Friday, July 26, 2019

"Native Tongue"

As soon as I heard "Native Tongue" come on the radio, I knew it had to be a hit. Catchy and assertive from the first note, I was instantly engaged and as I listened to the lyrics, I had to double-check that I was on a Christian station (sadly, that's what I do when I hear good music that doesn't immediately reference God or Jesus).

Check it out before you read on:


Honestly I wasn't huge into Switchfoot in the early 2000s, when my sister and all my youth group peers were listening to them, but that might've been because songs like "Dare You to Move," "Meant to Live" and "This is your life" were overplayed on mainstream radio before I could really appreciate their music (come to think of it, The Beautiful Letdown was actually a pretty stellar album). I was also surprised to learn Switchfoot has been making music (read: putting out albums) pretty consistently for almost 25 years, which is pretty impressive for any artist, let alone a Christian band. I think the mark of a good one, in my book, is when they can cross over into secular stations without selling out (bands like Relient K and singers like Lauren Daigle and even Stephen Curtis Chapman come to mind).

I listen to a lot of different music, and a lot of music period, so I feel like I have kind of high standards when it comes to evaluating artists and songs -- it has to have strong vocals and lyrics as well as skilled instrumentation for me to mark it as a favorite, and I think "Native Tongue" pretty much nails it in those categories (not to mention I'm a total linguistics and language nerd so I love the word play in this song). It's also interesting because it's kind of in-your-face in an almost Foo Fighters way (though dialing it back toward Goo Goo Dolls), but it's about love. That's pretty creative/original if you ask me.

In any case, here are the lyrics (from AZ), for your convenience, as you listen to the song again ;)

Sing to me, baby, in your native tongue
Sing the words of the wise and the young
Show me the place where your words come from
Love is the language, love is your native tongue

Feel your heartbeat bang the drum
Open up your eyes and fill your lungs
The same word from where the stars are flung
Love is the language, love is your native tongue

My heart is a beating drum
My head in oblivion
My soul, such a long way from
My lips, my lungs, my native tongue

My friend, where did we go wrong?
My Lord, we forgot our sound
My soul, such a long way from
My lips, my lungs, my native tongue

(Oh-woah-oh-woah-oh)
(My native tongue)
(Oh-woah-oh-woah-oh)
(My native tongue)

Sing it to me, whisper into my ear
Accuser's voices start to disappear
In the wind, in the tongues of the flame
In my soul, in my one true name, oh

Back before we learned the words to start a fight
Back before they told us that the haters were right
He spoke the truth, "let there be" and there was
Love is the language, love is your native tongue

My heart is a beating drum
My head in oblivion
My soul, such a long way from
My lips, my lungs, my native tongue

My friend, where did we go wrong?
My Lord, we forgot our sound
My soul, such a long way from
My lips, my lungs, my native tongue

So sing it loud, get loud, get
Louder than the voices in the crowd, yeah
Even when they tried to drown you out, eh
Your lips, your lungs, your native tongue

So sing it out, get loud, get
Louder than the darkness and the doubts, eh
Louder than the curses and the shouts, yeah
Your lips, your lungs, your native tongue

(Oh-woah-oh-woah-oh)
(Oh-woah-oh-woah-oh)

My heart is a beating drum
My head in oblivion
My soul, such a long way from
My lips, my lungs, my native tongue

My friend, where did we go wrong?
My Lord, we forgot our sound
My soul, such a long way from
My lips, my lungs, my native tongue

(Oh-woah-oh-woah-oh)
(My native tongue)
(Oh-woah-oh-woah-oh)

I want the world to sing in her native tongue
To sing it like when we were young
Back before the pendulum had swung to the shadows

I want the world to sing in her native tongue
Maybe we could learn to sing along
To find a way to use our lungs for love and not the shadows

I want the world to sing in her native tongue
To sing it like when we were young
Back before the pendulum had swung to the shadows

I want the world to sing in her native tongue
Maybe we could learn to sing along
To find a way to use our lungs for love and not the shadows

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

10 Movies that Affected Me (3/3)

Did you think I was going to leave you hanging for ever? Never fear, the third and final installment of "Movies that Affected Me" is here!

I decided to list them in alphabetical order this time so I wouldn't have to worry about what the ranking might look like...they're all so different, I couldn't do it!

1) Argo (2012)

Argo of course had a stellar cast, starting with a Ben Affleck long past his Armageddon and Good Will Hunting days (which I thought were both great but let's be honest, he was kind of a punk back then). This is one of those movies that stuck with me even though I don't remember a lot of the details; it was just really well made, and I found the storyline really unique and engaging. Affleck also directed this one, and he pretty much knocked it out of the park in that dual role (rather than coming off as an egotistical asshole). I almost picked The Accountant because it's an equally awesome film (though reminiscent of the Bourne trilogy for sure), but he wasn't doing double duty in that one.

2) Captain Ron (1992)

Captain Ron is one of the first funny, adult movies I remember seeing as a kid. It's still basically a family movie, but dips its toes into the ocean of "adultness" with the armed conflict in Cuba, the "gorillas" in the island jungle ("GO — GUER — HUGE difference!") and some sexual scenes, which were new to me when I watched it. This was the movie that introduced me to Kurt Russell, too, one of my dad's favorite actors. Really, I'd watch any movie this guy was in, but Captain Ron is probably the most hilarious to me. So glad my parents had me watch it.

Also, just discovered it came out the year I was born!


3) The Imitation Game (2014)


This movie was kind of a surprise, but reminded me very much of A Beautiful Mind. It also contributes to the idea that all geniuses have issues, which is both tragic and almost comforting? Not sure that makes sense. In any case, this movie did a great job telling a "math" story by being both informative and dramatic, which made it altogether very engaging. It also improved my previous impression of Benedict Cumberbatch of being totally overrated (although Keira Knightley still doesn't know how to close her mouth...like ever).


4) Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)


Joe Versus the Volcano is one of my all-time favorites, for reasons that I don't fully understand, but that start with my first viewing of it. I was young and inexperienced and invested in the story enough that I didn't notice that Meg Ryan played multiple characters throughout the movie, so when someone (probably my dad) told me later, I was over-the-moon-impressed by how clever that was, and what it added to the story. After a while the glow started to fade a bit, until I wrote a paper about it in my college film class. My professor loved it, so that certainly helped, but I was able to make comparisons between Joe and Metropolis that still blow my mind. Plus, I love Tom Hanks as an actor and the soundtrack was perfect.


5) Phenomenon (1996)


I think my dad introduced me to this movie, again, when I was in middle school, and I had just been going ga-ga over John Travolta after seeing Grease for the first time. I probably hadn't seen many truly tragic movies up to this point, so I definitely cried at the end of this movie (don't judge me). I don't really know why this movie was so fascinating to me, I guess I just hadn't seen that many quiet fantasy movies up to that point in my life. I'm sure I also fantasized about being able to learn languages as fast as the character did (and only from a book, no less!).

Anyway, I would certainly recommend this movie.


6) Silver Linings Playbook (2012)


"This is a terrible movie!" Those words — spoken by my grandmother while watching this movie at Christmas after I had bought it for my sister as a present — and my family's laughter that followed it, will forever be ingrained in my memory.

This movie was the first, I think, that showed how well Bradley Cooper and J-Law work together onscreen, and it did a bang-up job (I thought) of presenting their characters as almost anti-heroes who portray mental illness and personal tragedy very effectively. It's crazy and beautiful and hilarious.


7) Sixth Sense (1999)

I'm not sure it gets any more iconic than "I see dead people," but this was also the first "scary" movie I think I ever saw. I still remember that scene with the girl under the bed throwing up as the freakiest of all time. But the biggest reason this movie affected me so dramatically (and why I love it so much) is, as with many movies I enjoy, how surprising it was. I had no idea Bruce Willis' character was dead when Haley Joel Osmet was talking to him (until the end, obviously), and I was so impressed by that. It's one of the movies that makes me not-so-secretly want to make movies.


8) Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was one of my favorite shows as a kid, so it should come as no surprise that I was interested in watching this movie. The very end sucked, but it was the first big foreign movie I'd really seen, and boy did it deliver. It really demonstrated for me what life in a truly poor country might be like — even in Hollywood fashion, I think there are some important truths of perspective in the movie.

And of course my dad's love for saying "chaiwalla" after we watched it keeps me from forgetting it.

The final dance number was stupid though and I just ignore that.


9) Throw Mama from the Train (1987)

I think I have my brother-in-law to thank for this one, since he was the first who told me about it. So hilarious and relatable as a writer, even though it's over the top. I didn't know it then, but I think this was the movie that made me really appreciate Danny DeVito. I can still hear his "mom" yelling "Oweeen!"

And I mean really, what else needs to be said??


10) V for Vendetta (2005)


This is a movie that I think most people knew about before I did, and which I was surprised I hadn't known anything about until I watched it (and yes, I did watch it for the first time on the fifth of November). Very Phantom of the Opera-esque and I loved it. Why? I guess every "little m" man likes the idea of sticking it to the "big m" Man, and when you add in a little mystery and a lot of gray areas, it works.

Who doesn't love a good political, dystopian thriller that plays off the legend of Guy Fawkes?


And that's it! I hope someone enjoyed this unnecessarily long, drawn-out series ;)

Sunday, July 14, 2019

"I Don't Know How to Pray"

When I first heard X Ambassadors' single "BOOM," I was immediately hooked. It was my "new favorite song" and I had to have the album (for my birthday!).  The bass line and that pre-chorus riff just ROCK. But the single's release was still at least a month ahead of the planned album release, so I had to wait to have it in my hands. During that wait I heard "Hey Child," and I thought, 'wow, this album is gonna be SO good.'

So June comes around, and my sister sends me Orion. I stuck the disc in my car's CD player as soon as I exited the post office, and I've probably run through the whole album at least three times by now, a couple weeks later.

Honestly, it's taken that many listens for the album to grow on me. I don't love the featured artist on "Confidence," and I'm still on the fence about "Rule," "History," "Wasteland" and "Shadows." On their own, I don't think they're anything special. But I think, together, they probably bring the album together.

Then there's "I Don't Know How to Pray."

Whoa. Talk about an unassuming little "filler" track that packs a punch.

This is a song that I think, at first listen, is likely to make Christians shake their heads in disappointment and atheists pump their fists in triumph — but they're both wrong.

First, listen. Then, read the lyrics below.




Pause:: If you tried to play back that last part at the end with the volume up, I feel you. But we'll tackle that in a minute, so let's focus on the song lyrics:

I don't know how to pray
But here I am in this bathroom, hopin' you'll come back soon
Knees on the floor, prayin' to a Lord I don't know
I don't know how to pray
'Cause if I did, I'd be worthless, all I know is curses
You let me down, still I'm feelin' guilty somehow
So here I go: "Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, what do I do?
Oh, God, oh, God, I ask a favor from you
And I know, I know we've never spoken before
But I hope you hear me, oh, Lord
Please let my brother live
And let me learn to forgive
And why do bad things happen to good people
That's all, I guess, amen"
And God said—

Artistically, that ending is really clever, I thought. And Sam Harris has an amazing voice with a whole lot of hurt and soul behind it (OK and I guess "heart" too). But then I listened to it again. This song is SO powerful because it hits on so many doubts I think just about every human has had — is there a God? Should I pray and see? How do I do that? Will He be mad that I swear a lot and I haven't tried talking to him before? Does it work better if I promise to try to be a better person? Why do bad things happen to good people?

Dude! We've all been there!

And then, that silence. Oof. Yeah. A lot of times — maybe all the time, for some of us — we feel like our prayers fall on deaf ears, or in some cases, that there are no ears to hear us. That hurts.

BUT. There's another — additional — interpretation to this. Maybe listen to the song again, and pause on that silence. What do you hear?

I don't know what Sam's intention was, but he left a space for you to hear God's voice  every time you listen to this song! And we will all hear something different in that "silence," because we are individuals, and God wants to have personal relationships with us.

OK, take a breath, and a step back. Some of you reading this may be thinking, "Yeahhhhh, no." I get the skepticism, I really do. But don't write these ideas off just yet.

Let's take a look at the transcript of the spoken recording at the end of the track:


You are definitely not the same person you were when you were a kid, but then you come back full circle when you sort of started to...become comfortable with who you are and
Right 
Less trying to be, something or someone [you're not] 
Do you guess that was kinda like your, at the basis of like a part of your struggle as a kid, like trying—feeling like you didn't know yourself? 
I feel like I was running from everything... 
Right  
I feel like that there in my twenties, one of the biggest struggles for me was you know, finding love...

There are two people talking: One seems older, in the role of a mentor or maybe even a therapist, but actually, it's Sam and his brother Casey (whom I interviewed once!). They discuss two big challenges in life: Knowing who you are and finding someone who loves that person.

Jesus is the answer!!

I know, I know, some of you are not here for "religious" content, and maybe this comes off as "preachy" and makes you dislike this song. I don't care, because I am so excited by this song and what it has revealed to me. When we accept Christ and his sacrifice, we become children of God, and we are loved by our father. This is something that I have been trying to internalize over the last few weeks, in part due to discussions I've had with a new friend.

I don't know where Sam and his brother and his bandmates are at on the "faith" front — who they consider themselves to "be" and what loves they have in their lives — but this song gives me hope. For everyone, honestly.

Now, I don't think my words here offer an immediate or perfect "solution" to the problems laid out in this song, but that's part of what makes it GREAT. We all need these struggles, at some point in our lives, to build our faith, and reveal who we really are. And we need to come to terms with the fact that we're not always going to understand. There is freedom in that, and I hope everyone reading this can experience that someday.

You see, we can fumble over our words and swear and neglect our relationship with God and be angry at him, but He forgives us when we acknowledge him, because by grace we have been saved.

Whatever you take away from this is, obviously, up to you. In any case, go listen to the album, which I've linked at the top of this post. Appreciate the artistry, and groove to some awesome music.

Peace.