Little Cream Soda
This song by The White Stripes has an interesting question at the end:
"But now my mind is filled with rubber tires
and forest fires
And whether I'm a liar
And lots of other situations where I don't know
What do do at which time God screams to me
'There's nothing left for Me to tell you.'
Oh well, oh well, oh well."
Would this be God informing him that his mind is closed to any more instruction? Or is he telling him that he knows all the truth and mysteries of the universe and there's nothing more to teach him? I would be inclined it's more to do with his unteachable attitude than his filled capacity of knowledge.
"Catch Hell Blues" asks some poignant questions, too. One of the statements made is like preaching a lesson:
"And if you're testing God
And lying to His face
You're gonna catch hell
I know it..."
In the song "the Union Forever," from the
White Blood Cells album, White breaks into an interesting bridge, where he brings up a mysterious "man." This has long intrigued me about this songwriter:
"There is a man
a certain man
and for the poor
you may be shure (sic)
that he'll do all he can
who is this one?
(who's favortite son?)
just by his action
has the traction
magnets
on the run
who likes to smoke?
enjoys a joke?
and wouldn't get
a bit
upset if he were
really broke?
with wealth and fame
he's still the same
I'll bet you five
you're not alive
if you don't know his name..."
Who could he be talking about here? Whoever it is, it's someone whom we all know his name. If it's not Jesus, then perhaps it's someone very rich who acts human even though he has great wealth. It could be someone who was once wealthy, but I can't think of anyone out there that's lost great fortune and has carried himself with grace since. It makes you wonder who he's talking about.
Some would say: "It can't be Jesus, because the Creator would not harm his body with tobacco." That might be a valid point, but I'm not sure if it absolutely disqualifies this character as being a reference to Jesus. As crazy as it may seem, I wouldn't flinch too much if I saw our Lord puffing on a cigarette. If I did throw a fit over someone smoking and I also ignored someone in need, or a neighbor starving to death, I would say my priorities were out of whack.
If this song were referencing Christ, though, the context and title ("the Union Forever") would in some ways contradict that thought. It seems to be about a relationship gone bad. In fact, the first verse states that "there is no true love." I don't quite buy that line.
In fact, I laugh at myself, because when I sing along to the melodic Queensryche song (which is not too often, but it is a nice song), "I Don't Believe In Love," I usually change the words to more reflect what I believe. I do believe in love, thank you very much. Call me a lunatic charismatic that puts "too much" into spoken words, but I kind of believe that the things we say (or "confess") with our lips can and do mean things. If I tell my kids: "You'll never amount to anything," I think that curses them in a way. On the other hand, when I bless someone with praise and encouragement, I think it has a very positive impact. Therefore, when I'm singing a song that says something I don't believe in, that presents a cognitive dissonance that I sometimes combat by switching the words around.
I guess (if you wanted to insult me in a way) you could call me "A walking Apologetix song." No offense to the parody band (which is a lie ... it is an insult to the band to bring them up in this context, but I don't count myself, either, as an Apologetix hater. It's funny, one of my old employees emailed our present ad person today and (while carbon-copying me on the email) said: "Does Doug still listen to Apologetix?" I think the friend was good-naturedly ribbing me.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at June 16, 2008 08:21 AM