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Commentary Too - Jan 4, 2005 - Printable Version
- Is God Dead?
by Down The Middle
I believe I was only a freshman in high school and meeting with my garage band for rehearsal when someone mentioned the New York Times had “headlined” the question, “IS GOD DEAD?”. As a young rock and roll drummer, I was presently more concerned with the dynamics of fifteen year-old kids pulling off Dylan, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones {yes, they were “Rolling”, in those days} at the school dance on Friday night. Although I was more concerned that day with becoming “almost famous”, I did feel somewhat struck by the fact that anyone would pose such a question. I suppose I was much too young, and much too busy working on being “cool” {that is, as cool as one can actually be at fifteen}, to contemplate all of the changes taking place in the world around me. We were still getting used to the bad dream of Kennedy’s assassination, all the while, Johnson was ordering up divisions of the regular army for deployment in Viet Nam, and “freedom marches” were spreading like wildfire throughout the South. Barry McGuire’s newly released recording of P.F. Sloan’s “Eve of Destruction” was getting lots of play time on the radio { http://www.faraway-soclose.org/eod.html }, and one couldn’t help but wonder, had we really arrived at that point...that “eve of destruction”?
Although, the “fifties” are remembered for the “birth” of rock and roll, there was still an innocence to the music, as was there an innocence to the people listening to it. Buddy Holly recorded songs like “It’s So Easy”, “Words of Love”, “Maybe Baby” and “Rave On” { http://www.lyricsbox.com/buddy-holly-lyrics-rtk2r.html }, all reflecting the sweet mood of a generation preoccupied by romance and the love between a man and a woman...but the “sixties” became a decade of tumultuous upheaval. The war, the assassinations, the social unrest, not to mention the constant threat of “the bomb” hanging over our heads...all had taken their toll, and the country had lost it’s innocence along the way. The people had not only lost their faith in our leaders, and indeed, mankind, as a whole...but they were now beginning to lose their faith in God.
The lack of faith these neo-nonbelievers exhibited was really nothing new. For years, we had heard the arguments put forward by the Marxists, the scientists, and other “new thinkers”. After all, what were the odds?: { http://www.selfknowledge.org/resources/press/nyt_eakin.htm }
The difference now, was that there were so many people walking away from their religion of birth. It seemed, people had stopped buying into the facade of the United States being a Christian country, when it became all too obvious we were no longer acting like a Christian people. Unfortunately, people just quit believing in...everything.
Well, maybe not everything. The Beatles picked up where Buddy had left off {the day the music died}, producing love song after love song...but as the social and political climate of the sixties continued to spiral lower and lower, most all of the top artists began to critique the country’s “morality”. I remember a line from Jethro Tull’s Hymn 43, on their Aqualung Album { http://www.collecting-tull.com/Albums/Lyrics/Aqualung.html#Hymn43 }, “If Jesus saves - well, He’d better save himself”. These words reflected the hopelessness, the people were feeling, by the end of the sixties {even John Lennon said, “I just believe in me.”}, and many continue to feel that way today.
Yes, we will continue to have love songs {of course, they’re not as good as they were back then} but it appears, we may never again reclaim our faith as a nation, we may never again believe our leaders, and, I’m afraid, many very good people will never again believe in God.
Yes, sometimes I feel deserted, too. Sometimes, I feel like He “took the last train for the coast”. I, too, ask why He has left us to our own devices and our own fate...but then, again, I suppose man always has to learn, the hard way.
Maybe, we should take our lead from Lennon. Maybe, we just need to pick ourselves up and get back to making love songs. Maybe, we just need to have a little faith!
American Pie
by Don McLean
A long long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
{Refrain}
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Did you write the Book of Love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so
Do you believe in rock 'n roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow
Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singin'
{Refrain}
Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the King and Queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the King was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book of Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singing
{Refrain}
Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul out on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the Sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died
We started singing
{Refrain}
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation Lost in Space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singing
{Refrain}
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music woudn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singing
{Refrain}
They were singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
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