Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Crazy Train" (Ozzy Osbourne)

Welcome to the Bracket Busted Tuesday version of Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!  How does your bracket look?  This has been the a defining year for March Madness as team's you thought would make it past the first and second rounds have already been eliminated.  Here's hoping on this Tuesday that your favorite tournament team is still playing.  Needless to say, Mr. Buffett is probably secure in keeping his tournament prize of $1 Billion.  With much basketball still left to be played in both tournaments, there is a high probability, that this year's March Madness will get even crazier as it rides the rails to the final four...it might even be a road trip like this...

Honda Pilot - "Crazy Train"

Not exactly sure The Blizzard Of Ozz ever imagined his debut single winding up in a neuvo station wagon commercial.  He probably had something more along the lines of this in mind...

Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"

If you have attended a sporting event anywhere on the planet in the last 10 years...you have probably heard that "All Aboard....Ha ha ha ha ha ha" coming from the public address system.  Then the familiar crunching of Randy Rhodes guitar right before stereo enhanced..."Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay".  Maybe you've even sung along as our Pilot family did.  Well, maybe not like they did, but...you get the idea.  When you get past the bats, Black Sabbath, Ozzfest, Sharon, and the kids, it is hard to imagine with all of this attention that Ozzy has gotten, that the thing for which he is most remembered so far is his very first solo single from his first solo album...Blizzard Of Ozz.  Kinda crazy?

"Crazy Train" was written as an anti cold war rant by Ozzy and his band in 1980.  It catapulted Blizzard of Ozz to multiplatinum status, having sold 6,000,000 albums to date.  It features Randy Rhodes, a gifted guitarist, who died on in an aviation accident in 1982.  Blizzard Of Oz was going to be the name for the new band that Ozzy fronted after his departure from Black Sabbath, the album cover however, featured Ozzy's name much larger than had originally been intended so the album became the first solo album from the man who would be later given the moniker, "The Godfather Of Metal".  "Crazy Train" was the first single released from the album and began the launch of one of today's most recognizable icon's.

Perhaps there have been times in your life when you've felt like you were "going off the rails on a crazy train".  Confusing and tumultuous times seem to be the normal when one feels this way.  If you look around to the world, there is little in which to find the comfort that we so desperately need.  It may very well be, that looking at this world is part of the problem.  If we open the Bible, we can find the answers to the confounding times in the Word.  We see that there is peace and joy waiting if we will only embrace them.  There is strength to persevere through the "crazy train" moments in our lives.  This calm through the storm mentality can be referred to as "peace".  Contrary to the salutation of the seventies ("peace brother", or "peace out, man" extending the first two fingers upward, (insert your best Tommy Chong impersontation)), this type of peace is only available when one has had a renewal and restoration of their relationship with God.  This is possible by Jesus, death, burial, and resurrection actions, and possible through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives DAILY.  The word "peace" is used in the Bible 420 times in the King James Version of the Bible.  This repetitious usage would more than likely indicate that there is some importance to this word.

One of the last things that Jesus told His disciples (that includes modern day disciples) was that He was leaving them peace:

John 14:27

King James Version (KJV)

²⁷ Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Or as The Message paraphrase puts it:

John 14:27

The Message (MSG)

^25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.


Our lives will be inundated with storms that may seem like hurricanes, you may even get feeling so alone and cold that you feel your in the midst of a bizzard...but with this passage of scripture as a foundation, we can go about our lives, regardless of the troubles we may have, with a confidence that dissuades all of the fear, and a peace that passes all understanding.  Rest assured it's okay to be on the crazy train, but with this peace promise of Jesus, we never have to worry about going off the rails.


'Til Tuesday
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Lunatic Fringe" (Red Rider)

Welcome college basketball fans, music lovers, and the curious to another March Madness edition of Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!  The brackets are set and the teams are ready and it begins today!!!  Upsets and champions await as the tournaments begin this week.  If you are not interested in Men's basketball, or sports of any kind for that matter, stick around...you are sure to find something in today's notes because it's primarily about the Master and the music, the Savior and the songs, and ultimately how we relate to both.  So strap on your converse and get ready to warm up.  After the bracket links, you will find our song of the day...which describes many a basketball fan as well. 

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship bracket

NCAA Men's Basketball - National Invitational Tournament bracket

Red Rider - "Lunatic Fringe"

Dictionary.com defines a "lunatic fringe" as "members on the periphery of any group, especially political, social, or religious, who hold extreme or fanatical views".  Perhaps you've even seen a few of these folks as the camera pans on them at a college basketball game, or for that matter any sporting event.   In 1981, it was defined as a #11 chart topper on the Rock Radio Airplay Chart for Billboard Magazine by the band Red Rider.   Believe it or not, "Lunatic Fringe" never made it to the top 40 on the Hot 100, but due to its heavy rotation at MTV and rock radio, it has become a staple of classic rock play lists and a favorite of fans from around the world.  The song was also featured in the 1985 film Vision Quest.  This soundtrack catapulted up the charts by featuring many of the days most popular artists as well as a relative new comer who had 2 songs on the soundtrack and a small role in the film.  Perhaps you know her...she's crazy for you. 

Tom Cochrane and Red Rider continue to tour after reforming as a band in 2002 (The band broke up in 1989 after the release of their album The Symphony Sessions).  Cochrane's "Life Is A Highway" (yep, he wrote and recorded it before Rascal Flatts) seems to be the mantra for this band that has received accolades for their music as well as their charitable work.  "Lunatic Fringe" was written, according to Cochrane, in response to a resurgence in antisemitism that began in the 70's.  In a 2002 article, Cochrane also attributed "Lunatic Fringe" to being inspired by the life of Raoul Wallenberg who rescued Jews from the Holocaust during the 2nd World War.  Regardless of the inspiration, the song can lend itself to defining many groups who are out there on the fringes of society...including followers of Jesus.

Perspective and context are always good things.  Far too many times, well intentioned people say things that are meant to benefit others, but their words are taken out of context or twisted by other "well intentioned" people to be harmful.  This mentality is perpetuated when people attempt to utilize the Bible to prove a particular point.  It is never the intent of Tuesday's Musical Notes to "pull" scripture to promote the point we are attempting to make each week. We encourage you to go and read the entire chapter or perhaps even the entire books that are referenced in The Notes in order to gain a complete perspective and decide for yourself if we have misused God's Holy Word.  Please let us know if you feel we do this, again this is never our intent.  

Many stories in the Bible can be seen from different perspectives.  Take for example how the Pharisees and Sadducee must have felt when Jesus and His disciples came along.  The Pharisees and Sadducee were the political and social ruling class during the time of the second Temple.  One of the main differences between the two were wealth.  The Pharisees more often than not being poorer than the Sadducee.  Imagine that, two classes of people having disagreements over politics and social issues...but we digress.  These "religious" rulers, so to speak, had everything under control.  They had established a relationship with the Romans that was tenuous but tolerable.  They had the Jewish people under their control as they were the educated and "spiritually elite" of their time.  Jesus and His disciples, from their perspective, represented a "lunatic fringe" element to their balanced rule.  Jesus knew the scripture as well as any of them and spoke with such authority, that their delicate balance was being shaken. One example of His teaching against the established religious leaders appears in Matthew 26. (Matthew 26 - Holman Christian Standard Bible) Jesus calls the religious establishment a "brood of vipers" because of their treatment of the prophets of the past.  Because of this and similar teachings, Jesus and His followers soon were seen as a fringe element that was fast becoming very popular with the people and a threat to the rule that the Pharisees and Sadducee had.   When Jesus claimed sonship to God, however, He immediately became a lunatic and blasphemer in many peoples eyes, not just the religious rulers of the day. Many of His followers, even the most devout would desert Him.   This lunatic fringe would soon become 1 man hanging on a tree.  More of this story to come...

So where does that leave us?  The perspective of many around the world, if you are a follower of Jesus, is that you are fast becoming a part of a "lunatic fringe".  Persecutions of Christians abound globally and are taking place in the United States as well.  As we live our lives in service to Jesus and others, we will soon find the way more and more difficult.  But be encouraged, because the Creator God of this world has provided His Word to comfort us and embolden us for the tasks that He has for us to do.    (Bible passages that refer to God's provision and protection)  In the final analysis of this life, if we are faithful, we also are victorious.  So it's ok to be a part of this particular...lunatic fringe...I know You're out there


'Til Tuesday
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "I Want Crazy" (Hunter Hayes)

Good Tuesday to you basketball fans...this is the time of the year you have been waiting for!!!  (If you are not a college basketball fan, don't switch blogs just yet, there is plenty in today's Notes for you as well...please keep reading.)  Your favorite college conference is either finished with its tournament or is about to get that tournament started and anything can happen as we get ready for the announcement of the 68 teams that will make it to the "Big Dance".... "March Madness"....The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament!   It is a busy time of the year for coaches, student athletes, pep squads (including many talented musicians!), and fans (all of which are a part of the team).  There is continual travel, tv schedules (thank goodness for DVR), and never really knowing who you will play next that contributes to a tedious month for those involved.  In short....IT'S CRAZY!!!  That's ok, because every once in a while its ok to say....I want crazy....

"I Want Crazy" - Hunter Hayes

In the music business it isn't all that uncommon to have an album be reissued.  Usually this is reserved for a classic album that has gone platinum and virtually every track was a hit single. Several of Elvis Presley, James Brown, Johnny Cash and The Beach Boys albums have been reissued to equal if not surpassing sales results of the original release. These reissues tend to have non released tracks added to them to spur the desire for fans to buy an album that may already be in their collection.  Our song of the day happens to be from a reissue, but not in the vein of those classic records. It is a reissue from a debut album...I know crazy right?   "I Want Crazy" is a top 5 Country song from a reissue of the self titled album from Hunter Hayes.  His first album was so successful it garnered him 3 nominations at the 55th Grammy Awards.  With that kind of acclaim...why not do a reissue and include another single that would top the charts.  Who wouldn't want that kind of crazy? 

At this point, The Notes must provide this disclaimer...we wouldn't have known about this song had it not been a featured entry for the eventual winners of The Sing Off (all acapella talent show...you really should watch if it comes back), the acapella group Home Free.   Here's a taste of the show and the group Home Free with their version of "I Want Crazy".  Be prepared to be amazed....

The Sing Off - "I Want Crazy" - Home Free

More than likely you've heard before that the best things in life are usually the ones for which you've had to work the hardest.  The line in today's song, "I don't want easy, I want crazy", sums that up with a more modern kick so to speak.  Think about it.  Some of the things in your life that you appreciate the most are the things that you did some really crazy stuff to achieve.  Perhaps you are in the midst of the craziness right now and are questioning if your goal is actually worth this season in your life.  The Notes wants to encourage you today to embrace the "crazy".  In fact there are many Biblical examples from which we can draw to gain such encouragement.

Genesis 6:9-22 HCSB

Imagine if you had never seen rain fall from the sky, and you heard a voice describe a ship of large proportions that you were to build with your family.  Your neighbors would really begin to wonder and it might look something like this...

Noah 

In the New Testament there are also encouraging examples:

Matthew 4:18-20 HCSB
Mark 2:13-17 HCSB
Luke 5:1-5 HCSB
John 1:29-50 HCSB

Imagine you are going about your day, doing the work that you do everyday and some Guy that you may have a knowledge about, but don't know very well, says to you "come follow me".  Instantly and amazingly, you find yourself following Him. Your family and friends don't believe it, and you can not explain it.  Everyone, including yourself, thinks you have gone...crazy.  You find however, this is a crazy that you can't live without because when this man called you, everything about you changed.  Everything you do now becomes about unmistakeably revealing Jesus to everyone you encounter.  Through word and deed your most intense desire is to show others, so He can change them as well. Your family and friends wonder about your sanity and it might look something like this...

Son Of God

Just like the disciples, you don't always understand what you are being asked to do.  In fact, sometimes the rebellious man finds its way back into you and your intensity and passion fade.  Yet with a loving discipline, He calls you back and you are restored to do the works that He intends for you to do.  Have you dropped everything to follow Jesus?  What "good works" is He calling you to?  The economy of our surrounding environment and our world may just call you crazy for following Jesus.  If that's the case...then "I Want Crazy".

'Til Tuesday,

Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Crazy" (Gnarls Barkley)

Welcome to the 1st Tuesday of March!!!  If you have ice on the ground you may find yourself with a little cabin fever!!!  Well the doctor is in and he has the cure of your stay at home blues.  Feelin' better yet?  It's The 1st round of March Madness at Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!  We're winding down to the selection day for the Big Dance, and the teams are playing there hardest for the opportunity to play for the National title.  For the first time in several year the Musical Notes' beloved Arkansas Razorbacks are even in the discussion to make it to the tourney.  With that in mind the next 4 weeks are destined to be tension-filled, bracket-breaking, and musically minded...well at least if you are one of the hundreds of avid fans of Tuesday's Musical Note....you might even say that the next month will be filled with craziness!!!

  "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley

 

Let's face it.  March has the tendency to be an unpredictable month.  You never can tell what the weather will be like (2 inches of sleet on the ground as The Notes gets posted).  The celebration of Jesus' triumphant resurrection is celebrated in March...sometimes.  Daylight savings time changes our sleep patterns for the next 2 weeks (Don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour Saturday night!) Many spring break plans are made...well maybe not this year.  And college basketball's premier event, the NCAA tournament begins.  It certainly seem like an interesting way to break out of winter and start spring. You just never know what will happen when the seasons meet.  For that matter, you never know what will happen when individuals meet.

  Such was the case when when Thomas DeCarlo Calloway met Brian Joseph Burton.  You may know them better by their solo act names of Cee Lo Green and Dangermouse. Gnarls Barkley is a play on the name of NBA player Charles Barkley  (who many thought had actually done the recording). They hold the distinction for having crazy sales of their first single from their collaborative album St. Elsewhere.    The album debuted at #20 on the US charts.  It is one of the first album releases to be available as a download before it was made available as a hard copy. (St. Elsewhere was released 1 week ahead of its intended street date on iTunes)   "Crazy" would go on to be the 1st single to top the UK charts by sales of downloads.  It would be reminiscent of the soul sounds of the '60s that were produced out of Motown. 

If you have children of any age you may have experienced a time in your relationship where you thought they were crazy.  No seriously, they did something disobedient that was so absurd your thought was to have them psychiatrically analyzed. The Notes confesses to hearing the words, "ARE YOU CRAZY" come out of our parents and sometimes even supervisors mouths when our behavior was "out of the expectation" in a bad way. (Sorry Bart!!!)  We also confess to having said the same words in the same tone of voice to those we supervised and our children when they did not meet the expectation, which is just a fancy way of saying we were disobedient or just plain 'ol didn't mind.  Even God has those times where He wonders if we don't need some mental help.  It is recorded in the Bible that God was frustrated and angry at those He had hand selected to worship Him and spread His Name throughout the world.  The book of Deuteronomy is filled with the rabbinical laws (laws of Moses) that the Israelites were to obey.  To this day, many Jewish people strive to live by the laws that were given to Moses and the children of Israel during the Exodus wanderings.  But thanks to Jesus, we have been freed from the overwhelming bondage that those laws would cause us to be under.  Jesus taught us to love God above all else and love our neighbor as ourself.  If we did those 2 things consistently, we would not have time for the disobedient, crazy things that we find ourselves doing.  But we digress....

 

One who was crazy or mentally imbalanced in the Bible was seen in much the same light as they are today.  Regardless of how much we may try to help those who have issues, we must admit that there is a stigma attached to those with mental disabilities. Many of the people of Jesus time thought  Him to be crazy.  The Message paraphrase puts one such occasion this way:

John 8:48-51

The Message (MSG)

I Am Who I Am

⁴⁸ The Jews then said, “That clinches it. We were right all along when we called you a Samaritan and said you were crazy—demon-possessed!”

^49-51 Jesus said, “I’m not crazy. I simply honor my Father, while you dishonor me. I am not trying to get anything for myself. God intends something gloriously grand here and is making the decisions that will bring it about. I say this with absolute confidence. If you practice what I’m telling you, you’ll never have to look death in the face.”

Imagine if we were to go around making such claims.  It would if you or I claimed to be the Son of God.  We aren't.  But it wasn't crazy for Jesus to proclaim it because He was.  (yep, stole that one from Miracle on 34th Street)  Jesus even endured the torture of crucifixion by continuing to make claims such as the one in John. 

So as we enter into the "crazy" month of March, with its time changes and weather changes, let us not forget the One who never changes.  Let us not forget that we may be seen as crazy for being a disciple of Jesus.  Let us not allow the crazy distractions of this world to keep us from becoming more like Him... 

'Til Tuesday

Serving HIM by serving you,

Randy