Look Through My Eyes

Okay, I know it’s a cliched Disney track (Brother Bear 2003) and didn’t get the reviewers buzzing with excitement. “Allmusic described the song as a “future American Idol standard…devoid of craftsmanship”, adding it “positively radiate[s] Hollywood gloss — it’s simply indicative of pop culture’s voracious appetite for audio fast food”. Wikipedia

However, that doesn’t stop it from being a song that is meaningful to the listener. As a huge Phil Collins fan, who loves vocal harmony and a mean saxophone, it gets a thumbs up from me anyway!

“There’s a better place somewhere out there.

Ooh, just take a look through my eyes…

everything changes, you’ll be amazed what you’ll find if you look through my eyes.

So don’t run, don’t hide. It will be alright, you’ll see.

Trust me I’ll be there watching over you

Over the years I have appreciated the perspectives of friends and family who have been able to see a bigger picture. When my marriage ended I remember my brother telling me that one day I would be able to see things much more clearly; that it wouldn’t always feel like that.
But what about an even bigger picture? It led me to read again one of the Psalms which talks about God seeing our thoughts, our actions, our circumstances. Psalm 139 v 3, 11, 12

You notice everything I do and everywhere I go.

Suppose I said, “I’ll hide in the dark until night comes to cover me over.” But you see in the dark because daylight and dark are all the same to you.

When all I want to do is run away and hide; when it feels like the present moment is just too overwhelming; when I just don’t understand what is happening…these are the times to have just a glimpse at how God views some things, because it helps to have someone around who can see the big picture; much deeper than the surface; much further than the horizon; much wider than our limited viewpoints.

Highway to Hell

I’m going down

GO TO MORE GIGS PEOPLE! (when the corona virus lockdown is over). Then you can say ‘I was there’.

This concert is at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti also known as the River Plate stadium in Buenos Aries, Argentina, recorded in December 2009. Capacity is about 70,000 people and it looks full to me. The concert series was recorded in HD as ‘Live at River Plate’ and was the last to feature rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, and bassist Cliff Williams.

I had always assumed this song, originally released in 1979, was an invitation to accept that we are all so bad that we are going to hell (even though we don’t really believe in it), so we might as well go wild and enjoy the party while it lasts. However, according to the normally unimpeachable Wikipedia, it was inspired by the arduous nature of touring constantly and life on the road.

Source: https://www.orthodoxroad.com/christs-descent-into-hell-icon-explanation/

Here’s my take on it now, inspired by this religious icon. It’s a standard image called Anastasia – Greek for ‘resurrection’ and it shows Jesus breaking down the gates of hell and lifting people up from death and slavery. As a Christian, I want to join in with the mission of Jesus to set people free, so I’m on the Highway to Hell with him; I hope you are too!

There’s no place you can go to escape God, no place where you can’t be reached, as Psalm 139 puts it :

Where could I go to escape from you?
Where could I get away from your presence?
If I went up to heaven, you would be there;
if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.

Bring Me To Life

Call my name and save me…

Lead singer, Amy Lee, wrote this about the man who would become her husband. When she met him her life was a mess and she says that he looked into her eyes and asked if she was happy. “I felt like he could just see straight into my soul.”
The co-writer of the song said it was about

“discovering something or someone that awakens a feeling inside them that they’ve never had before. You discover there is a world that is bigger than just your safe bubble.”

songfacts.com

The song hardly needs any comment and seems to resonate with the cry of humanity, “save me from the nothing I’ve become”. To me the song is a cry from the heart, a longing to be known, to be really seen. It’s the longing to come alive.

And the story reminded me of a woman Jesus met. He saw through her words and how things appeared externally. He offered her life. She described him as someone who “told me everything I have ever done”, maybe she felt like Amy Lee, “he could see straight into my soul.”

Read and reflect… John chapter 4:3-29.

“Bring me to life…wake me up inside”

Anthem

Ring the bells that still can ring

For a fairly introspective 17 year old the music of Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) drew me with a fascination bordering on obsession; I can still remember sitting alone in my bedroom listening to ‘Bird on a Wire’ on repeat. The phase soon passed, and I only recently came to appreciate the depths of this song ‘Anthem’, from Cohen’s 1992 album ‘The Future’. 

‘The Future’ contains references to traumatic historical events, including Hiroshima and the Second World War. The massacre of students in Tiananmen Square and the fall of the Berlin wall both happened in 1989; it was a time of massive upheaval and uncertainty in the world. 

Listening again in late 2019 you have to ask, has much has changed? Just thinking about our own country (quite apart from the rest of the world!) Britain is facing a bewildering parliamentary election, Brexit is unresolved, the country has more Foodbanks than McDonalds….. there surely still is ‘a crack, a crack, in everything’, but Cohen leaves us with a note of hope, ‘that’s how the light gets in’. We need the light, in our national and our personal lives, as never before. 

Currently it is Advent, traditionally the time for preparing for the coming of Christ. For me this song provides a kind of transcendence, bringing hope into the apparent hopelessness of our world. The parallels are obvious I hope. 

© Dorne Watson

The true light that shines on everyone was coming into the world. The Word was in the world, but no one knew him, though God had made the world with his Word.

John 1.9-10

Wish You Were Here

“did you exchange a walk-on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?”

In the YouTube discussions on this song someone has said “If God had a ringtone, it would be this”.

Sung here by Dave Gilmour, the lyrics were written mainly by Roger Waters and made famous originally by Pink Floyd with their album of the same name. This performance is from the Meltdown Festival at the Royal Festival Hall, London in 2001.

I heard this song recently at a pub open mic night and it reminded me of how powerful and emotionally relevant it is for so many people. And it shows how a strong song can be performed successfully with minimal accompaniment, which is why I chose an ‘unplugged’ version to share.

The main theme is lament – an expression of grief for a lost person, a lost relationship or maybe a lost future, if only life had taken a different turn.

I find the words “did you exchange a walk-on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?” a personal challenge, as I try to live a worthwhile life, and think about whether I take enough risks – or in religious language, whether I have enough faith.

In the Bible there is a song written by David (of David and Goliath fame) after he hears that his very close friend Jonathan has been killed in battle. 2 Samuel 1:17-27. Wish you were here.

Don’t Know Why

Following on from yesterday’s subject (War) I thought we needed something to relax with, so sit back and enjoy this beautiful guitar work from Pat Metheny. Originally written as a love ballad by Jesse Harris and later recorded by Nora Jones (says Jazziz), the melody makes a soothing, reflective instrumental piece

Sometimes the Christian faith can seem like a set of rules to follow, or a set of ideas to believe. That’s too much thinking! One style of worship – contemplative – tries to ‘soak up’ a sense of the presence of God. You don’t have to understand everything – in fact no-one can.

Read these words from Psalm 139:1-8 and maybe you will start to get that sense that God is with you.

Peace, brothers and sisters.

You have looked deep into my heart, Lord, and you know all about me.

Psalm 139:1