Monday, February 18, 2008

music critic

driving home from work last week, i heard a song that shook me up a bit. on the one hand, i rather liked the music and the rhythm, but i was dismayed by the lyrics.

(as if anyone was inclined to misidentify him) the singer declared "i'm not Jesus. Jesus wasn't fair."

sure. life isn't fair. Jesus wasn't fair. Jesus was extremely unfair. Incredibly biased--towards others. what did he do to deserve his punishment? everyone else gets out of eternal damnation. yeah, that's fair.

then he goes on to say, "your God is looking down on me" and "i'm not Jesus, i will not forgive."
i have grudge-holding issues myself, but i always aspire to be better. this guy is just wallowing in self-pity and rage for whatever was trespassed against him.

religious blather aside, i suspect that the songwriter made a syntactical mistake. he says "I’ve thought you talked to god. Your hippocratic messiah and child abusive turned satanic."

i can't help but think he means 'hypocritic' here and it just makes me crack up.

(for the record the band was apocolyptica.)

but let's disregard my issues with lyrical malapropism and enjoy the irony that was created with the juxtaposition of the next song; one diametrically opposed on a theological scale. nickelback's "If Everyone Cared".

i love that song. musically, it's like an empty-calorie snack, but i love the message and i can't help but feel uplifted after hearing it.


Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive

[Chorus:]
If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died

don't you just want to hug someone?