. 

A few weeks back while we were preparing for a dinner/prayer gathering at our church, Carrie Newcomer’s “Betty’s Diner” made the rounds of my mental ward. I welcomed that song with open arms--especially the lines “here we are all in one place/the wants and the wounds of the human race.”  Like waitress Miranda’s customers, I was (and still am) in need of “something kind/eggs and toast like bread and wine."

But ever since this past Sunday, my mind has been working away on "The Name of the Lord is More Powerful" by Lanny Wolf, our guest musician who led a seminar for our worship community.  The verses to the song remember the Bible story of Elijah's contest with the prophets of Baal when the power of the Lord came down and burned up animals, altar, water and all--an event which triggered a great revival in Israel.  Lanny's chorus is remarkable yet simple in its magnanimous declaration that the name of the Lord is more powerful than demons and changeless throughout time and eternity; but the chorus gets personal as well as it concludes that the name of the Lord is more powerful than any problem I'll ever go through.

I didn't pick this song, by the way, but for some reason it picked me and I'm letting it stay and am urging it to continue whether or not I'm paying attention.  I need to be reminded over and over and over again, consciously, subconsciously and unconsciously that the changeless power of the Lord's name can overcome my demons, problems and even uninvited, mind numbing, dull songs I sometimes have to live with.    

So thank you, Lanny Wolf.  My thanks as well to all who are writing songs that bring health and joy and truth to my mind and spirit.

And to you guys who are writing songs like "It's a Small World After All"-- knock it off.




*At the risk of derailing the sense of this entry, I included the image above as it provides a visual (for me, of course) of what I'm trying to express.  The men pictured recorded the hit song Cowgirls Who Ride the Range for a film Kara was at the time producing--they sang it over and over again for about three hours to get it right.  Our house is small and resonant, so there wasn't anywhere for me to flee for refuge.  While I'm deeply proud of my daughter who wrote the song, I wasn't always happy to have her song stick in my brain like glue for endless days, Amen.  I'm betting that you wouldn't have either. I'm asking Kara to provide a soundbite so you'll know what I'm talking about.

Also: in case you are wondering (as I am) why the man in the forefront of the picture appears to be singing vigorously while the other two aren't, I think it's because he's most deeply enthusiastic about western themes.  Ever since he learned that I was born in Dallas, he's believed himself to be half cowboy.