Recite em some lyrics dude...

So i'm not typically one to post song lyrics, but today i had my playlist on shuffle and there were three songs in a row that have really stuck with me for a while, and i'd like to share with my small group of readers how these songs have affected me.

first off is one of my favorite songs of all time. this is the song that inspired me to listen to punk rock back when i was ten, and inspired me to pick up my first guitar. very rarely do i play guitar for more than a few minutes w/o playing this song. fortunately it's easy enough to play and sing at the same time.

Ball and Chain
by Social Distortion

Well it's been ten years and a thousand tears
And look at the mess I'm in-
A broken nose and a broken heart,
An empty bottle of gin
Well I sit and I pray
In my broken down Chevrolet-
While I'm singin' to myself
There's got to be another way

Take a way, take away,
Take away this ball and chain
I'm lonely and I'm tired
And I can't take any more pain
Take away, take away
Never to return again
Take away, take away...
Take away this ball and chain

Well I've searched and I've searched
To find the perfect life-
A brand new car and a brand new suit
I even got me a little wife-
But wherever I have gone
I was sure to find myself there-
You can run all your life
But not go anywhere

Take a way, take away,
Take away this ball and chain
I'm sick and I'm tired
And I can't take any more pain
Take away, take away
Never to return again
Take away, take away...
Take away this ball and chain

Well I'll pass the bar on the way
To my dingy hotel room-
I spent all my money
Been drinkin' since half past noon-
I'll wake there in the mornin'
Or maybe in the county jail-
Times are hard getting harder
I'm born to lose and destined to fail-

Take a way, take away,
Take away this ball and chain
I'm lonely and I'm tired
And I can't take any more pain
Take away, take away
Never to return again
Take away, take away...
Take away this ball and chain

I know this was not written by a christian, but it has really become a great prayer of sorts for me. How many times do you feel like you just want to break loose of everything that holds you back? man, talk about out a great request of God, to take away things that burden you... i'm pretty sure that's exactly what we're called to do.

The next song will probably make you laugh, i do every time that i sing it, but if you can get past the one-hit-wonder status of this song and dig into the lyrics, it really makes a great statement.

What's Up
by 4 Non Blondes

25 years of my life and still
Tryin' to get up that great big hill of
Hope, for a destination.
I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of
Man, for whatever that means.

And so I cry sometimes, when I'm lying in bed
just to get all out, what's in my head, then
I, I am feeling, a little peculiar.
And so I wake in the morning, and I step outside
And I take a deep breath, and I get real high, and
I, scream from the top of my lungs, "What's going on?"
And I say, "Hey yeah yeah hey, hey yeah yeah."
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
And I say, "Hey yeah yeah hey, hey yeah yeah."
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"

And I try, oh my god, do I try
I try all the time, in this institution.
And I pray, oh my god, do I pray
I pray every single day, for a revolution.

And so I cry sometimes, when I'm lying in bed
just to get all out, what's in my head, then
I, I am feeling, a little peculiar.
And so I wake in the morning, and I step outside
And I take a deep breath, and I get real high, and
I, scream from the top of my lungs, "What's going on?"
And I say, "Hey yeah yeah hey, hey yeah yeah."
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
And I say, "Hey yeah yeah hey, hey yeah yeah."
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"

25 years of my life and still
Tryin' to get up that great big hill of
Hope, for a destination

what a great song to sing to sum up being twenty five, and being somewhere between having life figured out, and having no clue at all. i love playing this really loud on my electric and literally screaming at the top of my lungs 'what's going on?'. i don't think my neighbors like this song anymore, which is sad, cause they're going to hear for a while.

and last but not least there's a new song on the block that really has me pumped up about where my ministry needs to be headed:

Landslide
by stretcharmstrong

all these years and no conclusion
a bitter end to each passing day
so alone now, so angry, so much confusion
you lose again, things always stay the same

and so you feel you're falling down
life's ropes are cut, lying all around

a landslide of nameless faces
these lost souls,
they come from a million places
no sense of home, feels like you don't belong
a landslide, we missed what you had to offer

how could you fight this endless battle?
the killers, they're armed to the teeth
and i know you're scared of this lonely struggle
no acceptance, fulfillment's out of reach

and so you feel you're falling down
life's ropes are cut, lying all around
left with no help to push on through
more and more of the pressure was killing you

a landslide of nameless faces
these lost souls,
they come from a million places
no sense of home, feels like you don't belong
a landslide, we missed what you had to offer

quietly dying
desperately crying
silently trying
we never knew you

a landslide of nameless faces
these lost souls,
they come from a million places
no sense of home, feels like you don't belong
a landslide, we missed what you had to offer

man, that song gets me every time. the line that hits the hardest for me is 'these lost souls they come from a million places'. the people that need Christ, need Christ for so many reasons. every person has their own story of why they need Christ in their lives. i get caught up so often in the church numbers game, that i sometimes forget that every person i reach out to has such different needs, but also has so much to offer God in return. most importantly, we all have a place in the body of Christ that gives us hope and a sense of belonging.

i know these songs may seem somewhat depressing, but really, what good song isn't? i can only listen to 'walking on sunshine' by katrina and the waves so many times before i need a good soul cleansing dose of rock n roll. that, and anyone that knows me knows that songs like these always make me feel better, a sense of release, something like that.

here's to six strings, three chords and a sore throat.

one love, one heart.