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The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
Fri., Jan. 26. 2024 12:02am EST
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the stories behind the songs on our second single of 2024:
LOOKED ON THE CEILING
ApologetiX first covered this story (from Mark 2 and Luke 5) in 2010 with a song called "I'm Cured," but that was imagined from the perspective of the paralyzed person healed by Jesus. The narrator in this parody is the owner of the house where the healing happened.
I used to comment in concert that I wondered what was going through the homeowner's head as the paralytic's pals tore apart his roof to make an opening large enough to lower their friend down into the room where Jesus was teaching. When this scene played out in my all-time favorite movie, Jesus of Nazareth, it took place in Simon Peter's house, and he wasn't happy about the destruction of his property.
Although the Bible doesn't say specifically whose house it was, Peter's place is a good guess. Mark 2 tells us the event occurred in Capernaum (about 20 miles from Nazareth), and the preceding chapter showed Jesus visiting Peter and Andrew's home in Capernaum (Mark 1:21) and healing Peter's mother-in-law of a fever and then others who were sick and demon-possessed that evening in what seems to be the same house (Mark 1:29-34).
I got the idea and title for "Looked on the Ceiling" on October 20, 2023. It seemed promising, but I knew we'd need to find a good chant for the intro section. Nine days later, the "roof got chopped up part" came to me while I was driving to church. With the pillars of the parody in place, I figured the Lord would fill in any remaining holes.
YOU'LL SUCCEED
I got the idea to spoof Ringo Starr's version of "You're Sixteen" on November 1, 2023. I knew it would be a great showcase for Rich Mannion on keyboards and backing vocals. He also did the kazoos. I originally intended to ... until Rich discovered there were more than just two simple parts. Unfortunately, though I own many kazoos, he owned none.
Rich lives almost an hour from me, so he drove to a local music store and bought one, but it broke before he could do the outro, so he had to go buy another the next day. We later discovered that Ringo's recording didn't really feature a kazoo, just Paul McCartney singing in a way that sounded like one. Either way, Rich called it "the best kazoo performance of my career ... well, the only kazoo performance of my career."
When I first told him I wanted to do this tune, I planned to spoof it as "Mark 16," "Job 16," or "John 16." However, on December 21, I got the idea for "You'll Succeed," and words soon started pouring out.
This parody isn't meant to guarantee earthly success. Even in the Beatitudes, some whom Jesus calls "blessed" include the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and those persecuted because of righteousness. But think of it this way: Yes, often you'll be an earthly success if you're dutiful (i.e. you do what God wants you to) and you're kind (doing unto others as you would have them to do unto you), but from a heavenly point of view, if you're dutiful and you're kind, you're already successful.
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