GEN X: What music have you been listening to ?!

[2PhiloVoid]

There was a lot of music I didn't like growing up because they played it too much on the radio, or it wasn't Sabbath. Now I like so much of it. It's not just nostalgia. I can hear it now, if that makes sense. Example 1:

How funny! I actually didn't like Sabbath (or heavy metal in general) as a young teenager, and in contrast to your own musical ears at that young age, and as fate would have it, Owner of a Lonely Heart was one of my favorite songs that I always looked forward to hearing on the radio.

Go figure! (Or maybe it was simply because I was the owner of a lonely heart at the time....)

Awesome song! Awesome band!

 

[2PhiloVoid]

So, as I was saying above, @public hermit, as a young teenager I wasn't very big on heavy metal music in general. Sure, I liked the occasional Led Zeppelin Immigrant Song or the one or two single Metal Church or Motley Crue songs on M-TV, but I didn't prefer metal to classic rock and pop.

Then, one day, early on a Sunday morning in 1986, sometime around Easter, I turned on the radio to a local rock station that just happened to have an early Sunday morning Christian rock show, and I heard the following tune by a band I'd never encountered before. And this owner of a lonely heart was presented with "a new song" which somehow--in a new and [excuse the pun] instrumental way--connected him with God, even if to the beat of a different drum(mer) . [After that, I guess I began to really like some 'metal.']

Stryper - Reach Out (1985)

" I was looking for the answer all the time
Always looking, never finding
I was empty inside
Falling into darkness
Needing the light to see
Reaching out for shelter
Then He set me free ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

When I was just a young lad of 5 and 6, I vividly remember my mom frequently pulling out her Carpenters greatest hits 8-track tape and plugging it into the car tape player for all of us to listen too. My mom so loved that group, and through my mom's appreciation of the Carpenters, I too encountered the soothing voice of Karen Carpenter. And my mom, if she were still alive, might be quite surprised to find where the Carpenters music has shown up (hence, the two comparative music videos below of the same song. (Karen, I love your hair! )

[... and is it any wonder I took the Ghost Rider movie and its character to heart as my own personal spiritual metaphor ........... ? No, I don't think it is any wonder. Awesome song!]:

Carpenters - Superstar (1971)

" Long ago, and, oh, so far away
I fell in love with you before the second show
Your guitar, it sounds so sweet and clear
But you're not really here, it's just the radio "

 

[public hermit]

 

[2PhiloVoid]

 

[public hermit]

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Is our existential dilemma, as religiously inclined as it is, more a decision about how we will either take the High Road or the Low Road, with the following being my examples, respectively?:

The Low Road:
Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil (1983)
Ozzy Osbourne - Diggin' Me Down (2010)
Panic! at the disco - Emperor's New Clothes (2015)
Billie Eilish - All The Good Girls Go to Hell (2019)
In This Moment - The In-Between (2020, January)

The High Road:

Stryper - The Valley (2018)

Stryper - Take It to The Cross (2018)

... more to come.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

And as I walk the High Way, I hear someone say the following to me:

Audioslave - I Am the Highway (2002)

" I am not your rolling wheels – I am the highway.
I am not your carpet ride – I am the sky.

I am not your blowing wind – I am the lightning.
I am not your autumn moon – I am the night… the night."

 

[2PhiloVoid]

And as I walk on through the local square near the Low Road, I'm given an invitation or three, but I think---Who is this, and What do they want?:

The Who - Eminence Front (1982)

" Behind an eminence front
Eminence front, it's a put on ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

...and where are we now as we attempt to move out of our current isolation? I think I know.

Nicolette Larson - Lotta Love (1978)

" So if you are out there waitin', I hope you show up soon.
'Cause my heart needs relatin', not solitude ... "

 

[Tempura]

where are we now as we wake up to another day and attempt to move out of our current isolation?

I was already in isolation. So for me, things aren't as unreal as they otherwise would.

 

[Anthony2019]

The serene sounds of Paul Mealor

 

[2PhiloVoid]

The serene sounds of Paul Mealor

I've never heard of Paul Mealor, but I like this. Thanks for sharing, brother Anthony!

 

[2PhiloVoid]

And on those days when life is pressing in and bearing down upon me, tearing away at my desire for stability and well-being, I try to remember that there has to be an ...

The Police - Invisible Sun (1981)

"I don't want to spend my time in hell
Looking at the walls of a prison cell
I don't ever want to play the part
Of a statistic on a government chart

There has to be an invisible sun
It gives its heat to everyone
There has to be an invisible sun
That gives us hope when the whole day's done ... "

 

[Anthony2019]

I love Sting's "Live in Berlin" album with the lush sounds of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I love Sting's "Live in Berlin" album with the lush sounds of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Yeah, one can't really go wrong with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, especially if it's Sting in the middle!

 

[2PhiloVoid]

And sometimes, as a Christian, and with Pascal in my rear-view mirror, I kind of get the feeling that I just need to head ...

Heart - Straight On (1978)

" Quite some time, I been sittin' it out
Didn't take no chances, I was a prisoner of doubt
I knocked down the wailin' wall, ain't no sin
Got the feel of fortune, deal me in

Comin' straight on for you
You made my mind
Now I'm stronger, now I'm comin' through
Straight on, straight on for you
Straight on for you

Now I know I got to play my hand
What the winner don't know, a gambler understands
My heart keeps playin' it through with you, my friend
I'll take my chances on you again and again, again ... "

 

[Anthony2019]

Got the album - would love to have gone to one of their concerts

 

[Anthony2019]

And for something a little bit different. Going back four decades to the 70s where the Wurzels got into the charts! They did a compilation of songs which were even funnier by the fact they sung them in a very rustic West Country farmer's style.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I remember when, during my younger years, and before ever contemplating Christianity deeply and more fully, I felt that everything I needed to know I learned from one of favorites---Billy Joel! From him I learned that it was ok to face the ...

Billy Joel - Pressure (1982)

... Thanks, Billy Joel, for honestly helping to give me some words for what I was feeling and thinking, all along the way:

Billy Joel - Honesty (1978)