|
The Stories Behind the Songs on Single #11
Fri., Jun. 24. 2022 1:02pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the stories behind the songs on our 11th single of 2022:
I WAS MADE FOR REVENUE
Considering all the merchandising Kiss has done over the years — clothing, comics, coffee, cologne, credit cards, caskets — I used to joke that they should spoof their hit "I Was Made for Lovin' You" as "I Was Made for Revenue." I mean, one of the books I've read about them was even titled Kiss and Sell!
Years later, I realized that the second line of the chorus could be changed from "You were made for lovin' me" to "You were made for revelry." After all, they repeatedly said they wanted "to rock and roll all nite and party every day."
Then it hit me that there was a great biblical application to those lines. Think about it: Isn't it the pursuit of power and pleasure what the Devil is all about? He even tried tempting Jesus with that, as it says in Luke 4:5-6:
"The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, 'I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.'" In today's world, it seems like society equates power/authority and pleasure/splendor with money and sex.
"I Was Made for Revenue" reminds me a little bit of our 2006 parody "Singled You Out," which is also sung from Satan's perspective. Come to think of it, in those lyrics, he even says, "And I might attack with wealth or sex." But the Bible says, "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction" (1 Timothy 6:9).
GOD CAN DO
I got the idea for this parody on March 25, 2022, as I was driving my two youngest kids to school. I had been playing some songs that I thought they might be interested in, and one of them was "Katmandu" by Bob Seger, an old favorite of mine. It didn't move the needle for them as much as I'd hoped, but it got my creative juices flowing.
I really liked the fact that I would be able to stutter the G in "God can do" like Seger stuttered the K in "Katmandu." I knew it was a long song with a lot of lyrics and a real obstacle course vocally, but I couldn't get it out of my head.
I also thought it would go great on an album with another of our recent parodies, so we could say, "Good Works Don't" but "God Can Do," so I finally bit the bullet (or Silver Bullet, since it's Seger song) on April 18 and put it on Jimmy's "to do" list. I asked him if he could have the drums done by May 15, so Tinch (guitar), Rich (keys), and Keith (bass) could do their parts and have them done by May 22.
I remember getting some significant portions of the first verse while driving to see my son T.J.'s school band concert (he plays the trombone) on May 17. I sang my vocals on May 26. Even though I already had the lyrics written in plenty of time, I was still fine-tuning them that week, even on my way to the studio.
I think and hope most believers can identify with the words, but they really are the way I feel, and this line is so true: "I've prayed for this and that — He's given me most. And so much more to boot." Hallelujah!
|
