Listening only to christian music?

[penNpaper]

I'm a odd-ball when it comes to music

If I told you half of what I listen to - you all think I'm weird

But I love all sorts of music

God Bless,
Drew

 

[Qyöt27]

Which band called The Awakening are you referring to? The one with Ashton Nyte?

Can you recommend me another band?

Great post, btw.

Yeah, I was referring to that The Awakening. Maybe I should have prefaced it with 'the one from South Africa'. I found out about them through listening to the streaming radio station on Christianindustrial.net. There's also this interview.

To quote Wikipedia:

The band performed one of its first 2008 US shows as a headliner of HM Magazine’s stage at Cornerstone Festival 2008.

Other Recommendations:
Aleixa
Under Midnight
Autumn's Descent
The Last Dance
ThouShaltNot
The Echoing Green
Mortal
Deitiphobia
Circle of Dust
Klank
Level
AP2
Voxis
Delta-S
Mad At The World
Resurrection Eve
Midnight Orchestra
Beauty For Ashes

 

[TanteBelle]

I agree with Cmj and Stan. Growing up, I listened to mostly secular music all day every day! We always had the CD player jammed up in our place! But it wasn't until I was about 15 that I decided to make the move to listen (almost solely) to faith music. I have to admit, I really really really don't like the Christian radios and Christian music. I'm pretty particular on good music and finding that in Christian music is very rare! I have a couple of Sting, Toto, and Michael Buble songs on my iPod as well as a love song in Indian but I also listen to a lot of theme music and instrumentals. I like my instrumental movie soundtracks! LOL! But I do feel so much better when I listen to my Messianic or Jewish music.

 

[Thunder Peel]

I agree with that

In fact... i don't really like the christian radio station near me because the stuff they play only says "praise Jesus all day long, God is great." not like that's wrong, I listen to lots of music with that.. but it seems too 1-sided to me.

and i don't think you have to listen to only 'christian' music

This is one of the biggest gripes I have with a lot of modern Christian music. I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with praising God and singing about how great He is. That should certainly be a top priority for us.

However, that doesn't mean that life is all sunshine and rainbows either. People deal with sin, hurt, failure, disappointment, addiction, doubt, heartbreak, confusion, loneliness, and evil. I appreciate music that isn't afraid to admit this and face it head on.

For instance: two of my all-time favorite albums are Sea Change by Beck and Pinkerton by Weezer. Both of those records are filled with a lot of hurt and frustration and that's exactly what's so great about them. They're REAL and they don't shy away from tough feelings and situations. I can't imagine a Christian artist singing a song like "Tired of Sex" or "Lost Cause"; touching on those issues just isn't what's considered acceptable in the church and thus it gets swept under the rug.

Again, I'm not knocking Christian music at all. I just relate better to artists like U2 and Switchfoot who can look at both the good and the bad in life through a Christian lens.

 

[enelya_taralom]

My parents got back into their faith when I was about 13 years old. One of the first signs of this return was the changing of our radio stations to the local Christian music station. One of the things that actually got my parents back into their faith was the rock station my Dad listened to. We were driving around as a family one night when the DJs started talking openly, and frankly about things not appropriate for my younger siblings ears... That got my parents thinking about what they listened to and what messages they were giving us kids through their radio / music choices. From then on, there were quite a few years where we were only allowed to listen to Christian music.

To this day I still listen to some Christian music, but the vast majority of my music is "secular." I'm still very mindful of lyrics however, and I can't really think of too many "objectionable" songs and artists that I support. But I too find that there just aren't many Christian artists that grab my ears... Jars of Clay are the one I listen to most often. Them and Matt Maher. Funny thing is though, I think sameness and blandness is a problem for the music industry as a whole.

I've gotten more into country music over the past few years, and last night I heard a song on the local country station that I looked up on itunes when I got home. I liked the artist's other songs, but as I was listening I realized that I liked it because it sounded the same as some of the other country artists I like. Seems as if one has to dig quite deep now to find different, original sounds, and I think this problem seems more prevalent in CCM simply because it is a smaller market...

 

[SonOfTheWest]

I don't think of music in terms of secular/nonsecular so I can't say the idea of just listening to Christian music would occur to me.

 

[Qyöt27]

I don't think of music in terms of secular/nonsecular so I can't say the idea of just listening to Christian music would occur to me.

Agreed. Even after that huge post I did on page 1.



True story: the first time I ever even heard the word 'secular' (at least in reference to music, if not the first time in any sort of context) was when I started posting on CF in 2004. In the 18½ years of my life spent before that I never once heard of a song or artist or anything like that being referred to as 'secular'. To put this into context, we were also raised in church; you just simply never heard the word 'secular'.

Sure, we did make a special distinction concerning whether something was CCM or not, but that's only because the CCM industry took pains to make itself distinct in peoples' minds, not because it actually is distinct in some way musically. Pop or rock music is pop or rock music - they don't divide themselves up into genres based solely on lyrical content. Aside from CCM (and maybe one or two types of extreme metal), practically nothing defines itself strictly by lyrics.

 

[Daughter of Ararat]

I'm a odd-ball when it comes to music

If I told you half of what I listen to - you all think I'm weird

But I love all sorts of music

God Bless,
Drew

I love weird music. I am always looking for something new, interesting, different. I listen to World Inferno Friendship Society, Dresden Dolls, Milk Inc. etc. Please share, or at least message me.

 

[Starnchrist]

This is one of the biggest gripes I have with a lot of modern Christian music. I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with praising God and singing about how great He is. That should certainly be a top priority for us.

However, that doesn't mean that life is all sunshine and rainbows either. People deal with sin, hurt, failure, disappointment, addiction, doubt, heartbreak, confusion, loneliness, and evil. I appreciate music that isn't afraid to admit this and face it head on.

For instance: two of my all-time favorite albums are Sea Change by Beck and Pinkerton by Weezer. Both of those records are filled with a lot of hurt and frustration and that's exactly what's so great about them. They're REAL and they don't shy away from tough feelings and situations. I can't imagine a Christian artist singing a song like "Tired of Sex" or "Lost Cause"; touching on those issues just isn't what's considered acceptable in the church and thus it gets swept under the rug.

Again, I'm not knocking Christian music at all. I just relate better to artists like U2 and Switchfoot who can look at both the good and the bad in life through a Christian lens.

Thunderpeel you are so right. I agree with this. I like christian Music, but there are different situations in our life. I feel the same way. Songs should focus on everyday struggles, but how God can still help us through them. But at the same time deal with things that we have to go through like, Waiting, Trials, Heartbreak, Weakness. There are songs that deal with these things, but not a lot. I am surprised to hear that many can't find Christian bands that deal with this. I believe I love Jeremy Camp for this reason. His life and Testimony deal with many of these things and I love his music, Switchfoot are awesome. I like Barlow Girls. I think they have good music and lyrics. Just some I like. I'm also a drummer and love to hear the beats in music so I don't just listen to hymns I can rock it out as long as it's not hardcore. Love it.