Probably my favorite band ever, Jars of Clay, put out a new album about a month ago, and was in Chicago on tour last night; I went to the House of Blues with a friend to see them. Matt Wertz opened; talented guy; bought an album. Every time I've gotten one of Jars' albums, I've listened to it again and again; listening later reminds me of the time when I first had it, and what I was going through then, what it felt like.
My favorite song of the set was Oh my God, from the new album Good Monsters. Oh my God, why are we so afraid? I keep going back to a Watts quote (doubtless from Trev), "in Christ, God screams with us." Like Silence, like Worlds Apart, this is a good screaming song. A really good screaming song.
Love Song for a Savior usually makes me uncomfortable; when they played it last night I just wanted to feel something. It was nice, maybe even a relief, to lose myself for a few long moments in Oh my God, a good kind of painful, good to feel something, at last. New songs are sometimes a drug that wears off too quickly. We all have a chance to murder we all feel the need for wonder -
A couple of weeks ago I wrote to a friend from school; we used to play guitars and sing together, and we did a lot of Jars of Clay stuff. I thought that when I graduated, I might go play in a band for a couple of years. He wrote back; he misses what it was to make music together, too. - if the world was how it should be maybe I could get some sleep - I still dream of doing art full-time; any way to make something beautiful. It still feels as though the world is short of what it could be; I still feel helpless. When I first found out about Blood:Water Mission several months ago I wanted to help; now I feel sheepish mentioning my idea: selling a bunch of my ceramic work to benefit them. Most of my older pieces and many new ones, and also to continue with my tumbler project. What with the purpose being about providing fresh water, and all. Another past idea was to cast styrofoam cups in porcelain for the same purpose... and I like the idea of an enormous pile that looks like discards but it really purposeful art. We talked in class this week about what it means to be an artist; one of the best thoughts was that artists are those people who just need to make something.
At the same time, anything I can't see, doesn't quite exist; they are just stories that people tell about the world "out there".
The songs are about moments. Some of them are dark. Some are comforting. There are no easy answers, maybe none at all, and the world's not a perfect place. In short, it is human, it is honest, and it meets me where I am now.
I am okay with all of this.
[lyrics for Oh My God will go here]
Set list for Jars of Clay:
Work (Good Monsters)
Dead Man (Good Monsters)
God Will Lift Up Your Head (Redemption Songs) (and they loved how we sang along)
Flood (Jars of Clay)
Even Angels Cry (Good Monsters) ending with a few lines of Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics
Love Song for a Savior (Jars of Clay)
There is a River (Good Monsters)
Take me Higher (Good Monsters)
Oh My God (Good Monsters)
Surprise (Good Monsters)
Mirrors and Smoke (Good Monsters)
Good Monsters (Good Monsters)
Love Me (Mini Monsters EP)
Revolution (The Eleventh Hour)
Encore:
Liquid (Jars of Clay)
The Eleventh Hour (The Eleventh Hour)
You Won't be Alone (?)
Light Gives Heat (Good Monsters)
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4 comments:
"Love Song for a Savior usually makes me uncomfortable; when they played it last night I just wanted to feel something."
I can relate... it's that odd "Jesus is my boyfriend" type spirituality... and yet, like Ramakrishna in love with the Divine Mother, there IS something captivating about being "in love" with Divinity. I'm pretty sure I'm not there, but can almost see how someone might be.
I appreciate Jars' music. They're great musicians, although I have to admit I've not followed them much past their first two major releases. I may have to check out this new album.
Glad you enjoyed the concert...
Jars of Clay, huh? They were never much on my radar, except for that one kinda-hit song from the mid-90s, which I liked, but didn't want to like because it was what all the evangelical kids were listening to. You describe something different. And in any event, the transcendence of music remains--last Sunday evening I was driving alone in the car and so I turned the CD way up and sang along at the top of my lungs, and it was immensely cathartic, much more so than I would have thought. It was exactly where I was right then.
Hope this isn't an intrusion...
There is an interesting series on the Art of Giving unfolding on my blog if anyone is interested. My teacher is participating, which has never occured.
http://eternalawareness.wordpress.com/2006/10/26/questions-on-giving/
Trev, thanks. Perhaps it's just something that can be defined in terms of things we already know. I don't know. Hope you'll enjoy some more of Jars' music.
Andrew, I know what you mean. Oddly enough, I've found myself occasionally singing one of "those" songs because it was the right thing for the moment. I ended up listening to (gak) the Fish on the way to work because when it scanned by, the Third Day song sitting in my head was playing.
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