J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again. 

Here are the stories behind the songs on our 11th single of 2024: 

DUMB DECISIONS

I got the title and theme for this parody on December 9, 2022, and was excited at the prospect of singing about King Rehoboam, although I'd venture a guess that many, if not most, Christians don't know who he was. 

As the successor to his father, Solomon, he played a pivotal role in the history of Israel. His brashness caused it to split into northern and southern kingdoms, with him retaining only two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) while the Ephraimite Jeroboam became king over the other 10 and led them into idolatry. 

Although Rehoboam wasn't a man after God's heart like his grandfather David, the Bible says this: "The priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel sided with him. The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 11:13-14). 

Even so, it was a precipitous fall for Rehoboam. If only he had heeded the advice of the elders who'd served his father (1 Kings 12:6-8) and followed what Solomon himself had written: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching" (Proverbs 1:7-8). 

As 2 Chronicles 11-12 shows, Rehoboam made some wise decisions later but also more dumb ones, and 2 Chronicles 12:14 says, "He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord."

GOOD GUYS RULE

The idea for "Good Guys Rule" popped into my head on July 12, 2017, six days after "You Might Stink" and the same day as "Taken Up." l was grateful for the inspiration, but all those Cars ideas at once created a quite a traffic jam! We ended up releasing "You Might Stink" in October 2017 and "Taken Up" in November 2018. 

However, instead of working on "Good Guys Rule" next, we did "You're All Like Troglodytes/Trilobite Love" in October 2019, "Strive" in November 2021, "Ask God" in February 2023, and "Magi" in November 2023. Why'd we wait? Gimme some slack! I got a lot on my head, and sometimes it's all I can do to keep waiting for the right time to put particular parodies into production. 

Once I finally gave the other band members the green light for "Good Guys Rule," the words came quickly. I started the morning of May 15 and had already reached the finish line 24 hours later. That was just what I needed after the spoof I'd sung the day before, "Dumb Decisions," which I was still writing on my way to the recording studio. 

Whether the process is agonizingly slow or almost instantaneous, either way reminds me that I'm not the one ultimately responsible for the lyrics. 

I like the title because of the double meaning. It's an abbreviated form of the song's repeated prayer to "Let the good guys rule" over the land and the people, but it's also an acknowledgment of the excellence of leaders who follow the Lord: "Good guys rule!"