Monday, October 23, 2006

I Don't Need to Listen... to Barlow Girl

Nobody agrees with me about this, but I cannot stand the Christian song called Mirror by Barlow Girl. I know that it has a good message, and when I just read the lyrics through like you would a poem, I am pointed toward Christ. The last verse sums up the main idea -- that we're not defined by our looks: "Mirror, I am seeing a new reflection, I'm looking into the eyes of He who made me, And to Him I have beauty beyond compare, I know He defines me." Now that is so true and so important.But what bothers me is that the chorus is what is repeated over and over and over again -- it gets stuck in my head and I go around all day singing, "Who are you to tell me, That I'm less than what I should be? Who are you? Who are you?I don't need to listen, To the list of things I should do I won't try, I won't try."
It reminds me of the old Billy Joel song My Life ("I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life. I don't need to tell me it's time to come home...I don't care what you say anymore this is my life Go ahead with your own life leave me alone")
Now, when I read over the lyrics to the Billy Joel song, I have no idea who he is talking to and what the issue even is: ("Got a call from an old friend we used to be real close, said he couldn't go on the American way, closed the shop sold a house bought a ticket to the West Coast, now he gives them a stand-up routine in LA.") See what I mean? Is the old friend a disgruntled business partner who now works at The Funny Bone? And in the chorus, who is actually being told to leave whom alone? Is it the old friend who is telling Billy Joel to leave him alone? If so, then why did he call in the first place? Or is the old friend trying to boss Billy Joel around -- by phone -- from LA?
My point in all of that is that as a kid growing up I had no idea what the context was of those verses... but what got caught in my head and my heart was the chorus and the idea that it was my life, leave me alone. This Mirror chorus leaves me with those same lies dancing around in my brain -- the idea that I am my own to govern -- an idea that I would like purged and renewed, not reinforced by repetition. I want -- and desperately need -- my brain to echo with choruses rich in the Truth to lift me above my quick-to-sin, deceitful heart.

3 comments:

Leah said...

Yeah, it's kind of a dumb song....I got it caught in my head, too, so I just played 'My Savior, My God' on repeat.

Anonymous said...

tell me about it...the first time i heard that song i actually vomited...oh well

John said...

Was that Billy Joel song the reason you did stand-up for those years in California?