The Stories Behind the Songs on Our New Single
Fri., Aug. 7. 2020 8:58pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here yet again.
Here's a little more behind-the-scenes info about the songs on our new single:
CELEBRITY KIN
We got Jacob's account of his complicated love story in "That Daughter" and Leah's perspective in "Downer of a Sister." I thought it was only fair to let Rachel have her say, too. I had to use my imagination, but I worked with information the Bible gave me. Genesis 29:17 says Rachel "had a lovely figure and was beautiful," the same phrase it uses to describe Esther in Esther 2:7. Even other women noted in the Bible for their beauty like Sarah, Rebekah, Abigail, Bathsheba, Abishag, Tamar, and Vashti don't get that kind of description.
There are a couple quotes from Rachel in the Bible that may give us a little insight into the type of person she was. Like when she tells Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!" in Genesis 30:1. And when she says to Leah, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?" in Genesis 30:15. I tried to tap into that attitude, and I thought Courtney Love's vocal approach on "Celebrity Skin" worked well for it.
MIRIAM GIRL
We've done many parodies about Moses (too many to name here) and a couple about Aaron ("Aaronic" and "Call Me the Priest"), so it was time we gave big sis her own song. We'd already mentioned her in the song "Selfish Sheep," but not by name. In fact, the Bible doesn't mention Miriam's name in the Exodus 2 account; it simply identifies her as "his sister." Then we don't see her again until Exodus 15:20, after the crossing of the Red Sea. By that time, she's at least an octogenarian, since her younger brothers, Aaron and Moses, were 83 and 80. But it not only gives us her name, it calls her a "prophetess," so she did all right for herself.
We spoofed Garth Books way back in 1999, but it took us till 2020 to spoof his wife, Trisha Yearwood Then again, they didn't get married till 2005. It's not the first time we've spoofed two different songs by two different artists who got married, although the other couples I can think of are no longer together: Courtney Love (Hole) and Kurt Cobain (Nirvana); Carly Simon and James Taylor; Gwen Stefani (No Doubt) and Gavin Rossdale (Bush); Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders) and Jim Kerr (Simple Minds); Avril Lavigne and Deryck Whibley (Sum 41); and Avril Lavigne (again) and Chad Kroeger (Nickelback).
We've also spoofed songs by bands that featured married couples, such as ABBA, Missing Persons, Quarterflash, and Wings. Of those, the only couple that is still together (as far as I know) are Marv & Rindy Ross of Quarterflash. In addition, I should mention Pat Benatar, who's been married to her lead guitarist, Neil Giraldo since 1982.
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