|
The Stories Behind the Songs on Single #18
Wed., Sep. 28. 2022 11:42pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the stories behind the songs on our 18th single of 2022:
A FEW WHO HAVE SKILL
I got the idea for this parody on June 4, 2022, but didn't expect to be doing anything with it anytime soon, if ever. I had just read the passages about Bezalel and Oholiab in Exodus 31 and 35-38 a few weeks earlier as part of my daily Bible readings.
Of course, I'd perused that portion of Scripture many times before, but when reading it in recent years, I've thought about the way God uniquely equips His people to carry out specific tasks He has prepared for them. That carries over from the Old Testament to the New Testament, as we read in Paul's description of the Church as the Body of Christ in First Corinthians 12-14.
From a creative standpoint, I get to see it happen all the time with the team of musicians, singers, and artists who work on our parodies, singles, and CDs. The LORD gave Moses the vision and instructions for the tabernacle and its furnishings, but Moses needed highly skilled craftsmen led by the Spirit of God to actually make it all a reality.
Although we're not doing anything nearly as important, when God gives me an idea for a song, He also provides the right team to bring it to fruition. In the case of this song, the "few who have skill" were Rich Mannion (keyboards and electronic-drum programming), Wayne Bartley (guitars, engineering, and mixing), and George Elliott on bass.
All four of us have an appreciation for the music and talents of Duran Duran, although I bet that I'm the only one of us who actually bought the "A View to a Kill" single on 45 back when it was a hit!
HEAVEN'S GONNA LIFT YOU UP
As I mentioned in my journal entry for "You've Got to Write Stuff," I took my wife, Lisa, to see New Kids on the Block when they came to Pittsburgh on July 19, 2022, and one of their opening acts was Rick Astley.
Our son, T.J., is 11 (the same age his mother was when "Never Gonna Give You Up" hit #1) and he loves to "Rickroll" people. If you don't know what that is, "Better Go and Look It Up." Lisa even called T.J. from the concert with a video chat when Rick did that song. It's funny, because by the time we released this parody, just a little over two months later, T.J.'s voice had changed to a deeper tone that sounds a lot more like Rick's.
I got the idea for "Heaven's Gonna Lift You Up" on August 3, 2022, although I first suggested it as a possibility to Rich and Jimmy in March 2021.
One of the key passages that inspired this parody was Philippians 2:9-11 "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
We alluded to those verses previously in our parody "Want It Dead or Alive," but that song is sober reminder that everyone will be compelled to acknowledge Christ as Lord and King someday, no matter where they wind up spending eternity, whereas this song is meant to worship Christ and to encourage those of us who are already acknowledging Him now on earth.
|
