As the song opens a camera is fixed tightly on an eye, so close that initially you can’t tell it’s an eye, but slowly the camera pans out, and it becomes clear that it is the eye of Jesus who is suffering on a cross. Around him you can see the weary faces of his followers who are dumbfounded, because they are unable to make sense of the event that is unfolding before them, particularly in light of their hopes that he was the Messiah. After this, the camera quickly pans out further, much further, giving us a view of the entire world, as well as a grand sweep of time (No, I am not sure how I pulled this off visually, but in that universe I pulled it off magnificently).

Next you see Cloverton on a rocky shore somewhere in Northern California, perhaps near Mendocino. They are bathed in the golden light of a late afternoon Sun, and as they play this song, you can see waves splashing wildly in the background, waves that crash, and spray, and catch glimmers of the Sun as it approaches the horizon for sunset.

Next is a montage of video clips that occupy your attention for varying lengths of time. Some of the clips can barely be registered by human consciousness because they move so quickly, and some move in slow motion. All of this works together to communicate a sense of the relativity of time. Amidst the diversity of images and clips a consistent thread emerges: sin and brokenness. The images and clips are of war, oppression, domestic violence, drug use, genocide, prostitution, etc. Interspersed throughout these images is the ongoing scene of Christ’s suffering that opened the video. Also, throughout this sequence you the band playing this song on the same shore line. At first, the sequence of Christ’s suffering are very brief, but little by little they become longer until everything stops with Jesus surrendering his spirit to death.

After this, the clips of suffering continue, this time interspersed with images of Jesus’ followers grieving in the aftermath of his death. Also interspersed are cuts to  the band playing on the shore, but this time in dim firelight surrounded by darkness. The interspersing of these three sequences continue to the point where Mary visits the grave of Jesus and is confronted by the resurrected Christ. You never see him, but his presence emits new light into darkness, a light that begins by illuminating Mary, and moves forward toward those in the other clips of sin and brokenness. As this resurrection light begins to permeate, each person begins to respond, first by acknowledging the light, and then eventually by turning toward it. All of this gives visual meaning to the song’s chorus “take me into the beautiful,” as the beautiful has now absorbed all darkness and ugliness, and made it possible for any and all to enter into the beautiful. In one particularly poignant sequence, you see a man and a woman in a garden, whose heads, recently hung in shame, begin to look over their shoulders to an unexpected light breaking in, and again the chorus cries out “taking me into the beautiful, where the faces glow, where the lights never dim.”

There are two basic theological themes that drive this video. The first, and most general, is the idea that God is calling all of creation to himself through the redemptive work of Christ. In a sense, he is standing at the end of time, reaching back through Christ to the beginning of time to bring all things back to himself. The second, and more particular theme emerges from Irenaeus’s doctrine of recapitulation, in which Christ functions as a second Adam, whose life rewrites all that went wrong with humanity in the first Adam. In Irenaeus’s doctrine Jesus completely identifies with the whole of humanity to the point of taking the whole of their sin, and the consequences of their sin, upon himself. The irony of Irenaeus’s thinking is that through obedience Jesus was led to death, which is the penalty of disobedience, but because Jesus was led to death through obedience he was able to overcome death by death, and thereby became the gateway for all to freely enter into life. This life, however, is not just life, but life abundant and glorious, in short, life taken up into the beautiful.

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Take Me Into The Beautiful

Click the above link to hear the song.

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Johnny Cash – Hurt from Hans Blom on Vimeo.

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This is a link to a nice performance of “Hurt” by Reznor

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Why am I blogging this formula, cause I have been listening to these guys quite a bit lately, and as I have listened, this is the formula I have generated to characterize their music. Also, I have been thinking of doing a kind of literary/musical analysis of their two back-to-back concept albums: Hypnotize and Mezmerize,  but we’ll see. In the mean time, I give you the following few videos:

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Recently, as I was updating my IPod, a process that prompts me to redisover songs that I all too often neglect, I listened to a couple of Michael’s more recent albums, which further prompted me to think of other albums of his that I owned but somehow lost along the way. Among the many songs a standout was titled “God’s Own Fool.” As I look back on the formative influences of my early Christian journey, I would not hesitate to credit Mr. Card with giving me a strong sense of God’s irony, the paradoxical nature of Christianity, the limits of human reason, and an over all sense of wonder regarding the God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

With all this said, I give you the lyrics to “God’s Own Fool”

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Seems I’ve imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God’s Holy wisdom is foolish to men
He must have seemed out of His mind
Even His family said He was mad
And the priest said a demon’s to blame
But, God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane

Chorus
We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
We in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
So we follow God’s own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter’s son
For a madman who died for a dream
And You’ll have the faith His first followers had
And you’ll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Find the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see

Chorus
So we follow God’s own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well

In all the years of listening to and loving their music, I have only seen them once in concert with my good friend Chris Brown, back in 1999 at the historic Maritime theatre in San Francisco. I consider myself blessed that I had that opportunity. On the night of the concert, however, I remember being mildly disappointed when they took the stage as it wasn’t the full ensemble, and it was clear it was going to be an acoustic set. And yet, I quickly repented of my disappointment, as Liam and the band put on a fantastic show. There was not a foot or ass in the audience that wasn’t stomping, shaking, and dancing.

Though the lineup of the band has changed somewhat over the years, the stable core of Liam O’ Maonlai, Fiachna O’Braonain, and Peter O’Toole have been the constant to give the band its distinctive soul and sound. Regarding their sound, at risk of smoothing over their distinctive character, I will say it’s hard not to think of Irish crooner, Van Morrison, for like Morrison, Hothouse Flowers is soulful and spiritual, and yet the two cannot be confused. Sure, Hothouse Flowers has deep roots in soul, gospel, and rhythm and blues, but through all this they make a clear nod towards rock-n-roll. Whatever genre they may be placed under at the record stores, however they are classified, in the end they are simply an excellent band. If you have ears and a modicum of taste, I am confident you won’t be disappointed.

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I Can See Clearly Now

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Dance To The Storm

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Feet On The Ground

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Give It Up

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Hothouse Flowers Website

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Some More Songs
Click on the song title of your choice and you will go to a website where you will find the song in a box in the middle of the page under the words “currently playing”. Again, click on the song title and this time select play.

Christ Church Bells
I’m Sorry
Good For You
Sweet Marie

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Something to think about….

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

The questions raised:

*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*Do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.

How many other things are we missing?

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So, do you think you would have stopped to listen?

For my first memory, I have an image of my friend, Bobby and I walking to Eucalyptus Records to buy my first piece of music, a 45-rpm single of Gary Numan’ “Cars”. Eucalyptus Records was an all in one record store/head shop/ticket outlet complete with black light posters and strobe lights, and I vaguely remember feeling that I was crossing some kind of threshold while walking there. Bobby purchased a copy of the song as well, and when we got back to my place we took turns playing our copies on my parents’ stereo system over and over again. To this day I can recall the feeling of longing the song evoked with its intro idling-engine-like sound, and its low-end keyboard riff accompanied by a haunting, high-pitched synthesizer that sounded like an electronic angel singing. The song felt like a dream induced departure from my mundane life. After the ambient, electronic intro, Gary sung the following lyrics with a mod delivery that prefigured the new-wave sound of the 80s: “Here in my car – I feel safest of all – I can lock all my doors – It’ the only way to live – In cars” –whip-CRACK!!

For my second memory, I must confess that though I was raised as a Christian, where the notion that God became man was at the center of our belief system, I did not ever really feel the temptation to declare that anyone was God until the day I heard “Eruption” by Eddie Van Halen. In an age where guitar shredders are practically a dime a dozen it is hard to appreciate what a metaphysical-shifting moment it was when that guitar solo hit the airwaves. For me, to hear that song was as if my soul had grown skin just so it could be torn apart by the soaring sounds, and light speed, semi-baroque, arpeggios that made me realize that orgasm was not just a physical sensation. How can a guitar sound like that? How can fingers move that fast? How can I feel so torn apart and put back together by a song that is only comprised of a guitar and lasts not even two minutes? I once heard Eruption described as the soundtrack to World War Three, which is a statement I both affirm and deny. Certainly it is the sound of a blitzkrieg enacted by a master of speed, whammy bar, hammer-on, and tapping dynamics, but war is such a negative and hellish thing. By contrast, to this day when I hear Eruption I feel as if I am brought closer to the manifest glory of heaven.

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Cars

Eruption