Truth in unusual places

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> Does anyone remember U-2's "I still haven't found what I'm looking
> for"??  It should(does) move a backslidder to tears.  "I've climed the
> highest mountains, sailed the seas... I've held hands with the devil,
> spoke with the tounges of angels, but I still haven't found what I'm
> looking for"

Another song that might fit this category is "Dust In the Wind" by
Kansas.  It's Ecclesiastes 1 summarized and put to music.

  Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
  All we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see

  Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
  Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind.

This song echoes the absolute meaningless and despair of living a life
without Christ.

  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep
  his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  --Eccl 12:13



Don McLean, a paperboy with an extensive religious/catholic upbringing,
wrote "American Pie" to lament the loss of innocence in American
popular music during the sixties.  The songs went from (what McLean
perceived to be) generally innocent expressions of love and happiness
into drug-induced, satanically inspired noise.

  And as I watched him on the stage
  My hands were clenched in fists of rage
  No angel born in hell
  Could break that satan's spell.

  And as the flames climbed high into the night
  To light the sacrificial rite.
  I saw satan laughing with delight
  The day the music died
  He was singing...

  Bye bye Miss American Pie,
  Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
  Them good ol' boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
  Singing "This'll be the day that I die,
  This'll be the day that I die."

While I certainly don't agree with the doctrine or practices McLean
espouses in this song, he does rather soundly express his disdain for:

 * The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, and Bob Dylan for their commercialism;
 * The Beatles and other groups who were espousing Marxist philosophy and
   far-out new age religions;
 * "art rock" groups like Rainbow and Deep Purple for being so depressing;
 * The Beatles again for inspiring Charles Manson to murder people;
 * the Byrds and other groups for experimenting with drugs;
 * Woodstock for being "a generation lost in space";
 * the Grateful Dead for their satanic themes;
 * the Rolling Stones for the violence at their concerts (he equates Mick
   Jagger with Satan);
 * Janis Joplin for being stoned;
 * the music industry in general;
 * psychedelia;
 * and all the musicians dying from drug overdoses.

Richard "drove my chevy to the levee on a horse with no name" Masoner
richardm@cd.com