Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Listen To The Music" (The Doobie Brothers)
Welcome
to Tuesday, February 16th! You've stepped into the best day of the
week, and clicked onto the best blog on the net! It's time for
Tuesday's Musical Notes!!! Every Tuesday, we attempt to tickle the
trivial music centers of the brain while stimulating the spiritual
nucleus of the heart, all in the context and framework of some of the
greatest songs every recorded. Are you beginning to feel a tingling
sensation? Well, let's jump right on in and see if we can get
ya'..feelin' good, feelin' fine...let the music play!!!
Since
1970 (that's 46 years for you accountants out there...we like to
include all kinds here at the notes!) The Doobie Brothers have been
spreading their particular brand of love and music all over the world.
The unique partnership and songwriting expertise between founding
members Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons continues today as The Doobies
continue to record new music, tour to sold out crowds and gain a following among the next generation of adoring fans. In fact, on August 16, 2016, The Doobie Brothers will join Journey (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Separate Ways") and Dave Mason (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "We Just Disagree") for a concert at our Verizon Arena in Little Rock.
Many
of popular music's acts have produced album after album without seeing a
hit single. They work really hard for years after forming a band, and
sometimes 4 or 5 albums later they get a top 40 hit. This was not the
case for The Doobie Brothers. With the release of their second album,
Toulouse Street, The Doobie Brothers would see not just one, but both
singles from the album rise in the charts. Their second single, "Jesus
Is Just Alright" went as high as #35, but it is today's feature song
that had The Doobie Brothers in heavy rotations for radio DJs in the early 70's. It continues to be a favorite on "Greatest Hits" stations today.
"Listen
To The Music" was written by founder Tom Johnston as a salute to the
utopian idea of getting all the world leaders together listening to
music, (as well as some other extra curricular activities that gained
popularity in the 70s that The Notes cannot condone, use your
imagination...) as means for making the world a better place. With its
positive lyric and its unforgettable guitar licks, "Listen To The Music"
continues to endure and inspire the next generation with the idea that
the universal language of music can be a bridge by which tensions can be
eased and the disagreeable can become more tenable. It has the similar
notion of music as a powerful tool as the great Coca-Cola commercial
from the same time frame. "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" - Coca Cola Commercial 1971 Are you swaying?
Music
however has been used as a tool of divisiveness and strife as well.
Mostly because generations of folks want to claim their style of music
as the best while not being open to new forms, styles, and
instrumentation. Imagine if you will what Johann Sebastian Bach or
Ludwig Von Beethoven would think if they attended the Grammys. Yikes!!!
Quite honestly, anymore, I think I would probably agree with them.
Does that mean I'm getting old...sorry I digress. What would the great
hymn writer King David of the Old Testament think if he listened to the
music of Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin?
Perhaps
one or more of your grandparents loved the song "Keep On The Firing
Line" Today's generation has no context of what the song is even about,
so how are they supposed to embrace it? "Keep On The Firing Line" Gaither Homecoming featuring Anthony Burger
What does that even mean? The converse of this is modern hymn writers
that refer to Jesus in terms that past generations reserved for loved
ones. Terms like "beautiful" have no meaning to an older generation who
sometimes have difficulty seeing Jesus in this way. "You Are So Good To Me" by Third Day from the 2003 album Offerings What
does it say to a preChristian world, when those redeemed by the
blood of the Lamb, argue, fight and in extreme cases, split up the church
family, over a self centered choice of songs? The Notes contends that it sends a very poor message, yet in context, this focus on self message is one even the disciples of Jesus struggled with...cue flashback music to the time of New Testament...
Jesus
had sent the twelve men he had been mentoring out to tell other folks
about the Good News of Jesus. The disciples experienced things during
this time that they had never imagined possible. They had the power of
healing the sick and folks were responding positively to the message of
redemption through Jesus. Then human nature kicked in. The disciples
began believing the "press reports" about themselves. They began
discussing among themselves, who was the greatest among them. Jesus
knew what they were discussing and without missing a beat or chastising
them, He used an object lesson to answer the burning question of their
hearts. The
Gospel of Jesus According to Luke: 9:46-48 New International Version
of the Bible/The Message Paraphrase of the Bible parallel. Later on, Jesus would use the ultimate in examples to teach the disciples about true greatness. The Gospel According to John: 13 NIV/The Message parallel
You see friend, just like the opening line of the best selling book by Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life,
says..."It's not about You". Your preferences are ok to have and they
are part of what makes up who we are, but we must be very careful to
utilize them in the context of serving others and not allow them to
become what we serve. Our choices in music, message style, liturgy or
the non use of it, and even the way we evangelize should all be
subservient to how we can use them to serve others and honor God.
While
they may have not intended it to be for the church at least one line of
"Listen To The Music" is sure to apply. The outside world really is
"listenin' for the happy sounds" that can and should be emanating from our churches. Our role is to "let them fly... Whoa, oa, oa, listen to the music..."
'Til Tuesday
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy
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