Friday, October 31, 2014

#101 FOREVER (LIVE) by Kari Jobe

Now we come to one of the most interesting spots on the countdown. You see, every time I see a 'Top 100' countdown, I always wonder what was at #101. I want to know. I NEED to know. I care more about who was at #101 than I do who was at #99. Was the 101st best band of the 1980s A Flock of Seagulls? Was the 101st best TV show of all time The Facts of Life? Was the 101st best kid I ever had in the youth ministry Heidi Graybill? (NO WAY, she's top 20 for sure, if not top 10!).

As soon as I decided to go rogue and obliterate the generally accepted societal norms of Internet blog protocol and make my top 100 list include 107 items, I knew right away which song would come in at #101 (hint: it's the one listed at the top of this post - Are you not getting the pattern yet??).

...and the black girl at the bottom went on to become First Lady Michelle Obama

From Kari Jobe's Majestic (Live) album, the song Forever is a rollicking, beautiful, haunting, pounding anthem about Christ's victory won on the cross. I loved it the first time I heard it. And of course, since KJ is doing it (I call her KJ, we hang out sometimes, no big deal), it's sung very well. So, why is such a very good to great song all the way down at #101? 

Well, here's the rub. I'm committing a slight breach of etiquette here by including this song. Even though I specifically mentioned in my explanation for song inclusion that songs require the passage of time to be considered all-time greats, I've included this song even though, as I write this, the Majestic (Live) album is only about 7 months old.

ASIDE: As I write this, it's the end of October, 2014. Majestic (Live) was released on March 25th, 2014. So, at this time, the song Forever is only 7 months old. I just mention this in case someone from the future comes to read this blog post. 

Anyways, back to song. The song is ----- HOLY CRAP! Wait just one darn minute. I just thought of something AWESOME!. If this blog lasts on the Internet forever, and people from the future can view these posts, that means that... (Wait a sec, let me do some calculations, where's my abacas? Ok, let's start by plugging values into the Pythagorean theorem, let's refresh my spreadsheet, throw in some stuff I heard Sheldon say on The Big Bang Theory,...hold on, carry the one....calculating, calculating). Yep. I'm now AB-SO-LUTELY sure. WOW! This is a mind-blower, so here goes:

If people from the future can read this blog, that means that not only is time travel possible, but that it's happening RIGHT NOW. After contemplating this for a whole 15 seconds, I am now thoroughly convinced that everything that I'm typing RIGHT THIS MINUTE is being monitored by our friends (hopefully they're friendly) from the future.

Wow, now that's a game-changer. Since I'm being monitored by FD's right now (FD is the technical term, it stands for 'Future Dudes'), I have the singularly unique ability amongst all men who've ever lived to know the secrets of the universe. I can, right at this moment, type any question I want and get an answer. (I'm not entirely sure what form the answer will take - maybe they will speak through my cats, maybe there will be a message spelled out in my Alpha-Bits, I don't know. I just hope it isn't the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man).

Should I ask for some stock tips? Should I inquire about the mysteries of outer space? How about how future people handle the science and ethics of time travel? What have future generations learned about eternal life and the existence of the soul? So many questions, I'd better make this good. OK, I think I've got my question ready for those of you who are monitoring my blog from the future. Here goes:

WHERE IS MY DAMN HOVERBOARD????

Back in the mid to late 80s, I went to see the Back To The Future movies with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd (I don't mean that I actually went to the theater with them, I mean they were the ones who were starring in the movies). In those movies, we were promised that we'd have working hoverboards by 2015. Well, it's late 2014, and I don't even see any kind of prototype. Not even Apple announcing that they're working on the iBoard. I'm not happy.


Oh, and by the way, future dorks, don't even get me started on the flux capacitor. I copied down all the schematics from the movies, and you know what, it's a bust. About twice a week I go out to my garbage can and shove coffee grounds, tin cans, and banana peels into my gas tank, and my dang car doesn't fly at all (Let alone turn into a giant flying train and take me to the future). And now, for some odd reason, my mechanic tells me my car is acting a little wonky.

ASIDE: Wow, I really went to a weird place there. Maybe I should give therapy another shot. 

Ok, sorry about that, back to the music. I love, LOVE, LOVE this song. Perhaps it's the relative newness of the song, but I think it's more than that. I love songs that start slow and then build up to a crescendo, and this song does that both with the music and with the lyrics (I think I'll follow this video with the emotional roller coaster that the lyrics of this song takes one on).

We all sort of have a proximity principle when it comes to music. We love things that seem new and fresh. Perhaps future generations will look unkindly on my inclusion of this song on the list. Perhaps I myself will even look on it as a mistake, but for now, as I write this, I'll stand by it. (Even though, technically, it's NOT on my top 100 list. Ah, the power of #101).





My Emotions, MY EMOTIONS! One man's emotional roller coaster ride through Kari Jobe's Forever

0:00 - Ok, some nice piano here, looks like a full orchestra too
0:17 - Kari swaying back and forth, looks like she's getting 'in the zone'
0:27 - Sounds like we're ready to hear the song now (side note: we live in an age where people love looking at six second vines - 27 seconds is a long time to wait for a song to start, I mean, we've got things to do)

The moon and stars they wept
The morning sun was dead
The Savior of the world was fallen

BOOOOOO! That's no way to start off a song. ALL bad news. Actually really, really bleak, if you ask me. Kari, you really should know your audience here, we're looking for good news, that's why they call it, uh, The Good News. (who edits this stuff?)

His body on the cross
His blood poured out for us
The weight of every curse upon him

Wow, again, NO good news. And even though this is standard Christian boilerplate, what ever happened to starting off a story on a positive note - "Once upon a time there was a happy farmer, and his pretty wife, and their cow named Otis that they loved very much". I'm telling you, you'd hook me in a lot better with that than this 'Grief Encounter Group' stuff.

00:55 Ok, here we're getting a little swelling of the drums; strings starting to do their thing. The piano's back, and now Kari's doing a little ooo-ooo thingy. I'm starting to get hopeful for the next verse.

One final breath he gave
As heaven looked away
The Son of God was laid in darkness

Ah, C'MON!!!. Now you're just punking your audience. You sucked me in with the ooo-ooo's, but now it's back to the Evanesence lyrics. I'm about ready to give up this song and call the suicide hotline.

A battle in the grave

Wait, what?? There's a battle? At least there's some hope. That there's a battle implies that there might be something to win. I'm intrigued, tell me more about this battle.

The war on death was waged

Ok, now you're talking. I feel like we've established Jesus as the hero, and now we now that death is the bad guy. I'm anxiously looking forward to a William Wallace type comeback/revenge thingy next.

The power of hell forever broken!

Ok, I'm not sure the explanation point in the song lyrics is being sung that way by Kari (whateves), but I'm overjoyed at what I perceive to be happening now. I really like the word forever, it implies not just a battle, but actually a victory.
1:30 Ok, now we see Kari starting to rev up, chick in the back raises her arms, crowd starts murmering, shouting, etc., orchestra starts rockin'.  Things are pickin' up.

The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome

Now, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT!!!  Kari shaking, worship team revvin' up, drummer (mostly background up until now), is leading the charge.

Now death where is your sting
Our resurrected King
Has rendered you defeated.

HOLY CRAP! Man, I'm glad I didn't abandon this song a while back (this would never make it as a vine, btw). This is like the scene in Stars Wars when Han Solo came out of nowhere to save Luke Skywalker's butt while he was trying to blow up the Death Star (nerd alert).

Forever He is glorified
Forever He is lifted high
Forever He is risen!
He is alive! He is alive!

Now, see, THAT'S the proper explanation point usage. 
Kari - you almost lost me early on, but now I'm all-in. Thanks. (Oh, and thanks to you too as well, Jesus).
 
To be notified when a new song is posted: 
Enter your email address:
Delivered by FeedBurner

Recent Posts (clickable)

Recent Posts Widget
Web Analytics