"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
I don't listen to a lot of different music. I can't remember the last time I tuned in to FM radio, and the last time I watched MTV or VH1 was probably 1996. Most of the music I've been turned on to the past ten years has been handed down from my brother via copied CDs and, more recently, MP3s.
About a year ago or so my brother hooked me up with Coldplay, and I've been salivating over U2's heir apparent ever since. Right now I'm completely mesmerized with Coldplay's contemplative love song from A Rush of Blood to the Head, "The Scientist." I. Can't. Get. Enough.
The song is multilayered, poetic, profound, and mysterious -- from the get-go:
Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are.
I had to find you, tell you I need you,
Tell you I set you apart.
On that foundation the lyrics, music, and aura of the song build skyward, second by second. And what an incredible apex:
I was just guessin' at numbers and figures,
Pulling the puzzles apart.
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart.
I'm thinking "The Scientist" has got to be one of the best love songs ever written. To borrow a phrase from U2, the song masterfully dissects "the mysterious distance, between a man and a woman," while circumspectly steering clear of the inherent codependency that manifests itself in so many modern love songs.
Thank you, Coldplay.
I'm goin' back to the start.
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Comments on "Quite Possibly The Best Love Song Ever":
2. Bird
- 12/09/2009 2:52 pm CST
Karl,
I read that book back in the 90s, when it came out. It's been a while, obviously, and I actually put it on my Amazon Wish List this year because I'd like to read it again.
Coldplay is definitely worth checking out. If I were you, I'd start with their most recent release, Viva La Vida; I think it's their magnum opus ... so far.
3. Karl
- 12/09/2009 4:11 pm CST
Yeah, the fact that I'm only now reading that book and getting jazzed about what U2 was up to more than a decade ago, should tell you all you need to know about just how "up" I am on the music scene. Back in the early to mid 90's I was actually kind of hip, and into a bunch of independent singer/songwriter stuff that I still listen to, along with some quality stuff from that and other eras across several different eclectic genres of music. But then adult life really hit overdrive, we started having kids . . . and I'm still there, pretty much listening to the same music.
Thanks for the Coldplay Viva la Vida recommendation.
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I have to admit that my musical knowledge and tastes are pretty much stuck in the 80's/90's and I have never knowingly listened to Coldplay. Your first paragraph pretty much describes me except I don't have a brother to give me CD's or MP3's to even minimally help me stay current. But you make me want to check Coldplay out.
I'm about finished with "U2: At the End of the World" by Bill Flanagan. If you're a fan of U2 you ought to read it. Fascinating, entertaining book and gives a real glimpse into the Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum/Achtung Baby time period and metamorphosis. "Have you ever read The Screwtape Letters . . . Ecclesiastes? That's what this is." (Bono, in Macphisto garb, to an indignant evangelical fan who complained to him about their changed image).