I just listened to the new David Bazan record. It's super good. You should get it. And enjoy. And listen. He used to front (and basically be, I guess) Pedro the Lion, which began as a sweetly indie Christian band that actually got as much attention from secular press and audiences than Christian. (Side note: Pedro was the first of many 'indie Christian' bands that I was introduced to by my completely non-Christian buddy Rob) (Side Note #2: I don't believe in Christian art. I believe in art. And I believe in people. And people have all kinds of different ideas. And the minute we start sectioning off art based on people's believe systems we have a problem. I mean, if you'd like to live in an imaginary bubble, that's your prerogative and you don't have a problem with this set up. I just think you're wrong. I think God lives in good things and lots of people make good art. For me, it's like saying, I don't like suicide, so I'm not going to read Hemingway or listen to Elliot Smith. You will miss out on amazing and beautiful things.) ANYWAY, Bazan has recently come out on the agnostic side of the argument (if, in fact, there is an argument and agnosticism can be considered a side). I love him and always have and he probably bleeds through my music more than anyone else I listen to. I used to liken him to Jeremiah; I thought he was the prophet weeping in the wilderness. He wrote these sad, heartbreakingly sad songs about infidelity and murder and alcoholism and he sang terrifically stark melodies and I thought the songs were amazing. I still think they are. And I think the new songs are great too. They're brief - and if brevity IS the soul of wit, then I suppose they're witty. They are less stark and it could be argued that they're overproduced, but they're still brilliant. I actually think he and Hemingway would get along really well, what with their minimalism and drinking and sadness. Bazan has always been sad, for me anyway, but he has never made me sad. And this record does; somebody described it as his breakup record for God, which I suppose is as sad as it gets, if you are a believer. The thing is - and I'm not sure if this makes me an eternal optimist or not - I don't think it's a breakup record. Sure, he's angry and terse and sad and a little melodramatic - but I don't think he's done. I'm not saying that he'll be back, in fact, I'm fairly certain he will not be. But it doesn't FEEL like a breakup record. It feels angrier than that. Like God broke up with him and he's stomping mad about it. And I understand that I think; I mean that would be the deepest rejection ever, wouldn't it be? I may listen to the record a thousand more times and in the future have an entirely different idea about it. But that's what I have now. He's not snuffed God out like a candle - the record is devoted to God in it's entirety.
I'm not sure any of that made sense. This is the innate problem with blogs - to keep them fresh and real it's best not to edit them. My whole idea I guess was that I appreciate agnostics. I mean I like to think I appreciate everyone, but I used to think agnostics were more or less cowards. At least atheists have the gall (and the faith) to say that God does not exist. It always pissed me off a little that agnostics got to say, "You know, maybe He does or maybe he doesn't (capital/noncapital on purpose) and who am I to say anyway? Anybody want to just hang out and take it easy?" As if agnosticism was the easy way out. And I suppose it can be - in the same way that Atheism and Christianity and Hinduism and Islam and a whole host of other belief systems can be the easy way out. But good Agnostics (you get a capital A this time) are not slackers. They throw history and tradition and a lot of other things to the wind and say, "You know what? I can't say either way." Which is not cowardice. It's not necessarily even a lack of faith. It's a love of questions; it's straddling the fear of the unknown and the safety of the known (or believed). And I don't think it's easy. Listen to David Bazan and tell me if it sounds like he's having a nice, relaxed, good ol' time. I don't believe he is. He is shouting at God and himself and hearing no good answer back. And I love him for it. And tonight (and this may not be always) I think he's braver than me for doing it. And I'm inspired to ask harder questions. And live with fewer answers.
Luke. you got me thinking about Dave Bazan's old and new music. First the old: I first listened to Control (thanks Luke) 3 or 4 years ago now. I guess this album shook up Christian music because it included songs about adultery in a hotel room, murder, a priest denouncing his faith, and "worst of all" in the last song he said the word "shit." So because I was a latecomer to his music I've never really seen him as some sort of goody-two-shoes who wrote praise music for the Christian consumer (which I don't know if he was ever that?). Anyway, I wasn't shocked or hurt when he released albums that said "fuck" or explored his doubts about the Christian religion. I have always thought his lyricism and music made a perfect balance and his art has influenced my life in a big way. I spend most of my time listening to instrumentation in music, it was when I heard Dave Bazan I started paying attention to the meaning of lyrics in songs, Christian or secular. He is one of the only musicians that I feel like I want to talk to, (other than Aaron Wiess, Victor Wooten or Luke Hawley) instead of just enjoy from afar (and I don't really like being social either).
ReplyDeleteI love his brutal honesty about the world around him. He writes songs and albums about the parts of life that aren't always clean and that don't end very positively. He said things like "Wouldn't it be so wonderful if everything were meaningless. But everything is so meaningful, and most everything turns to shit. Rejoice." What Christian author or musician has the guts to sum up their entire work with something so honest? Some might say a Christian wouldn't do that, because that negativity about life isn't a very uplifting thing to ponder, but what Christian hasn't thought something similar without the rejoice at the end? Bazan wasn't scared to let the listener decide what they want about what to do when "most everything turns to shit". He didn't end the album with a promise of better days or an alternative way to stop bad things from happening, he just let it resonate in me.
But to me, a Pedro the Lion album is more spiritual than pretty much any other musicians work I can recall. It is honest and grating, unlike any contemporary praise song. His music and poetry gives me a chance to listen and respond to serious issues that I feel demand attention.
So I guess I am not going to say too much about his latest album, because I need to listen to it a lot more, but I will say that he is still challenging me to interact deeper with God through his honest questioning and desire to understand more about the root of our existence. Dave kind of caught me in the same boat. But I did have to look up the word Agnosticism, and I still think it's over my head, but I do get what you're saying about this new album... "He is shouting at God and himself and hearing no good answer back." So I'm going to listen to the album now with that mentality. Could you send songs 8-10? Thanks Luke.