Sheds, Indie Bands and Amos 5

 

I was painting my shed last Saturday
listening to the Jonathan Ross show. The final guest was Charlie Higson.
Charlie is a multi-talented bloke best known for The Fast Show and, more
recently, writing the “Young James Bond” books. However, he first came to
prominence in the early 1980s, as a member of the hip Norwich band “The
Higsons”, who enjoyed only minor commercial success but had a substantial
hardcore support and were the darlings of the NME, Sounds, John Peel etc.

Nonetheless, Charlie Higson quit music in 1986. The reason
he explained to Ross was that he was living a lie. His heart and soul were not
devoted to music like some of his contemporaries. He was faking it and it was
only a matter of time (he felt) before the fans would see through him.

In Amos Chapter 5 we find out that God had seen through the
Israelites a long time before, but their fate was going to be much, much worse
than an empty concert hall or their album being relegated to the “bargain bin”.
Israel, we find, will fall “never to rise again, deserted in her own land,
with no-one to lift her up”.

What had they done to deserve this? (to paraphrase the Pet
Shop Boys rather than the Higsons). Well to add to the litany of offences
listed in Chapters 3 & 4, we find in Chapter 5 that they “cast
righteousness to the ground”; despise the one who tells the truth”;
“oppress the righteous and take bribes”; and “deprive the poor of
justice in the courts”.

But it is not just the various sinful acts carried out by
the Israelites that offend God, it is their complete and blatant hypocrisy.
They continue to have religious feasts, bring their sacrifices and offerings to
God’s table and laud him with empty, insincere worship. Perhaps worst of all,
they long for the day of the Lord, having totally forgotten (or ignored) what
the day of the Lord will actually mean.

Two thoughts struck me about Amos Chapter 5. First, how
often do we offend God through our Sunday worship and communions? OK, we might
not come to church having trampled on the poor all week, but did we ever grow weary
of helping them? And we might not have deprived the poor of justice in the
courts, but did we ever let someone’s colour, faith, sexual orientation or
political beliefs influence our view of what they were saying?

The second thought brings out the positive in the Chapter.
For all their sinning, God repeatedly invites the Israelites to repent and be
forgiven. The same message he gives us today. As Paul tells us in Ephesians,
God’s gift of His Grace to us means that we can be saved through faith – an
invaluable straw for us all to cling to as the day of the Lord draws nearer.

The Higsons farewell album was a compilation called “It’s a
Wonderful Life”. If the Israelites thought they were having a wonderful life,
Amos certainly is giving them a rude awakening.

Justcoffeeforme

And what should have been there

1. Hot Love by T.Rex
because this made a 10-year old boy fall in love with music.

2. I Want You, I Need You, I Love You by Elvis Presley
because Elvis is the greatest male vocalist ever.

3. Different Drum by Linda Ronstadt
because Linda is the greatest female vocalist ever

4. Saturday Night by the Blue Nile
because the Blue Nile are one of music’s best kept secrets, this song is magnificent and their rendition of it at Derby’s Assembly Rooms is probably the most moving live performance I have ever seen.

5. Man in the Corner Shop by the Jam
because Weller is THE MAN

6. In the Garden by Van Morrison
because there are few better examples of songs where the words, the music and the performace just gel together so brilliantly.

7. You Could be Happy by Snow Patrol
because I can’t think of any better "lost love" song. When I hear the "somehow everything I own smells of you" lyric my crusty old heart just melts.

8. Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House
because Neil Finn is so good that he just had to be somewhere on this list.

9. Cole’s Corner by Richard Hawley
because I keep promising friends that I’ll refund the money if they buy the album (of the same name) and don’t like it – haven’t spent a penny!

10. Everybody Needs A Healer by Brian Houston
because when a fan emailed Janice Long calling Brian the third Belfast genius after George Best and Van Morrison, I found myself agreeing. Nobody has stated our need for Christ so perfectly.

And I’ve run out of tracks without fitting in Johnny Cash, Dylan, Springsteen, Tori Amos, China Crisis, Bowie or the Beatles – oh the joys of music!

Justcoffeforme

iPOD Challenge Number 1

The Chef’s Challenge was a very simple one, and I quote "those who have mp3 players, set them on random or shuffle, and make a list of the first 10 songs that appear. No censoring now"

Being blessed with a 35 year old record collection, I was ready to very quickly embrace the challenge. Then I started to think about it. First, I am a lazy MP3 owner. Still enjoying vinyl and even cassettes, I have not got quite around to filling up my machine, so I’m not terribly sure that it reflects who I am.

Second, and more important, while music can form a terrific bridge between people (I had to spend half an hour with a virtual stranger the other day and the potentially draining small talk became very easy when we discovered a mutual love of Paul Weller) it can also be an intensely personal thing.

Music can be the new sharp shirt that you cannot wait to show to your friends but it can also be the favourite red underpants that you would hesitate to even let your wife see you in. Music can be the treasured picture of your family on the living room wall, but it can equally be the more than slightly embarassing picture of you in your best mullet that you skillfully removed from the "favourite memories" photo album several years ago but would never dream of throwing out.

But always being one for a challenge, I took out the machine, pressed random play and waited with trepidation ….

Track 1: U2 – Pride (in the Name of Love)
Not a bad start at all. Is there any singer in the world that can split an audience as much as Bono? Personally, I love the Guy. He might be an idiot sometimes but he knows his scripture and loves the Lord. And this is a brilliant song. It also brings a smile to my face because it reminds me of a story my mate Ray used to tell (who cares if its actually true) about our football manager who yelled from the sidelines "come on lads show a bit of Pride"  and in the next breath as we lost the ball stupidly turned to the coach and said "in the name of ****"
PS: Excellent U2 trivia courtesy of the Word magazine – the digital sign in the airport on the front cover of "All that you can’t leave behind"  says J33-3, i.e. Jeremiah Ch 33 V 3 "Call to me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not".

Track 2: Level 42 – Tracie
Level 42 were one of those bands that everybody occasionally liked but rarely adored in the 1980s. They made some very good records, this isn’t one of them. I think it came from a compilation album.

Track 3: Prefab Sprout – All Boys Believe Anything
I love this band especially Paddy McAloon’s voice. This is from Jordan: The Comeback, which is one of the truly great albums of the last 20 years.

Track 4: George Michael – Too Funky
Not sure where this came from. Don’t even like it. George Michael and Robbie Williams are two artists that when I decide I can’t stand them they produce something pretty brilliant, and if I think I might quite like them, they produce something like this. ‘Nuff said.

Track 5: Oasis – Live Forever
I smiled for the length of this record. My 12 year-old son put this on. He adores Oasis. One of the happiest nights of my life was taking him to see them at the Odyssey last Christmas. I spent most of the night watching his face.

Track 6: Lloyd Cole & the Commotions – From the Hip
Brilliant, brilliant band and songwriter and this is a simply wonderful song. It’s from their Best of Compilation, which I thoroughly recommend.

Track 7: Bob Dylan – Just Like A Woman
One of my school friends got me into Dylan in the late 70s by lending me "Desire" which I absolutely adored (still do). In fact along with "Blood in the Tracks"", Desire remains my favourite Dylan album. This 1966 Track however, from  "Blonde on Blonde", would be one of my all time favourite Dylan songs.

Track 8: Will Powers – Kissing With Confidence
Trivia time: Will Powers was (and is) Lynn Goldsmith, once Bruce Springsteen’s official photographer and (it is said) was encouraged by the Boss to release her music. This track got to number 3 in the Charts and it’s still rather great actually. The uncredited guest singer was none other than the wonderful Ms Carly Simon.

Track 9: Paul McCartney – My Brave Face
This isn’t a great track but I love Paul McCartney. He’s one of my all-time favourite songwriters. Come on, how could the man who wrote "Yesterday", "Let it Be", "Hey Jude", "Maybe I’m Amazed" and "Let me Roll It" not be forgiven for "Ebony & Ivory"?

Track 10: Lighthouse Family – High
For a brief while in the 90s, the Lighthouse Family were a great band. "Lifted", "Ocean Drive" and this song are still wonderful tracks.

And there we have it. Next time, what should have been there …..

Justcoffeeforme

Speed Bumps

It started along the sea front and gradually migrated into suburbia. Now, even in my own street, within the next few months they will arrive: speed bumps. Those misshapen rolls of tarmac and bituminous paint whose aim it is to have an argument with my car’s mortal coils. Unlike certain Top Gear presenters, I appreciate the need for these bone shakers as they serve a valuable purpose reminding us of our surroundings and giving a wake up call to our (legal) obligations not to speed. The book of Amos is littered with ‘speed bumps’, uncomfortable but necessary reminders to the people of Israel and for us today to wake up and pay attention.

It sounds as if the Israelites had fallen asleep at the wheel, certainly with regard to their worship. The heater is full on, the radio is blaring and the windscreen wipers are doing that funny hypnotic thing that windscreen wipers do. They choose to ignore the rather large warning signs about the road conditions, fallen trees, potholes, fuel shortage and the small matter of earthquakes. They choose instead to rely on the false cosiness of the tin box in which they are travelling – shame about the four flat tyres. Then comes that speed bump, Amos 4 verse 12: ‘prepare to meet your God’. Did they even see it coming? The Israelites had chosen to ignore God and now they were going to be introduced to Him…formally. I sense that Amos struggles to find words to express the enormity of the impending presence of God. He looks around him and his eyes settle on the surrounding mountains: “see them? that’s God that is”. He stands amazed at the creative genius of the sun rising: “see that? that’s God that is”. As the Message puts it: ‘His name is God, God-of-the-angel-armies’. Talk about smelling the coffee.

It is a timely reminder of our relationship with God. God speaks directly into and through every part of our living. In the case of the Israelites he shows them hunger so that they should be reminded of their daily need for Him. He shows them thirst so that they should recognise the dire condition brought about by not relying on Him. He even puts stench in their nostrils to contrast with the sweet scent of being in His presence. It begs the question: what has God shown me today for me to hear him speaking? I cannot get away from those words: prepare to meet thy God. There is a clear sense of confrontation, as opposed to the psalmist who also mentions hunger and thirst (the good kind) and cannot wait to meet with God – Psalm 42 verses 1 & 2. There is a world of difference between meeting God and meeting with God.

So there we have it. It’s on this cliff hanger, with the bus teetering on the edge Italian Job fashion, that we wait for the outcome with Amos.  Are we there yet?…are we there yet?… are we there yet?

Greentea

Amos Chapter 4

So there were just the 4 of us. Abandoned for the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia by our leader and chef (only now could we really know how Take That felt without Robbie); and fortified by a poor substitute for his renowned breakfasts, we approached Amos 4 with more than a little trepidation.

We already knew that Amos is not an easy read and Chapter 4 certainly fell short on feelgood factor. Cos we immediately find that, if the Israelite men were bad, their womenfolk ("The Cows of Bashan"), are even worse, exhorting the men to exploit the poor and needy even more so that they can continuously gorge themselves on drinks and high living. God’s frustration then pours from every verse, you are even abusing special rituals (sacrifice) through empty hearted gesturing He says, why not just go to our special places (Bethel and Gilgal) and abuse those through sin as well. You are ignoring the warning signs I send you, He adds, even though your own history tells you how important these are.

And then the climax… "prepare to meet your God".

Here we were thinking Amos was one of the least well known books of the Bible and here we find one of the Bible’s most quoted verses, but now in its proper context the words revealing a power and authority that never could have been transmitted from the side of a barn or a poster outside a shabby little gospel hall in East Belfast. Judgement is coming for you all, and you are not prepared – are we?       

Justcoffeforme