Welcome to Tuesday you're in for a treat! We've got music and musings that really are neat! You're here just in time to get all of the trappings. No GPS needed, we do all the mapping! It's Tuesday and the weather is suited for coats. It's Tuesday and time for some Musical Notes!!! You're favorite blog come here or come there. Just in time for that bit of a bite in the air. Let's get started, no really, we have to begin, with "One Way Or Another", let's give it a spin...
"One Way Or Another" by Blondie from the September 23, 1978 album Parallel LinesOn the strength and success of its singles, the third studio album by the band Blondie, Parallel Lines, was listed as the #9 album of the year for 1979. This album marked a slight departure for the punk, new wave band as they developed a wider variety of genres and moved into a more pop sound. This change, while not overly embraced by fans of the band, was enthusiastically accepted by the listening public as it quickly became the commercial breakout in which Blondie had been attempting to have in the 70s and the success they needed to propel them into the post-disco 80s. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Rules For Living" (Blondie), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Rapture" (Blondie))
Releasing as the 4th of 5 singles from Parallel Lines, "One Way Or Another" topped out at #24 on Billboard's Hot 100 following on the heels of the #1 smash "Heart Of Glass", the only other single on the album to chart in the US.
The peak at #24 for "One Way Or Another" on the charts can be somewhat misleading. Die-hard Blondie fans love "One Way Or Another" as it draws the band back to its punk rock roots. And depending on the writer or critic, "One Way Or Another" is always at the top of the Blondie singles list when "Best Songs" lists come around. It also comes in at #298 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It continues to be a fan favorite in concert. And on Classic Rock radio around here is played much more often than any other Blondie song.
"One Way Or Another" was written (lyrics by lead singer, Debbie Harry, music by Bassist Nigel Harrison) as a response to a stalker that Debbie Harry had earlier in the decade. The ex-boyfriend's harassment of Harry became so overt that she had to relocate from her home in New Jersey. This fueled the popularity of "One Way Or Another" with its energy-filled diatribe towards her ex.
It seems that Harry's lyrics regarding getting back at her stalker tapped into an ethereal emotion in many people. An emotion that everyone has felt towards someone at one time or another in their lives. This inane desire to seek retribution for wrongs done has its roots way, way back in history...say about 640 BC?
Nahum, a contemporary of Jeremiah, was a prophet to Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, during the time after the Northern Kingdom had been taken captive by the Assyrians. The Assyrian capital was Ninevah, yup that city in our friend Jonah's travels. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Ride Like The Wind" (Christopher Cross)) 100 years previous to Nahum's time, Ninevah had repented under Jonah's reluctant preaching. What a difference 100 years can make to a city or nation, as the Assyrians now were known for their fierceness and brutality when conquering neighboring countries, which they had done to Israel. We could continue about how a nation degrades its faithfulness to God the further away a nation gets from a time of revival, but that topic would be more suited as the subject of a well-intentioned book, not a blog.
Nahum starts his book by proclaiming how awesome God is. He is awesome after all!!! "Awesome God" by Rich Mullins from the 1988 album Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth He created everything, including you and me. This proclamation of God's power segue's into a treatise on God's righteousness. God's righteousness eventually requires judgment on those who have been given the opportunity to turn towards Him, yet decide to stay in their own selfishness. This is where Nahum begins to speak of the demise of Ninevah and the Assyrian's eventual defeat by Babylon, which occurs in 612 BC around 15-20 years after Nahum's ministry. The demise of Assyria is made complete by the restoration of a remnant of Israel/Judah as they begin the process of returning to their homes after exile from the captors.
After the destruction of Ninevah described in Nahum, the city never recovered. Today if you travel to the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq all you will see of the city of Ninevah is the ruins that archeologists have discovered. The once-great capital of Assyria was destroyed by God's revenge and in answer to their lack of repentance.
So what? What is the lesson that we need to have from Nahum's brief book? What can the writings of someone over 2600 years ago mean to you and me? The answer to that question brings about a few more questions. What part does God play in your life? Is He awesome, or have you separated yourself from Him so much that He wants to seek revenge on you by pouring out His wrath? Does God want to getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha, because you have grieved Holy Spirit by refusing His drawing on your life?
Let me be plain. I'm not here to trickya, trickya, trickya, trickya...
God is love. 1 John 4:7-21 NASB/AMP/KJV
We all blow it.
To be right with God and as a demonstration of that love, God sent Jesus to DIE for us as a bridge of restoration to Him.
After His death and burial in a tomb for 3 days, Jesus was resurrected and now lives with God.
Through Jesus' sacrifice, we can be restored to God.
No matter what you have done in your life if you believe these things about Jesus and God you will be restored to God and saved from His wrath.
Jesus is returning for those who believe these things to take them to be with God.
So what happens friend when God shows up to meetcha, meetcha, meetcha, meetcha? One way or another, either through your natural death or Jesus' return, God WILL examine what you have decided about Jesus and the truths from the Bible above. Then you will either be with Him forever, or you will be separated from Him forever...please don't let that separation happen...One way or another, won'tcha find Him, won'tcha find Him, find Him, find Him, find Him...
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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