There's this song on this CD I borrowed from my pastor, with mostly hymns that have been redone in contemporary music. It's called "Depths of Mercy" by Red Moutain Church. There are 2 songs on it, however, that have been written by modern songwriters (one of those, written by Mo Leverett, President of Desire St. Ministries in New Orleans/Destin, FL). One of the two modern tunes is called "Wedding Dress" by Derek Webb. The lyrics of the chorus go like this:
"I am a whore, I do confess, I put you on just like a wedding dress, and I run down the aisle, I run down the aisle / I'm a prodigal with no way home, I put you on just like a ring of gold, and I run down the aisle, I run down the aisle to You"
Powerful, isn't it? There may be some of you that are saying, "Is this a Christian song? If it is, I can't believe they'd use 'whore' in a Christian song!" Well, guess what, he just did, and I think it's a great song. When I heard it, I thought, "Now this guy has got it right!" How many Christian songs, or any other songs for that matter, have that powerful a message in that type of fashion? If you do hear something this strong, it's usually anti-religion/God. Besides that, he used very vivid imagery in his point that really grabs your attention, and you know exactly what he's talking about. There's no sugar-coated, happy-go-lucky, everything's alright words here. He simply paints a picture of his expression to God. It's truly beautiful, and I aspire to write music like that.
2 comments:
Wedding Dress is a terrific song. You should check out the two Derek Webb CDs I know of, "She Must and Shall Go Free" [with "wedding Dress" on it] and his new one, "Mockingbord."
Man, that's a lot of "quotes."
Let me see if I can explain better. Not every spiritual song out there must have some kind of evangelistic message. Sometimes they can be admonishing to other Christians. You're right, you can't expect a non-Christian to hear that song and be suddenly moved. This song is directed to us Christians. They grab our attention with what maybe harsh lyrics to get the point across. In this case, his point (at least I think) is that in life, we can't do without God, but we only put on our holy faces once a week.
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