Meet the Carolina Chocolate Drops

I was introduced to these guys this past weekend. They play "Old Timey Music from the Carolina Piedmont." Click below to watch "Sourwood Mountain." YouTube has better videos of them, but I like the line "Big dog bark, the little one bite you" in this one. That's certainly my experience; the only dog that ever bit me was one with a definite Napoleon complex. You can hear more of the Drops here, like "Viper Mad," which has another good line: "Good tea is my weakness." Amen!

I found this great interview with the band which was part of an event at the Atlanta History Center. "We’re trying not to make a big agenda, we just play the music. You can see that we’re black, we’re a string band, and that should be enough of a message." Very interesting.

Worst Christmas Songs

Looking for something else entirely I stumbled upon Giant's list of the most annoying Christmas songs of all time. Warning! Clicking on the following link will take you to an article containing non-Daily Mail approved language! Here's the link. Despite their foul language, Giant came up with a pretty good list. I've made it the new poll to the right. If you think one is missing, let us know below!

The Bored-Again Christian

I stumbled upon this site while browsing around. Their motto is "Where Christian music gets saved." They also describe it as "Christian music for people who are tired of Christian music." I've been a bit out of touch with this "scene" for a few years, but this is a great place to hear some of the more quality "popular" music out there of a Christian stripe that artistically goes way beyond "The Fish." You can subscribe to their podcast which is top notch. Check it out!

Anybody out there remember Larry Norman?

I ended up listening to some Larry Norman stuff this evening. It was amazing how relevant the song "Six O'Clock News" still seems to be. Some of the particulars have changed, but the media's pretentiousness and detachment from reality hasn't! And I really liked "Reader's Digest." It kind of reads like a top notch blog post! Clicking on the song title above will open an mp3 of the song. Clicking here will take you to a page of mp3s for 1972's Only Visiting This Planet (the album I am most familiar with, though I didn't hear it until 1990) and two others that form a sort of "triology" (that's "trilogy" if you're not from the mountains!). I've included the lyrics below for the above two songs if you'd like to follow along.

Six O'Clock News

I've got a ticket for southeast Asia,
I packed my camera and press card badge.
They only pay me to stay the weekend;
What if I never come back?

The flight was pretty rough
I got a room, took a sauna,
The bellboy gook put my bags on the bed,
He left without his tip.

Then I loaded up my Hasselblad full of film
And I stepped outside, I stepped outside.

I'm taking pictures of burning houses
Color movies of misery.
I see the flash of guns, how red the mud becomes,
I've got a close-up view.

I'm the six o'clock news - what can I do?
All those kids without shoes - what can I do?
Military coups - what can I do?
I'm just the six o'clock news.

I got a suite at the Saigon Hilton
Cocktail parties with Premiere Ky
We talk about how the war is going
And watch his color TV.

I'm the six o'clock news - what can I do?
Drinkin' black market booze - what can I do?
I'm red, white and true blue - what can I do?
I am, I am, I am, I am, I am... the six o'clock news.

Catch my plane flight back to the mainland,
I fall asleep to the engines' drone.
I see the flash of guns, how red the mud becomes,
I've got a close-up view. I am, I am, I am, I am, I am

The six o'clock news - what can I do?
Guerilla Rendezvous - what can I do?
All those kids without shoes - what can I do?
Napalm tattoos - what can I do?

I'm just the six o'clock news - what can I do?
I am, I am, I am, I am, I am
CBS, ABC, NBC....



Reader's Digest

Alice is a drag queen, Bowie's somewhere in between
Other bands are looking mean, me?, I'm trying to stay clean.
I don't dig the radio, I hate what the charts pick
Rock and roll may not be dead, but it's getting sick.
All over the world disc jockeys talk the same
And every town I play is like the one from where I came.

The Rolling Stones are millionaires, flower children pallbearers,
Beatles said "All you need is love," and then they broke up.
Jimi took an overdose, Janis followed so close,
The whole music scene and all the bands are pretty comatose.
This time last year, people didn't wanna hear.
They looked at Jesus from afar, this year he's a Superstar.

Dear John, who's more popular now?
I've been listening to Paul's records.
I think he really is dead.

It's 1973, I wonder who we're gonna see
Who's in power now? Think I'll turn on the TV,
The man on the news said China's gonna beat us,
We shot all our dreamers, there's no one left to lead us.
We need a solution, we need salvation,
Let's send some people to the moon and gather information.

They brought back a big bag of rocks.
Only cost thirteen billion. Must be nice rocks.

You think it's such a sad thing when you see a fallen king
Then you find out they're only princes to begin with.
And everybody has to choose whether they will win or lose
Follow God or sing the blues, and who they're gonna sin with.
What a mess the world is in, I wonder who began it?
Don't ask me, I'm only visiting this planet.

This world is not my home; I'm just passing through.

Think you know Alice Cooper?

This is from the Alice Cooper interview in Doug Van Pelt's "Rock Stars On God."

QUESTION: Doug asks, "Well, you have seemingly avoided the Christian celebrity, "Let's get him on the 700 Club mentality." And my question is: Where did you acquire the wisdom to make that astute decision?"

ANSWER: "I have been surrounded by guys that are strong Christian guys. A youth pastor, my pastor, and all of them have protected me. They've all said, 'You know, it's great who you are. Be careful of celebrity Christianity.' because it's really easy to use somebody. It's really easy to focus on Alice Cooper and not on Christ. It's so embarrassing in the very beginning, when somebody would say, 'We want you to speak at our youth thing.' And you get there and it says, 'ALICE COOPER' in huge letters, 'speaking about Christ' in small letters. And I'm sitting there going. 'That is blasphemy’ That tells me something right there that something’s wrong. I'm a rock singer. I'm nothing more than that. I'm not a politician; I'm not a philosopher. What I really am is a follower of Christ. My job is rock n roll; my life is dedicated to following Christ. When I go to speak to people, they think I’m going to have some answers. I go, 'I don't have any answers. Please, give me some answers. I can give you what I think. I think that the most important thing that I know is dependence on Christ. That's all I know, is that I have absolutely no answers, and I have no power. I can entertain you, but when it comes to being subject to Christ, I consider myself low on the totem pole of knowledgeable Christians."
I knew Alice Cooper was a Christian, but did not know that he's good friends and golfs with RC Sproul! Now that's as wild as anything he's ever done!

Good Friday Hymn

One of my favorite hymns for several years now, and perfectly appropriate for Good Friday, is Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted by Thomas Kelly. The title is taken, of course, from Isaiah 53:4, " Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." The words are below, and you can listen to the music here or here.

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
’Tis the long expected prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
’Tis a true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress:
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed!
See Who bears the awful load!
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ the Rock of our salvation,
Christ the Name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.

• You can view more of the art of Lorri J. Myers here.