Welcome to the Metropolis of melodies, the boulevard of The
Book, and the Intersection of the inspired....otherwise known as
Tuesday's Musical Notes......(insert your favorite trumpet fanfare
here!) Are you curious? Well, let's get started!!!
Hopefully, you have been intrigued by the song 'o the week for today's Notes. There are many urban legends surrounding this song and the band that has made it famous. Please do not immediately think the Notes are betraying any belief system we have espoused up to this point. Continue reading and we think you will have things to ponder, for this is the goal of Tuesday's Musical Notes. Ladies and Gentlemen...The Rolling Stones:
"Sympathy For The Devil" The Rolling Stones
If you have listened to music for any length of time, you realize that The Rolling Stones are not gifted with virtuosic musical skills. Watch Charlie Watts drumming for any length of time and you quickly realize that he was NOT the inspiration for Neal Peart. (Drummer extraordinaire for the band Rush). What you do realize is that The Rolling Stones from their inception in 1962 are exceptional showmen. "Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name...." Because of or in spite of that, their provocative lyrics and antics onstage and off have propelled them to #4 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists Of All Times" list. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and has recorded 24 studio and 11 live albums. The Rolling Stones celebrated their 50th-anniversary last year with five anniversary concerts.
As with many Rock and Roll bands, The Rolling Stones have developed a reputation over their 50-year existence. Mick Jagger's innuendo-laced lyrics continually push the envelope for censors and critics. Keith Richards struggled with drug addiction. Keith Richards and Ron Wood were arrested outside of Fordyce, Arkansas for reckless driving in 1975. You can read about it here: The Rolling Stones Arrested In Arkansas. Vow To Never Play Venues In The State. (In 2010, Governor Mike Huckabee pardoned Keith Richards for the reckless driving charge.) These are just a few of the known items that might cause one to wonder if The Rolling Stones didn't have a little "Sympathy For The Devil".
Because of their previous album, 1967's Their Satanic Majesties Request, The Rolling Stones had already been accused of flirting with satanism. As soon as 1968's Beggars Banquet album was released, those questions escalated due to the opening track, "Sympathy For The Devil". The first-person nature of "Sympathy" fueled the fire that The Rolling Stones were another band that had succumbed to the entreaties of the most evil of enemies. With the experimentation climate of the '60s at its height, it is easy to see how the back-to-back musical mention of the evil one would spur the legend and at the very least increase interest in the band and its music. "What's puzzlin' you.... is the nature of my game....."
Good and evil have been at odds since the beginning of time. For those who do not believe in a Creator God, the battle between good and evil is much harder to explain, yet they try. Regardless of belief systems, it is easy for most people to see that we live in a world of dichotomies. There is either truth or lies, black or white, good or evil. As hard as it is for some to imagine, there really is no "gray" area in our world. It seems that just about the time one side or the other is about to take complete control, the balance gets restored and the battle begins anew. In light of world history and seemingly more prevalent in recent events, it is easy to see the evil that permeates this world. Evil by its nature is prideful and wants to be seen as the victor in everything. The Bible says the evil one has been sent to earth. ( Job 1:6-8 NKJV ) That means he is not living in hell but is loose on the earth to do what he wants. He will be sent to hell at a later time with those who have "sympathy" for him. (Revelation 20:9-10 NKJV)
Good tends to be service oriented and not as easily noticed, yet it is incredibly more powerful by its very nature. In fact, the ultimate good is what abolished the enemy from heaven to the earth and will ultimately sentence him and his followers to eternal separation from anything that is good. For the believer, this is a place from which we have been saved. (Revelation 21:22-26 NKJV) This salvation, this hope of an eternity in the Presence of God, the ultimate good, is something that we should help others attain.
Each day is a new challenge in the battle. Every decision we make is one for good or evil. Even decisions between two things that are good show which side we are on. Those decisions pronounce to the world the one to whom we are sympathetic. No one is perfect. The Bible says there is none righteous. This should cause us to evaluate our decisions even more carefully. Decide today to pray for fellow believers and those who don't yet believe. Decide today to encourage the people you meet. Decide today to do good things for those around you. Decide today to fight against the very nature into which we were born. Never allow yourself to be in a situation where you could be accused of having "Sympathy For The Devil"......
A parable about the decisions we make:
Keith Green "The Sheep And The Goats'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy
Hopefully, you have been intrigued by the song 'o the week for today's Notes. There are many urban legends surrounding this song and the band that has made it famous. Please do not immediately think the Notes are betraying any belief system we have espoused up to this point. Continue reading and we think you will have things to ponder, for this is the goal of Tuesday's Musical Notes. Ladies and Gentlemen...The Rolling Stones:
"Sympathy For The Devil" The Rolling Stones
If you have listened to music for any length of time, you realize that The Rolling Stones are not gifted with virtuosic musical skills. Watch Charlie Watts drumming for any length of time and you quickly realize that he was NOT the inspiration for Neal Peart. (Drummer extraordinaire for the band Rush). What you do realize is that The Rolling Stones from their inception in 1962 are exceptional showmen. "Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name...." Because of or in spite of that, their provocative lyrics and antics onstage and off have propelled them to #4 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Artists Of All Times" list. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and has recorded 24 studio and 11 live albums. The Rolling Stones celebrated their 50th-anniversary last year with five anniversary concerts.
As with many Rock and Roll bands, The Rolling Stones have developed a reputation over their 50-year existence. Mick Jagger's innuendo-laced lyrics continually push the envelope for censors and critics. Keith Richards struggled with drug addiction. Keith Richards and Ron Wood were arrested outside of Fordyce, Arkansas for reckless driving in 1975. You can read about it here: The Rolling Stones Arrested In Arkansas. Vow To Never Play Venues In The State. (In 2010, Governor Mike Huckabee pardoned Keith Richards for the reckless driving charge.) These are just a few of the known items that might cause one to wonder if The Rolling Stones didn't have a little "Sympathy For The Devil".
Because of their previous album, 1967's Their Satanic Majesties Request, The Rolling Stones had already been accused of flirting with satanism. As soon as 1968's Beggars Banquet album was released, those questions escalated due to the opening track, "Sympathy For The Devil". The first-person nature of "Sympathy" fueled the fire that The Rolling Stones were another band that had succumbed to the entreaties of the most evil of enemies. With the experimentation climate of the '60s at its height, it is easy to see how the back-to-back musical mention of the evil one would spur the legend and at the very least increase interest in the band and its music. "What's puzzlin' you.... is the nature of my game....."
Good and evil have been at odds since the beginning of time. For those who do not believe in a Creator God, the battle between good and evil is much harder to explain, yet they try. Regardless of belief systems, it is easy for most people to see that we live in a world of dichotomies. There is either truth or lies, black or white, good or evil. As hard as it is for some to imagine, there really is no "gray" area in our world. It seems that just about the time one side or the other is about to take complete control, the balance gets restored and the battle begins anew. In light of world history and seemingly more prevalent in recent events, it is easy to see the evil that permeates this world. Evil by its nature is prideful and wants to be seen as the victor in everything. The Bible says the evil one has been sent to earth. ( Job 1:6-8 NKJV ) That means he is not living in hell but is loose on the earth to do what he wants. He will be sent to hell at a later time with those who have "sympathy" for him. (Revelation 20:9-10 NKJV)
Good tends to be service oriented and not as easily noticed, yet it is incredibly more powerful by its very nature. In fact, the ultimate good is what abolished the enemy from heaven to the earth and will ultimately sentence him and his followers to eternal separation from anything that is good. For the believer, this is a place from which we have been saved. (Revelation 21:22-26 NKJV) This salvation, this hope of an eternity in the Presence of God, the ultimate good, is something that we should help others attain.
Each day is a new challenge in the battle. Every decision we make is one for good or evil. Even decisions between two things that are good show which side we are on. Those decisions pronounce to the world the one to whom we are sympathetic. No one is perfect. The Bible says there is none righteous. This should cause us to evaluate our decisions even more carefully. Decide today to pray for fellow believers and those who don't yet believe. Decide today to encourage the people you meet. Decide today to do good things for those around you. Decide today to fight against the very nature into which we were born. Never allow yourself to be in a situation where you could be accused of having "Sympathy For The Devil"......
A parable about the decisions we make:
Keith Green "The Sheep And The Goats'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving you,
Randy
No comments:
Post a Comment