Christian Breakup Songs

Something funny that Rich Mullins once said was that he didn’t listen to Christian radio because there was an absence of good breakup songs. It is a little unfortunate that Christian singers sometimes have those songs where it’s unclear if the “you” is God or the singer’s girlfriend. Christians have a tough time with love songs too sometimes. Seems ironic though when a Spin Magazine writer visited Cornerstone and referred to worship music as “Jesus is my girlfriend” music.

It is unfortunate that what is presented as Contemporary Christian Music doesn’t cover the full extent of who we are as people. It’s also true there is a time and place for everything. Of course singing Brown Eyed Girl at church is probably not going to go over real well.

The reason why Christians should write love songs for their girlfriends or spouses is because you have Song of Solomon in the Bible. Not to mention that God instituted marriage in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Not only that but Christians are referred to as the Bride of Christ. Which could be misunderstood incredibly today, but really means that Christ’s love for us is so much greater than our love for our spouses.

I think the type of love song that a Christian artist might write is different from “Since You’ve Been Gone” or “Hot N Cold”. It’s probably best not to suggest anything that could be interpreted as immoral.

A song like “Kiss Me” by Sixpence is playful and innocent, but it was never going to be nominated for a Dove Award. The New Testament says repeatedly to greet one another with a holy kiss. Now obviously the context was different, but the lyrics were “Kiss me down by the broken tree house” and not anything overly sensual.

I don’t really know what the answer is in terms of getting Christians to write better breakup songs. But I do think that there should be less ambiguity about whether a song is about the Lord or your significant other. I think people should give up on the top 40 when they’re down because there is no true hope found in those songs. The Bible actually has better breakup songs, many of them written by God. Just read the book of Hosea. But the difference between God’s breakup songs and the world’s breakup songs is that God’s have the hope of a restored relationship.

When did Worship music turn into Rock and Roll?

I’m not opposed to rock music. But somewhere along the line the music at some of the churches turned into rock and roll that is all about me, myself and I. Now I can’t say the music is evil, but I do think it’s distracting. When you’re trying to focus on God and someone is beating the heck out of a crash cymbal  it seems counterproductive.

Also the focus seems to be more on what I personally get out of a worship service. How does it make me feel? The lyrics are many times biblically off-base or semi-narcissistic. I’d like to see more music that has lyrical content like hymns. I’m less concerned with the style as long as it’s not distracting. The hymns have a certain quality where you can hear everyone singing as opposed to just one voice. And honestly there aren’t many CCM worship songs that compare lyrically with Be Thou My Vision or Come Thou Fount.

The Stigma of Christian Rock

Since the Christian music industry began there have been discussions of bands and how Christian they are or aren’t based on their lyrics and things they say from the stage. Growing up I knew of bands that talked about knowing the Lord on stage and gave altar calls for people to get saved regularly at concerts. Being a Christian band was not necessarily a big money-making profession. It was about the message and the music–in that order.

Flash forward to more than 20 years later and we have a number of artists that cross over from the Christian industry to the mainstream: groups such as POD, Switchfoot, Relient K and others. Some of these crossover groups don’t like to be called “Christian” artists because of the stigma that goes with the labeling of the music. Yet these artists started in the Christian scene and worked their way into mainstream success.

It’s always easy to badmouth your old job after you quit working there and so it is when bands leave Christian labels. I think sometimes it is a little dishonest for bands to deny their Christian roots. Maybe being in a mainstream band was their goal from the beginning, but if that was the case they should never have gotten involved with the Christian industry.

Christian rock music is a subculture and there are different circles of it. Christian Contemporary Music or CCM is often associated with Nashville, Christian radio and Christian music festivals with bands like the Newsboys or Jars of Clay. The Tooth and Nail segment of Christian music is associated with Cornerstone Music Festival and is an edgy less overtly Christian scene. Many bands that play Cornerstone don’t want to be associated with the Christian scene because Cornerstone is the only Christian concert they play the whole year.

So we have CCM bands that make big money playing music to only Christians and we have edgy bands that focus on the secular scene yet have ties to Christian rock. Both groups are considered Christian, but they feel differently about the association. The CCM industry was birthed out of the Jesus Movement in the 70s and the underground scene became known to mass audiences with the emergence of Tooth and Nail Records.

Not every band is going to be evangelistic like those bands I grew up with, but that doesn’t mean songs have to be intentionally vague where it could be about God or a girl. I think bands ought to be more honest with themselves about whether they’re in it first and foremost for the money or for God. Bands shouldn’t be ashamed to be Christians and fans shouldn’t disown a band because they’re Christians or not making music only for Christians.

Below is a video with an interview with Ronnie Martin:

Cornerstone isn’t the Same Anymore

Cornerstone Festival is one of the most popular Christian music festivals in the United States. The fest is put on by the Jesus People USA (JPUSA) and features edgy underground bands, a couple CCM bands and some older Christian acts that reunite for a show at the festival.

I went to Cornerstone about five or six times in the past and have seen my share of bands. Looking at the lineup I no longer get excited about who’s playing this year. Most of the bands I grew up on don’t play the fest anymore. You know like Five Iron Frenzy, the Supertones, Squad Five-O, Ace Troubleshooter, MxPx, POD, Pedro the Lion and Switchfoot. I think something’s wrong with your festival when Hawk Nelson is on the main stage. Whatever happened to PFR, Jars of Clay or Relient K?

My last Cornerstone was six years ago, but it’s hard to believe it’s been that long. Bands come and bands go all the time because it’s hard to keep a band together. But some days I wish my favorite bands would stay together and I wish I was still at the age when all my friends were at Cornerstone. But the truth is that most of the bands I love have all gone the way of the dinosaur and the golden era of Tooth and Nail and Christian rock is slowly winding down.