Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Ten years Gone" (Led Zeppelin)

6000 years gone... "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." - Genesis 1:1 New American Standard Bible/The Amplified Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel  " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." - The Gospel of Jesus according to the fisherman John, chapter 1, verse 1 NASB/AMP/KJV  " What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life..."  -1 John 1:1 NASB/AMP/KJV


Welcome to Tuesday and a very special edition of Tuesday's Musical Notes!!! Today is the day we have mentioned for the last few weeks and we are so excited that you decided to join in on the merriment!  You see, on this date, exactly 10 years gone, Tuesday's Musical Notes launched into the internetosphere with rhythm, rhyme, relationships, and reason as a blog to bring you a unique perspective on life. Since that time 520 entries have found their way into the archives of Tuesday's Musical Notes and today we celebrate the more than 65,000 views of the blog.  So what do we do?  Of course, we have a countdown and recap of the last ten years gone...


4359 years gone... " Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation."  Genesis 7:1 NASB/AMP/KJV  " In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened."  - Genesis 7:11 NASB/AMP/KJV  " So He wiped out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from mankind to animals, to crawling things, and the birds of the sky, and they were wiped out from the earth, and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark." - Genesis 7:23 NASB/AMP/KJV

According to Robert Plant, "Ten Years Gone" was a reflective song about a woman whom he had loved.  The woman asked him to choose between her and his music.  Fortunately for the popular music world, this woman didn't wind up as Mrs. Robert Plant. 

"Ten Years Gone" was originally imagined as an instrumental by Jimmy Page.  Recording the song in the studio provided the layers Page desired for the song, yet became somewhat prohibitive in live performances until guitar maker Andy Manson made a custom, triple-necked instrument with six and twelve-string guitars, a mandolin, and bass pedals.  While this provided some of the nuances of the studio recording, it wasn't until Jimmy Page toured with The Black Crows that he was satisfied with a live performance.  Can you imagine all those guitars?

"Ten Years Gone" was warmly received by critics and the Live At The Greek version from 2000 peaked at #33 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts.  

Ten years gone is what we have seen here at Tuesday's Musical Notes as well.  Today we celebrate those 520 posts and all the readers who have been a part of the last decade.  New to Tuesday's Musical Notes?  Check out the archive where you can find each blog by month, or use the search bar to find your favorite artist or song.  

And now we are proud to present the Decade Edition of Tuesday's Musical Notes. Before we take a look at the most read Tuesday's Musical Notes of the decade, let's take a minute and recap each of the past ten year's #1s:

2012 - no countdown, it was our first year after all - some good blogs there, check out the archives
(okay, so for the first couple of years we used the most read since the inception of the blog...I promise it does get more diversified)
2022 - who knows...keep on reading and we'll find out in December!

4064 years gone... "Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you  And I will make you into a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing;" - Genesis 12:1 NASB/AMP/KJV

And now Tuesday's Musical Notes is pleased to present the most-read blogs of the decade!  No really.  We are going to start the countdown this time...Thanks to blogspot.com for keeping tabs on all of the stats for The Notes!  Here we go!!!


Arkansas Razorback fans rejoice!  One of your rallying themes is the #10 most-read blog of the decade.  Stands to reason that this particular entry seems to get a pick-up in views during the college football and basketball seasons!  Written by Rossini and performed by the Marching Razorback and Hogwild bands every year, this finale of the opera of the same name has served in all kinds of venues.  Take a glance and see if your favorite memory of The William Tell Overture is mentioned! Oh and btw...GO HOGS!!! 


Coming to us from one of our favorite soundtracks, The Greatest Showman, is this song from Hugh Jackman.  Who knew Wolverine had pipes?  This was the final blog in the series that was written from the only full album to get Tuesday's Musical Notes treatment.   That's right!  Each song from the motion picture soundtrack of The Greatest Showman was used on consecutive Tuesdays from  January 9, 2018, to March 6, 2018.  No other full album has to date been used for The Notes.   We expect a Trivial Pursuit question is in there somewhere...Hasbro, we're waiting on your call...

The Greatest Showman soundtrack was a worldwide phenomenon and outperformed its expectations going all the way to #1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and finishing at #4 for the year on the same chart.  Tuesday's Musical Notes is also a worldwide phenomenon as it is read all around the world each week.  What countries read it the most?  Let's find out in this Tuesday's Musical Notes extra:

#10 - The United Kingdom
#9 - Portugal
#8 - Canada
#7 - Poland
#6 - Ukraine (continuing to pray for your people and your independence...)
#5 - Unknown Region - not sure where you are reading this, but THANK YOU!  Chances are you are at risk by reading this blog and we don't take that lightly...
#4 - Russia (continuing to pray for your people as well, protection for your soldiers, and wisdom for your leaders)
#3 - Germany
#2 - France
#1  - The United States - nice to see that The Notes are popular domestically!  Thanks!!!

3634 years gone..."The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."  - Exodus 12:13 NASB/AMP/KJV   " But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will perform for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, ever." - Exodus 14:13 - NASB/AMP/KJV  "Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  “You shall have no other gods before Me."  - Exodus 20:1-3 NASB/AMP/KJV

And now on with the countdown...

#8...

Coming in at #8 in our recap of the most viewed Tuesday's Musical Notes is the song that served as the launch for the year 2018.  It featured the band The Zombies and recalled passages from the prophets who were proclaiming the coming "new" things that would be experienced as the history of Israel continued.  



Christmas happens every year thank goodness!!!  The seasonal celebration brings along with it time with family, gifts being exchanged, good food and treats to savor, and of course music.  Each year here at The Notes we take the month of December and celebrate Christmas with our passion...music of the season.  Each year these December Notes wind up being some of the favorite blogs of the year.  1 was read so much over the ten years gone, that it made our recap of the Decade's most read blogs.  Que the jingle bells...


Thank you, Mr. McCartney!  As you would imagine, the music of The Beatles is featured often in Tuesday's Musical Note land.  How often?  Keep reading.  Another Tuesday's Musical Notes extra coming your way after we keep on counting them down...

3077 years gone..."So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him amid his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. " - 1 Samuel 16:13 NASB/AMP/KJV  "So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the Lord in Hebron; then they anointed David king over Israel." - 2 Samuel 5:3 NASB/AMP/KJV   -  Now the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: in Hebron he reigned for seven years, and in Jerusalem, he reigned for thirty-three years.

2609 years gone..."Yet the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place;  but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people until there was no remedy" - 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 NASB/AMP/KJV  "He took into exile those who had escaped from the sword to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,  to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept the Sabbath until seventy years were complete." - 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 NASB/AMP/KJV  'For this is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.' - Jeremiah 29:10 NASB/AMP/KJV

Earlier in our decade recap, we listed the #1s from each year. Every year we select a song as a "countdown" song for our annual recap of the most viewed blogs of the year.  One of the featured songs that we used to do our annual end-of-the-year countdown comes in at #6.  It comes to us from 2017.  Can you guess its name?


2539 years gone - "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to rebuild for Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah" - Ezra 1:2 NASB/AMP/KJV  "Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, I request that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” - Nehemiah 2:5 NASB/AMP/KJV  "Then Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up" - Nehemiah 8:5 NASB/AMP/KJV

Earlier in the countdown, we came across the first of three songs from The Greatest Showman soundtrack.  That's right!  Three blogs based on songs from this album made it to our most read-in-the-decade list!  The next to come in at #5 and #4 and just so happen to have been written back to back, just like on the record.  We've elaborated at length on how special this particular soundtrack is to Tuesday's Musical Notes so...let's get on with the show. "Ladies and Gents this is the moment you've waited for..."


and


Before we go on to the top 3 featured songs at Tuesday's Musical Notes for the decade, we'd like to take a moment for another Tuesday's Musical Notes extra.  We eluded to how often bands like The Beatles might be showing up in Tuesday's Musical Notes.  While we attempt to have a wide array of musical genres, As you would imagine, bands that are featured in Tuesday's Musical Notes universe tend to show the trends of our favorite artists.  Any guesses as to who that might be?  Well, friend, I'm glad you asked because as a Tuesday's Musical Notes extra, we'd like to give you the top ten acts that have the most songs featured on the blog.   I can hardly wait...


#10 - Van Halen, The Moody Blues, Paul McCartney, Bing Crosby (actually there was a tie, all the way up to Vince Guaraldi, but we had to make it fit into our "10" theme right?)
#9 - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
#8 - Fleetwood Mac
#7 - Vince Guaraldi
#6 - Pentatonix
#5 - Styx
#4 - Genesis
#3 - Billy Joel
#2 - The Beatles (ok, so they tied for #1, but it's my blog so my #1 is of course...)
#1 - Chicago

Want to know which songs were used?  Yup, you guessed it, shameless archive plug right here...

And now back to the countdown...

2300 years gone... We reach a time where prophecy comes to life even more vividly than when the prophets were originally preaching it.  It is the time of the "Silent Years" or the Intertestamental period.  Much history occurred, yet not anything considered inspired by God.  We devoted a recent blog to the events of this time.  Check it out:  Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Stuck In The Middle With You" (Stealers Wheel)

2016 years gone..."She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” - The Gospel of Jesus according to the tax collector Matthew, chapter 1, verse 21 NASB/AMP/KJV  "And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn."  - The Gospel of Jesus according to the physician Luke, chapter 2, verse 7 NASB/AMP/KJV   "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."  - John 1:14 NASB/AMP/KJV


This Petula Clark ode to the excitement of city life comes in as the #3 read blog of the decade.  It is based on one of my favorite songs and continues to be used in media of all kinds.  It speaks of the joy of discovery and bright lights that accompany a trip "Downtown".  The blog eludes to the joy of discovery of another place that is very bright and joyful.  We hope that with each Tuesday that there is an anticipation of the discovery that awaits you as Tuesday's Musical Notes appears on your favorite social media outlet.  We enjoy writing it, we hope you enjoy reading it!!!

#2!!!

The tension builds as we round the corner for the final two entries in our look back at the first decade of Tuesday's Musical Notes!  What will the top 2 songs be?  Will they be a surprise? Will they be one of the blogs we've read?  

At #2 comes the only Country song on the countdown.  We again take great pride in featuring a diverse offering of featured songs and think that today's recap confirms that in a myriad of ways.  Our Country offering comes via Bakersfield, California, and a gifted singer/songwriter who did some time in prison in his younger years.  Later he would use that experience to write one of his biggest hits and it comes in as the 2nd most-read blog of the decade!


Ten years gone - "Welcome to Tuesday!!!   "I can hear music, sweet, sweet music, the sounds of the city baby, seem to disappear..."   Today's words of wisdom....."When you are the Top Gun and feel a little Over The Top, it is advisable on occasion to get a little Footloose down at the Caddy Shack...."  - Thermopolis W.P. Suey  Welcome to Tuesday!!!"  

And that friend is the opening lines of the very first blog.  

Tuesday's Musical Notes was conceived as a contribution to a church newsletter (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Walk Like An Egyptian" (The Bangles)).  Even though we didn't get a request for a follow-up article, we had the writing bug and decided to email a few of our friends our weekly thoughts about popular music and how that might apply to our Spiritual lives.  Pretty soon, on the advice of a friend (thanks again Heath!) and some intense investigation on what the processes were, we jumped into the blogosphere with both feet and the rest spans over the past ten years gone.  Our goal is simply to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world by using a different interpretation of our favorite music.  I confess I have discovered some songs and artists along the way that I had never heard of but do like, and as you can see from the above lists, I have also stayed very true to the music of my formative years.  

Tuesday's Musical Notes is an outlet for me to explore my passions for music and The Messiah.  The "...Years gone" passages that have been scattered throughout today's blog serve as a recap of God's history.  This history traces the family that God called to bring about the salvation of the world.  In The Old Testament, that was Abraham and his descendants the Israelites.  In the New Testament, you and I are given the opportunity through Jesus to be adopted into that very same family.  

You see friend, this blog means nothing if you aren't encouraged to believe, given a pathway to belief, or challenged in your current belief.  What belief might that be?  The belief that Jesus came as the Holy Son of God to pay for the sins that separate God's creation, mankind, from Himself.  God's plan is for man to spend eternity with Him and for that to occur a payment had to be made because of the separation caused by disobedience at the Garden of Eden.  Jesus died one of the most horrific deaths known to mankind and paid that price.  He was in a tomb for three days gone and rose to be seen by more than 500 eyewitnesses.  Those that believe that Jesus did this for their restoration are called the Church, the Bride of Christ.  Jesus now waits at God's right hand, awaiting the time that He can receive His bride and restore everything to the perfection of Eden.  

So friend, what do you believe about Jesus?  It is the most important question that you will ever face.  Your eternity future depends on what you believe.  It is Tuesday's Musical Note's goal to make sure that more people are restored to God and fewer people go to the place where God does not exist.  Many of Tuesday's Musical Notes explore these topics and we hope and pray that we communicate them effectively and in an engaging manner.  Thank you for taking the time (every week we hope!) to read Tuesday's Musical Notes.

And now for #1!!!

The featured song in the #1 slot is the oldest blog on our recap of Tuesday's Musical Notes decade.  It speaks about love and how the singer desires to have his love permeate the relationship he is having with the one to which the song is sung.  In the liner notes for a greatest hits package simply called Gold, the songwriter, even though he hasn't openly professed faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior,  simply refers to this song as "Jesus Sings".  It is a great song.  Here is the blog based on Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open The Door, the #1 viewed Tuesday's Musical Note of the Decade!


There ya have it.  The ten most viewed blogs in the first ten years of Tuesday's Musical Notes!  We hope that you make plans to be reading The Notes in the future and recommending the blog to friends as we embark on what we hope will be many decades to come.  That journey into the decades begins next week as we continue our exploration through the great stories of the Bible.  Next week we begin The New Testament!!! 

If I can ever tell you more about Jesus, please leave a comment with your contact info and I will respond as soon as possible.  

(So read this part really fast...)Tuesday's Musical Notes is a production of Cross and Kin Entertainment.  All dates for Biblical events are approximations.  Tabulations for Tuesday's Musical Notes Countdown of the Decade were provided by Google's blogspot.com.  There were no animals injured in the making of this production.  

Tuesday's Musical Notes will return...

'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
<><

 

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "The Heart Of The Matter" (Don Henley)

Many times in life we are faced with the opportunity to begin something new.   A new job, a new investment, trying a new restaurant, or a new place to go on vacation all share the upside of anticipation providing their own brand of anxieties and excitement.   
In my previous occupation,  new things occurred every week as there was an expectancy on Tuesdays of what new material (primarily music and video) would be released on this day.  (Sadly, the Music and Motion Picture industries have since switched to Fridays as a release day for new releases.   That leaves us with having all of our excitement on Tuesdays saved for, well, Tuesday's Musical Notes!)  With each Tuesday at the store, we would have the aforementioned anxieties and excitement in the hopes that we had enough product to meet the needs and desires of the public for the material that would make its premiere in its given formats.  Our levels of stress would be directly dependent on the hype and buzz surrounding each release. Then the day arrived.  Tuesday was here!!!  And it was finally time to get down to the heart of the matter...


Today's featured song was written by Don Henley (Tuesday's Musical Notes search - The Eagles), Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Tuesday's Musical Notes search - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) & Fleetwood Mac (Tuesday's Musical Notes search - Fleetwood Mac), and JD Souther (see previous Eagles references).  It was released as part of Don Henley's third studio collection, the Billboard 200 #8 hit record, The End Of The Innocence.  "The Heart Of The Matter peaked at #21 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #2 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.  

The song gained a resurgence, as did many of the individual Eagle's solo hits, when featured on their Hell Freezes Over tour.  "The Heart Of The Matter" was prominent in the acoustic portion of their setlist.    

It was also covered by soul artist India.Arie whose version went all the way to #7 on Billboard's Smooth Jazz Songs chart. (Do they have a chart for EVERYTHING?)  This version of "The Heart Of The Matter" has seen its own share of popularity buoyed by its inclusion in television (Brothers & Sisters episode "Act Of Will") and motion pictures (Sex And The City trailer and snippet in the movie)

Good songs never go away, you just wait for an equally good cover to come along.  For Don Henley and maybe India.Arie, their heart of the matter may not as yet have peaked as they wait with anticipation and excitement for a new chapter in the song's life.  Perhaps... like being featured at Tuesday's Musical Notes!!! 

Have you ever experienced a similar time in your life?  A time where you could hardly wait to get to your heart of the matter? More than likely your existence probably doesn't depend on what new music or video may be released this week, but there are other new things in your life about which you are equally as excited or anxious.  The day arrives for your new thing and it's time to get down to the heart of the matter and experience it for yourself.  

That's where we find ourselves in our Notesland travels.  We have been traversing the landscape of the Bible and exploring the great lessons that can be learned from the examples of the Israelites and their prophets in the Old Testament.  

But before we continue our deep dive into the specific stories, and the lessons they teach about life, we must take a side road of celebration. (Pick your favorite noisemaker sound.  Got it?  Make a celebration noise now!!!)  Next Tuesday, Tuesday's Musical Notes will celebrate 10 years of existence on the internetosphere.  That's right, that makes 520 episodes of Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!  You really should check out some of the great songs featured.  They are to your left in the year and month breakdown that is the Tuesday's Musical Notes Archive...look left....almost there...got it!  Now peruse and ponder!!! Join us next week as we take a moment to reflect on the past decade of musical and meditative discoveries.  You don't want to miss this one!!!

But for today, we must traverse back down our "new thing" highway. We find ourselves today on the precipice of something new and exciting.  There is much anticipation and perhaps a bit of anxiety.  Welcome to The New Testament!   Let's take a minute with our friends from The Bible Project to take a peek at what lies ahead (after the Anniversary celebration next week of course...did we mention it's been 10 years?)


As you can see, there is much we need to unpack in the coming weeks.  We will do that in our own unique, musical soundtracky Tuesday's Musical Notes way to which you have become accustomed, but for today, let's take a moment and take a bird's eye view of The New Testament.

My personal conviction is that all of the incredible lessons learned in The Old Testament provide a pathway to the events of The New Testament.  We have witnessed many great lessons provided by the stories of God's chosen people.  They have been tasked with telling the world about God.  Unfortunately, they missed the mark many times as their idolatry and disobedience led them down pathways they were not supposed to go.  This missing the mark is called sin and The Old Testament is replete with example after example of those who were good folks but inherited the sinful nature given to all of us by Adam.  Unfortunately, those who came after them rarely learned the lessons that their ancestors provided and strayed even further away from God.  

This is where we find ourselves today.  After the Intertestamental Period we discussed last week (https://tuesdaysmusicalnotes.blogspot.com/2022/05/tuesdays-musical-notes-stuck-in-middle.html), we come to The New Testament and the heart of the matter, the Man Jesus.  That's right.  Jesus was a man.  But He was also God.  He was 1/3 of the Trinity (God (Father), Jesus (Son), and God (Holy Spirit)).  The New Testament frames this God coming to earth event in the form that we could understand.  Now don't get me wrong, there is much in The New Testament that I have yet to grasp. "...The more I know, the less I understand.  All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning again..." You too?  That's what reading the Bible is all about.  With each trip, we discover and rediscover that there is more and more we need and ultimately want to learn about God's character, Jesus' sacrifice, and Holy Spirit's indwelling.   All of this is on occasion partnered, especially in the later sections of The New Testament, with some very confusing portions that combine allegory and metaphor to enhance our journey but cause some real conversations as interpretations vary.  Notice we said the "interpretations" vary, NOT the Word Of God.  We'll get to some of those passages in the coming weeks.  There may be some really different music heading our way as a result too!!!  

Remember that those who wrote The New Testament were just as inspired by God as were Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Daniel, Moses, et.al.  The difference in their inspiration?  God in the form of Jesus was right there with some of them.  Yes, there were episodes where Jesus appeared in the Old Testament, however, He rarely did life with the patriarchs  He encountered during those times.  As pointed out in the overview video, the writers of The New Testament were a part of the narrative of Jesus' life for at least 3 years.  His brothers, Jude and James, were part of His story for a much longer part of the time even though they came to a saving knowledge of Jesus sometime after His resurrection.  Regardless of their exposure, (Paul had an afternoon...) the writers of The New Testament understood that what they penned was the heart of the matter and that The Old Testament had been laying the foundation for the new thing that was about to be experienced by the entirety of the world.

In The New Testament, we see many of the prophecies of The Old Testament come true, especially with regard to Jesus.  You see friend, The Bible is Jesus' story.  The Old Testament points to Him as each book has some illumination of Him or prophecy regarding Him.  The New Testament points to Him as The Gospels tell of His life, death, and resurrection and then goes on to tell the story of His bride, the church.  Depending on your Bible, the table of contents, maps, indices, and concordances can all point to Him as well!!!  

I think Don Henley was making a valid point:  "...These times are so uncertain.  There's a yearning undefined and people filled with rage.  We all need a little tenderness.  How can love survive in such a graceless age?..."  There is an answer to Mr. Henley's lyric regarding love's survival.   It is God's people, embracing God's plan, and working through God's will to make sure that more people go to heaven and fewer people go to hell.  God's plan was to redeem and restore mankind through the family of Abraham.  This story of the execution of that plan becomes The Old Testament.  The plan continues being accomplished in The New Testament as followers of Jesus become adopted into the family of Abraham and become a part of the restorative plan.  

So friend, are you a part of that family?  Are you part of the restorative process back to God?  You can be even...  "...though your will gets weak and your thoughts seem to scatter, you soon see that it's about forgiveness...forgiveness..."   A forgiveness that we cannot comprehend or perceive.  But one that God grants mercifully and gracefully for those who realize that it's time to get down to the real heart of the matter...

Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy

 

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Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Stuck In The Middle With You" (Stealers Wheel)


Every once in a while you find yourself halfway between destinations.  Yup!  You are in the middle of a trip, a life, a relationship, a...well let's face it, everything has a middle!  Many times we find this "middle" to be a benchmark of achievement or perhaps a resting place where we can evaluate the journey and make sure we want to continue the effort to reach the destination. 

When I was younger, the middle was represented by a row of strawberries that I was attempting to pick or a row in a garden that needed hoeing, or maybe, my half of the grass in our yard that needed cutting.  Rarely, was it a journey that seemed exciting.  The middle represented a continuation of the work to be done and was rarely celebrated.  Don't get me wrong, those times are treasured memories as I was usually doing them with a family member and could reap the benefits of my efforts. And we did celebrate when the tasks were completed.   

There were many good "middles".  For example, the middle of the school year comes with Christmas celebrations and a time of recharging.  Regardless of the season these times remind me that I am rarely ever alone.  I always have "clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right..." to whom I could commiserate in our "middleness" and sing "...stuck in the middle with you..."


Many things were happening in 1973.  Some of these things were good.  The United States was withdrawing from the Viet Nam conflict.  Some of them, well...not so much.  Roe vs. Wade was settled as law on a Federal level. 63 million lives have been eliminated since then. Regardless of where you are in the current debate, overturning Roe would make the decisions regarding the legality of abortion at the state level, where it should be.  63 million.  That is a lot of productivity, creativity, and life.   It's no wonder we can't find workers...but I digress.  Perhaps another time.  

In April of 1973, a band called Stealers Wheel would release their eponymous debut album which included the single "Stuck In The Middle With You". Written by Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Right Down The Line" (Gerry Rafferty)) the song would be bolstered by its music video (yes there were music videos before MTV, one would question if there are any there now...).  The video featured guitarist Egan lip-syncing the lyrics because Rafferty had left the band before the album had even been released. Rafferty would briefly reappear in the band but just as quickly quit again. But he wasn't the only one.  Stealers Wheel would see 8 band members in its short existence.  Because of this continual merry-go-round of musicians, Stealers Wheel would only last until 1975 with 3 studio albums in their discography and "Stuck In The Middle With You", the song they wrote as a pseudo parody of Bob Dylan's sound, being their biggest hit.  

"Stuck In The Middle With You" would quickly gain the attention of the music listening public and soar up the charts, peaking at #6 on Billboard's Hot 100.  The song was so popular in 1973 that it came in at #30 on the Billboard listing of top songs of the year.  

"Stuck In The Middle With You" is one of those songs that continue to be embraced by the music listening public.  The longevity of the song can be attributed to its constant use in popular media.  It helped a then-new director Quentin Tarantino with his debut project Reservoir Dogs in 1992.  "Stuck In The Middle With You" served on the picture's soundtrack as the backdrop for a brutal torture scene.  As a result of this scene becoming so iconic, it and its accompanying song have since been parodied time and again.  

Bolstering the popularity of "Stuck In The Middle With You", portions of the song can also be heard in television shows (The Wonder Years, Supernatural, Malcolm In The Middle, Gilmore Girls, et. al). and on television in advertisements for IBM.

They say the best form of flattery is imitation. That being the case, today's song has been "flattered" a couple of times.  Most notably, Grace Potter (Grace and Frankie Soundtrack) and Joshua Lee Turner have covered the song.  Turner's version was a YouTube cover and has scored over 4 million views.

It doesn't appear that the middle has come or is anywhere close for the tenure of this song.  Yet, here in Tuesday's Musical Notes Land, we have reached a "middle" by which we need do need to ponder.


Today we depart from our normal focus in the middle of our blog.  No, the above is not Scripture.  But yes, it is an accurate depiction of the middle of the Bible.  No, we won't be stuck in the middle with you in the Bible as next week we will look at an overview of The New Testament.  (Honestly, we're using next week's overview as a thought-provoking delay tactic to get us to May 31 and our special edition of Tuesday's Musical Notes! What special edition you may ask?  Stay tuned!)

We find ourselves in the middle of our journey in the great narrative stories of the Bible. This is the time known as the Silent Years or the Intertestamental Period.  The time between the Old and New Testaments is rich with history and prophecy that comes to fruition. It is considered the Silent Years because there are no new prophecies or writings that are considered inspired Scripture.  ("What Are the Apocryphal Books and Do They Belong in the Bible?" by G. Conner Salter from christianity.com, April 29, 2021)  Malachi, Nehemiah, Ezra, and Esther as contemporaries all appear to be the last stories and prophecies of the Old Testament and as such are what most Protestant believers hold to be the last accounts of life in the post-exilic period of the nation of Israel.  These books of the Old Testament overlap with and lead us into this time.

So what happened during this time?  First, many prophecies came into fulfillment. Daniel 7-9 New American Standard Bible/The Amplified Bible/King James Version of the Bible parallel includes the prophecies relating to the world powers that come and go during the 400 years that exist between the Testaments.  Daniel observed the Babylonian captivity of Israel and then witnessed the Persian overthrow of the Babylonians which would have been the lead up to the Silent Years.  

The Persians would rule over the region for over 200 years and then see themselves replaced by Alexander the Great and his Greek armies which are also prophesied in the above passages of Daniel.  Alexander would rule for a decade and make worldwide changes. At his death, the kingdom was divided into 4 parts, again fulfilling prophecy, and the Promised Land would find itself under the rule of Greek Egyptians.  During this time The Old Testament was translated into Greek as there was some semblance of religious freedom under the Greek and Greek Egyptian rulers.  

The next 100 years were a time of chaos as the Syrians would return to power.  These folks would be the descendants of the Moabites and the Amalekites who hated the Hebrews.  The Syrian rule continued observing a Hellenistic lifestyle, yet restricted religious freedoms, especially for the Jews as once again a prophecy of Daniel comes to life...Daniel 11:28-31 NASB/AMP/KJV.  

This crackdown on serving God as they were accustomed led to a revolt among a group of Israelites called the Maccabees. (Worship of Yahweh had also evolved into something very different from what Moses had instituted (Exodus 20-31 NASB/AMP/KJV)). The priestly order, which had been eliminated under Syrian rule, was reinstated during the Maccabean revolt time and the Pharisaical order we see by the time of The New Testament comes into fruition.  To complete the overthrow of the Syrians, agreements are made with Rome. Soon after, the Romans come into their own as the world power of the time.  The Israelite language, Hebrew, has been virtually eliminated and replaced in the Holy Land first by the Greek language and then by Roman as the languages spoken and written.  

So it would seem that during the time between the Testaments the Israelites, the Hebrews, the Jews, were stuck in the middle of world events that they could not control.  As a nation, they had observed the Davidic dynasty morph into a Solomonic World Power and then they devolved as their disobedience, arrogance, selfishness, and idolatry brought them back into a perpetual slave state under changing world orders.  All of which were prophecies in the Old Testament and served to set up the times of the New Testament.

Second, as we've mentioned during the time between the Testaments there was a religious renewal of sorts.  The Silent Years are filled with religious compromises, yet we see that the idolatry and disobedience that caused the exile, have transitioned into an almost hyper-religious fervor that resulted in legalism and corruption among the priestly orders of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

As we have followed Abraham's family through the Old Testament, I hope we have seen ourselves in the process. Both the political as well as religious changes that occurred during the Intertestamental period served to continue God's historic timeline and propel the world to Jesus and bring our world to a complete understanding of who Jesus is.  God desires for us to come to Him through Jesus' sacrifice and have the Eden relationship restored.  He then wants us to go about telling the world of our restoration.  Yet, just like the patriarchs, the judges, the kings, and the Hebrews of the prophet's time, there are times when we succumb to our sin and allow our wants and desires to blind us to the salvific mission with which we have been tasked. Yup, we are stuck in the middle with something...

For pre-believers, you may be wondering what all of this history means for you? You're not stuck in the middle with anyone, much less the Bible.  Friend, the Silent Years between the Testaments shows there is a continuity in the Bible that you can trust.  It shows the stories of the Old Testament testify, if you will, to the stories of the New Testament and that the entirety of the Bible is a cohesive narrative that tells God's desire to be reconnected with mankind.  It shows that God chose one family to restore the relationship broken in Eden and fulfills that restorative plan through Jesus.  Your part in the restoration process?  Believe.  Take a step of faith and believe.  Believe that Jesus is the only sacrifice that will provide healing and rehabilitate the relationship that you know you need with God.  Believe friend, believe.  Jesus was Who He said He was.  Jesus did what the Bible said He did.  Believe...

Herein lies the question in which all of us, believers and pre-believers find ourselves.  Will we remain stuck in this middle?  Will we break off the bonds which so easily distract us and refocus on our mission?  Will we reflect and proclaim, "Well I don't know why I came here tonight.  I've got the feeling that something ain't right..."?  And then do something about it by claiming Jesus as the Savior and Redeemer of our lives?  Or, will we be satisfied with the "...clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right..."?  Will we stay, "...stuck in the middle with you."?

'Til Tuesday,

Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Skyfall" (Adele)

Here we are.  It's the 10th of May.  School is about to be over for the 2021-2022 year.  Graduations and proms in many cities have already occurred and the countdown to summer has begun. Family vacations are being planned and a myriad of activities are being scheduled for those who get a break from what was a really hard year of gaining and giving education.  

In some circles, the opposite is occurring.  Crops are being put in or in some instances, early harvests are beginning, regardless this is the peak season for our farmer friends. Landscape companies are on full alert as the grass is growing and the summer onslaught of weeds is sprouting.  Those who work in resort areas or around lakes are preparing for the increased traffic from tourism that inevitably finds its way to them.  Summer camp workers are beginning their pilgrimage to the places they will call home for the summer as they get prepared, physically and mentally, for their charges.  

In some ways, I guess this is descriptive of any time of the year.  Some folk's work is increasing while others may be easing up a bit, regardless of the season in which we find ourselves.  Our work lives, and to be honest, our lives in general, are filled with such cycles.  These peaks and valleys provide the balance we need for the lives we live. They keep monotony at bay.

So let's get ready for the summer.  If you like it at 100 degrees with a heat index, this is your time of year!!!  If you don't just wait, wind chills are just around the corner! Regardless of your preference, celebrate this time of the year.  In the words of a great song...."we will stand tall, face it all together..."


Released at 0:07 BST (British Summer Time) on October 5, 2012, as a part of the Global James Bond Day, comes, in your humble blogger's opinion, the best James Bond Theme ever.  It was released as part of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the premiere at the theaters of the movie Dr. No, which introduced the global movie-going public to the super spy, James Bond.  (As an aside, there is another anniversary that you will want to be a part of coming up soon here at Tuesday's Musical Nots...keep checking back for more details!)

"Skyfall" was written by Adele and Paul Epworth, with orchestrations by J.A.C. Redford.  It would become the first Bond theme song to ever win an Academy Award for Best Original Song. ("For Your Eyes Only" received the first nomination, but did not win).  It was also a radio and retail favorite as it saw its peak at #8 on Billboard's Hot 100, becoming Adele's first single to debut in the top 10.  With sales of over 7 million, "Skyfall" has become one of the best-selling digital singles of all time.  

Following in the footsteps of Casino Royale's theme, "Tuesday's Musical Notes - "You Know My Name" (Chris Cornell)", "Skyfall" was not released on its movie's soundtrack.  Unlike its predecessor, "Skyfall" was only ever released as a single.  It also joins the aforementioned, "You Know My Name", as well as, Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Writing's On The Wall" (Sam Smith) and Tuesday's Musical Notes - "License To Kill" (Gladys Knight), in the list of James Bond theme's receiving the Tuesday's Musical Notes treatment.

One of the appeals of "Skyfall" is that the song fits so well with the movie.  It is that unique song that combines lyrical content and musical score to fashion a vision for what is about to take place in the film.  It seems that there are very few movie themes that accomplish this.  

In Skyfall, Bond's adventures eventually take him to his boyhood home, where he finds the neglected ruins of his past.  It seems you never can go home with the expectation of it being as good as you remembered...


"This is the end..."  Today we find our journey through the Bible coming to the book of Malachi, the final book of the Old Testament.  It is not however the end of the Bible, nor our series on the great stories of the Bible.  While we have explored many different interesting aspects of the Biblical narrative, the culmination of all that we have encountered is about to come to fruition..."hold your breath and count to ten..."

Malachi was a contemporary of many of the prophets of Israel that we have already discussed.  He was one of the remnants that returned to find the countryside of his homeland in ruin and the temple destroyed.  While Malachi saw the construction of the new temple completed, he also saw that the people were not returning to the God of that temple in the manner that they should.  It seemed you can take the captive away from Babylon, but you can't take them away from themselves or the influences of their captivity.  The corruption of the folks went all the way to the priests of the new temple who had completely followed the practices of worship of false gods of the Caananites who had inhabited the land before them and the worship they observed during their time in captivity.  They were stealing from people AND the temple and allowing promiscuousness to be perpetrated by their ranks.  They were so displeasing to God.  Especially, in the face of God fulfilling His promise to return them to the Promised Land.  God announces His discipline on them in the early verses of Malachi.  

The priests were not the only ones who were maligning God with their actions.  Sin in the family structure was running rampant with divorce and promiscuity again being the norm instead of the exception.  Some of the strongest words against divorce are given in Malachi 2:16 NASB/AMP/KJV.  Malachi equates divorce with other "violence" that the Israelites were participating in.  That is how strong God feels regarding the sanctity of marriage. He equates the separation of married couples with violence. 

Malachi then segues into the prophecy regarding a messenger that will "clear a way before me." (Malachi 3:1) Be watching for this character as we move into the New Testament in a couple of weeks.  Malachi concludes his writing with a message regarding tithing (giving back to God, in this instance 1/10 of the resources), as well as the importance of Scripture.  The Scripture of those returning would have been the Torah as well as the Prophetical writings that the Israelites would have collected through oral tradition and scrolls.

The final chapter of Malachi is all about a future time where the evil will be punished and those who have followed God will be blessed.  Malachi delivers this prophecy in language that is similar but different from the other prophets we have encountered choosing to focus less on the "gloom and doom" for those being punished and more on the things to remember to keep them faith-filled and the blessings of those who have been faithful.  In other words, when they "...feel the earth move again" they can be prepared to "...hear my heart burst again" as they prepare to see the redemption of the world come to pass. 

Malachi addresses many topics that are important for folks in our time to read and reread. Divorce, tithing, the importance and inerrancy of Scripture, and being faithful are all things that today's Western Church needs to hear and allow them to permeate into their lives.  But they are also messages to which preChristians should be exposed.  This shows them that Christianity is "peculiar" (1 Peter 2:9 NASB/AMP/KJV).  This shows them the importance of the structure of the family,  This shows them how much God cares about them as He can become a part of their day-to-day life.  

The short book of Malachi can show them that when they are having a cycle "...where worlds collide and days are dark..." there is hope in a God who loves them and provides the opportunity for a future where "... you will go forth and frolic like calves from the stall." (Malachi 4:2b)  Ultimately, Malachi gives us the impetus to declare to God..."Where you go, I go. What you see, I see. I know I'd never be me without the security of your loving arms, keeping me from harm. Put your hand in my hand and we'll stand." When folks come to this point, because of who God is and who we are in Him...sure, let the Skyfall...

Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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