Have you ever listened to the radio and thought...did they sing what I thought they did? Think "Purple Haze" - "'scuze me while I kiss this guy...'' or "Tiny Dancer" - "Hold me closer Tony Danza..." If you've been a music aficionado for very long you have had to rewind a song or look at the liner notes to check the lyrics. This has been going on since listening to music became a pastime. Many times it's funny when one discovers what the actual lyric might be... "Further on up the road" from Clapton can realistically be heard as "butter on a roll"... What is your favorite misconstrued lyric? We've even covered one heavily debated deconstruction of a lyric here at The Notes: Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Blinded by the Light" (Manfred Mann's Earth Band)
On the other hand, some songwriters pen a lyric that is difficult for comprehension. Their intention for the lyric's meaning is one thing, and then someone pipes up a different interpretation, and before you know it an urban legend is born or a viral meme is created. As always here in Notesland we wish to corroborate our claim and thus we present, for your consideration, the following article. At the signpost ahead...sorry wrong storyline, but another fine example of iconic entertainment that had many episodes that were misunderstood...
25 Famous Songs With Misunderstood Meanings, By Erik van Rheenen, Scott Beggs - June 8, 2023, mentalfloss.com
Did you have as many "whoa, aha, or wow!!!" moments with that article as I did? This confusion on what folks say versus what we think they say happens all the time. Misconstruing the lyric or thought can happen either through complacent listening, listening for what you want to hear, or a lack of education regarding the context of what is being said or sung. That being said, I suppose, if fault or blame were to be laid at the feet of anyone for the lack of comprehension, it would have to go to those who are listening. Because of the above reasons, as well as others.
Active listening is the best solution for never having a differing opinion on what has been said. It does, however, involve more than just your ears. It incorporates asking clarifying questions if you don't completely get it, eye contact, and an educational level similar to the ones who are speaking. If you don't employ and practice the art of active listening, or attentive reading, you will very quickly find yourself being accused of being...
I confess, my knowledge of the band Wilco comes from the occasional listening of a track or two when I ran an Entertainment Specialty store back in the 90s. Wilco was formed from the breakup of the band Uncle Tupelo. This breakup spawned not only Wilco but the band Son Volt. (debut release Trace in 1995).
The second album from the band was a double album, released with a single album price in the hopes that it would spur sales and recognition to avoid a sophomore slump. It was a self-produced album coming off the heels of their 1995 debut release A.M.
The album derived its name from the Melvyn Douglas, Shirley MacLaine, and Peter Sellers award-winning movie of the same name. It features a more introspective lyrical content as Jeff Tweedy, the band's founder, had become a new father. It was the only Wilco album to feature a steel guitarist and was the last album with multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston.
The first track from Wilco's second album Being There is pretty impressive, even though "Misunderstood" didn't warrant a single. "Misunderstood" sets the stage for what will be an investigation into lyrical metaphor and life experience. It seems that Tweedy decided to take his experience as a music maker and a music listener and put them into a blender to see what would happen. "Misunderstood" is the result of that smoothie. It meanders about discussing the breakup of Uncle Tupelo and takes shots at Tweedy's former bandmate Jay Farrar as well as the music industry at large all the while claiming that it did not wish to be Misunderstood.
Musically "Misunderstood" has a pleasing aesthetic in my opinion. Again, I'm not a fan of the band, but I could quickly find myself getting Being There as an album to add to the Cross & Kin garage. If you read the liner notes, I guess you have to do that online now, you can quickly see how "Misunderstood" shows up on a list of well...misunderstood songs...and does a good job of setting up this week's introspection into ourselves...
We've discussed the "misunderstood" before here at The Notes: Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Misunderstanding" (Genesis), and Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (The Animals) We've also had a couple of conversations about specific parts of our feature Scripture: Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Opposites Attract" (Paula Abdul), and Tuesday's Musical Notes - "All-Star" (Smash Mouth)
Today we tie up those conversations in what I hope you will perceive as instruction and advice, not rant and rave. Please let me know if I wind up being...misunderstood.
One of the arguments I continually hear about reading the Bible is that they find it difficult to understand. They have a healthy respect for the Bible and they fear that they will misunderstand some portion of it and it will do more harm than good. Or they discount the Bible as a piece of literature with nothing important to say. Please refer to the above discourse on why things, in general, are mistaken and apply accordingly to this very topic.
Yes, the Bible can be misunderstood, misinterpreted, taken out of context, and used to suit one's purposes. That's why it is so important for it to be read. It is the foundational literature for believers, yet according to Barna Research's State of the Bible 2021: Five Key Findings - May 19, 2021 barna.com, a full 50% of the US population read the Bible 2 or 3 times...A YEAR. (emphasis mine) The study would report that only 11% of respondents read the Bible every day, and a full 29% never read the Bible at all. That means 60% of the respondents read the Bible from 2-3 times a week to 2-3 times a year. It is no wonder, we are considered the most Biblically illiterate culture ever AND the ones who so often misinterpret and misunderstand its divine wisdom.
One of the most egregious malformations of interpretation often occurs in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Philippian church. We've talked about the first 3 chapters previously and today we investigate chapter 4.
As we've said, the letter to the church at Philippi has a positive-adjacent tone. Paul attempts to applaud the church for what he hears is the result of their work. Remember, Paul is writing this while being incarcerated in Rome.
He opens his last portion of the letter by once again expressing his intense love for them and encourages them to stand firm in their faith so that their stance will also be a witness. He then digresses into personal matters of encouragement and instruction for Eudoia, Syntche, and Clement.
Beginning with verse 4, Paul begins a portion of the Bible that is perhaps the most misused, at the least, and heretically taught, at the most, of all Scripture. "Rejoice in the Lord always." is his initial thought. Sometimes we skip over this and just get to the part where God gives us what we want if we ask for Christ's strength. More on that in a moment. Note the two keywords in this verse: "rejoice" and "always". These words set up everything that Paul is about to write and serve as the foundation upon which he can credibly write them.
Paul talks about gentle spirits and nearness to the Lord. Paul sets up a big reveal as the church at Philippi gains an understanding of what a well-rounded life of a Child of God, and brother/sister to Christ who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit will look like. "Don't be anxious". That sounds like a command to not worry to me, and Paul follows that up with a testimony to let our requests be known to God. Paul doesn't tell us that God will always respond with a resounding "YES" to our requests. Please notice that. As we gain God's calm and peace in our lives, our minds are guarded in Christ who quickly becomes our focus, replacing the cares and concerns of this world.
In verse 8 Paul repeats a "Fruit Of the Spirit" like theme, encouraging the Philippians to pursue things that are "True, Right, Honorable, Pure, Lovely, and Commendable." He then posits that our minds should be enveloped with things that are "excellent and worthy of praise" (Maybe mirroring the mind of Christ?) Paul then repeats a familiar phrase, if you have learned anything from me that matches the list above, put them into practice, and show others.
We now get to the portion of the letter that I think is the most "taken out of context" in all of the Bible. Paul launches into his gratitude for the Philippian's concern for him. He tells all of the trials and sufferings that he has seen in his life since becoming a believer. He confesses "contentment" regardless of his circumstances (a practice that our Western culture would do well to learn) He then describes the circumstances to which he has been contented. "little; prosperity, being filled; going hungry, having abundance; suffering need" He then makes the declarative statement: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" You see friend, before you can make this statement of faith and dependence, you have to have experienced times that tried your faith and caused your dependence. What I mean by this, is that Paul can make this statement because he is CONTENT. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" is not some "name it, claim it" or prosperity gospel theology. It is the confidence to know that because Jesus died for you, you can live for Him no matter what your circumstances because you are content with Him. He is always enough. And we should rejoice.
So pastors and teachers, please stop using Philippians 4:13 as your encouragement for folks to go out and attempt things that God has not called them to do. Leaders and elders, stop using Philippians 4:13 as a catch-all for your church's capital campaigns or enrollment goals. Believing friends, stop using Philippians 4:13 to challenge yourself to be less, or more than God has called you to be. He has called you to good works, but those are YOUR good works, not mine. And mine are not yours. Athletes and actors...well, I'll leave it there...
Be content with who you are in Christ and He will enable you to do the things He has called you to do.
Paul had the absolute right to claim that he could do all things through Christ, he survived a litany of troubles and tribulations. Paul's 2nd Letter to the church at Corinth, chapter 11:23-27 NASB/AMP/ESV/KJV Unless you have lived through all the things Paul describes in this letter, I would be careful to attempt anything claiming Christ's strength, unless it is in His will and His plan which you are doing it.
Paul closes his letter to the Philippians with another round of gratitude for being the first church to support him with resources. Regardless of his past as a persecutor of the church, Paul realized that this church was the supplier of his needs as he traveled preaching the Gospel to other regions. He asks God to bless the church at Philippi as the church has blessed him.
Scripture can easily be misunderstood if you don't make a consistent habit of reading it. Scripture can easily be misunderstood when you don't read it in its complete context. Philippians 4:13 has been and unfortunately will continue to be misunderstood if we do not read it and experience those things that Paul survived to enable him to make that claim. Yes, we will have our struggles and if we face them with content and rejoice always as we go through them, we can be assured that the realization that it was Jesus' strength and not our own that brought us through.
Jesus died for us. We live for Him. He has a plan for us to do specific good works. Our role? Face those good works, and yes maybe even trials, with contentment and rejoicing, and be careful to not be misunderstood.
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
