Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Mr. Roboto" (Styx)

Rules of Civility #3 - Show nothing to your friend that may affright him.

Tuesday's here!!! Only 3 days left in January....what?!!!  29 days of 2013 already gone...how did you spend them?  Well, at least we hope you spent part of 5 of them with Tuesday's Musical Notes!  Let's get started!  By the way.....Domo Arigato!!!

Styx Mr.Roboto from the 1983 album KilroyWasHere

    Welcome to the world of rock opera!  The album concept that consists of each song on the record telling a portion of an overall story.  A 1967 British band called Nirvana, not the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" one, is credited with having the first full album "rock opera" with their "The Story of Simon Simopath" record.  The most well known purveyor of the rock opera is The Who, as they can be credited with 2 of the more commercially successful concept albums, Tommy  and Quadraphenia.  Both of these albums were the impetus for movies and other formats of musical exploration.  Pink Floyd's, The Wall was most successful of this type of recording and set the bar for all of the concept albums of the future.  The Wall would provide the inspiration for a movie as well as a massive concert production for 6 of Pink Floyd and Roger Waters concert tours and is currently in production for the stage. 
    
     As one would imagine, a concept album that becomes an elaborate concert production can be difficult to manage.  The band Styx discovered this in 1983 with the release of the record and consequential concert tour Kilroy Was Here.  This rock opera would follow the exploits of imprisoned Rock star Kilroy (lead singer and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung) as he attempted to battle against Dr. Righteous (vocalist and guitarist James "J.Y." Young) and The Majority for Music Morality (a sideways reference to Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority).  Kilroy is inspired to escape from his robot guarded prison as he hears of the travails of Johnathan Chance (guitarist and vocalist Tommy Shaw)a young musician who is trying to bring back Rock-n-Roll.  Rock historians have noted that Kilroy Was Here would be the beginning of the end for Styx and Dennis DeYoung.  The album would be certified platinum and have 2 hit singles, but the response from the band was tepid.  DeYoung and the remainder of Styx parted ways in 1999. The touring Styx of today refuses to play any of the songs from Kilroy.  Dennis DeYoung does keep the 2 hit singles as a part of his solo touring.  

     What would cause a group of people who had been together as a unit since the 1960s, record 13 albums together,(4 consecutive multiplatinum releases, the first band to do so) and make tons of money and music together to disband thirty years later?  "Creative differences" is usually the catchphrase that rises to the top of the excuse list.  In the opinion of the Notes, this is a code word for, "we did not want to work on our personal relationships".

     For the record, Tuesday's Musical Notes is not an antitech blog and email.  The Notes relies heavily on technology that didn't exist 30 years ago to be a delivery system.  That being said, we wonder if the technology that we have today and technology that is being developed is adversarial to the development of relationships. Like the robot prison guards of Kilroy, we wonder if we aren't imprisoned to our tech. We admit to sometimes longing for the days when our cell phones were not attached to us.  We pine for the days when we would wait by the mailbox for that eagerly anticipated letter (email on paper delivered by a postal worker, for those born after 1993)from a friend or loved one.  We miss the challenge of being able to express ourselves on paper in a return letter.  We wonder what would happen in our lives, our schools, and our churches, if as much emphasis were placed on developing our relationships with one another outside of the technical realm as is placed on the development of the mind and body in our schools within the context of a computer screen.  Have you ever received a text from someone who is in the same building?....perhaps the same home....maybe in the next room?  The ease of communication that we currently have could well be the demise of relationship.


Exodus 34:14 You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.

Luke 12:21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
Romans 5:18

Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

2 John 1:8-9

⁸ Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. ⁹ Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

 

     We were created to be relational people.  Who doesn't want a better relationship with the people in which they interact.  Relationships, however, take a great deal of effort.  Experts for centuries have tried to explain how to make better relationships.  The Bible in the above passages from the New Living Translation tells us that the foundational aspect of any relationship is God. Would you like a better relationship with your friends?  Get a better relationship with God.  Would you like a better relationship with your spouse?  Get a better relationship with God.  You get the picture.  We love a God who is jealous about His relationship with us, that's why we cannot allow for anything to come between our relationship with him.  Anything that does is an idol.  A recent sermon from Student Pastor Greg Thrasher plainly and bluntly put idolatry into perspective.  He enquired, "What do we have going on in our lives that is more important than attending church?"  When did we as a country lose the priority of Church?  One of the best venues for encouragement and growth towards Christ likeness is the Church.  Even Sunday nights and Wednesday nights.....  If you are a "regular attender" is your church a place of love and encouragement or condemnation and judgement.....


     We can work for all of the "tangible" things this world has to offer, but if we don't exist in a relationship with God, the Bible calls us fools.  Jesus' love on the cross was the ultimate display of His desire to be in relationship with you.  The effort that we expend on our relationships is an ongoing process.  We must be diligent to cultivate that relationship with Jesus until the day when we become like Him.  There is no "work" we can do to achieve salvation, it is a free gift, however, once we accept so great a salvation, we do have to work to keep the relationship growing. Reading scripture, prayer, congregational Bible study and worship, are all ways to propagate our relationship with God. God desires that relationship with you.  If that is something you have never experienced, but desire to, please let us know...today. 

Domo arigato.....

'Til Tuesday,


Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy