I was sent on a grocery run by Beloved and was a bit befuddled when I tried to decide which bag of bacon bits to buy.
I can understand the brand wanting to charge the same price for 0.2 fewer ounces of product...but to have them both on the shelf at the same time??? Marketing Manager: You know...our customers aren't very bright. They probably won't even notice. Somehow, it reminds me of Professor Marvel crying out, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
Three things have led to this particular post: 1. I ran into a list of prompts calling for songs that meet different criteria. 2. I was a little short on ideas for what to post this week. 3. I used to be a disc jockey (the radio kind, not the dance club variety) and this seemed like a way to relive the glory days of working at a little, independent, local radio station in Decatur, Indiana, and being able to pick out whatever I wanted to play and actually putting a record on a turntable and placing a needle in the groove with a satisfying ka-chunk...instead of the flavorless life lived by today's cookie-cutter promo-readers who push a computerized button to spew out whatever dreck the Corporate Suits have engineered to force down the public's collective gullet. Did I say that out loud?
How would some of our well-known hymns be different if they were written by proponents of what is commonly referred to as the prosperity gospel? ("Name it and claim it." "Jesus wants you to be wealthy." "Riches are a sign of God's favor.") Here's my take on that theme.
A Mighty Fortune A mighty fortune giv'n by God; a bankroll never eh-eh-ending. Be Thou My Nest Egg Be Thou my nest egg, Lord, increase my worth. Bless my retirement like none else on Earth. Tis So Sweet To Collect From Jesus 'Tis so sweet to collect from Jesus; just to get all that I want. Just As I Name It Just as I name it, I shall receive. All I need do is just believe. I've Got a Mansion Just Under My Tax Shelter I've got a mansion just under my tax shelter, in a gated community where I am secure. The Gold Burnished Cross I will cling to the gold, burnished cross and admire myself in its gloss.
I Come To The Cashier Alone I come to the cashier alone, while my gift card's balance is soaring And the things I buy reach up to the sky And put a strain on the flo-o-ring And... he... rings me up And he bags my stuff And he tells me how much to pay And he smiles so hard as he swipes my card... And tells me... To have a... Great day
Leonard Cohen wrote it, Shrek made it popular, and everybody and their cousins' cousins have done their own versions of it. People tend to sing it like a worship song. I mean..."hallelujah" literally means "praise the lord", right? (Right.) But holy guacamole, have you listened to the words?!!?
I heard there was a secret chord That David played and it pleased the Lord Well, according to Scripture, David played for King Saul to calm him down when he was in a manic phase, but I have a little problem with capitalizing "Lord" when it's not referring to...you know...THE Lord. But you don't really care for music, do you? Not sure who the "you" is, but if this statement is true, they probably aren't listening to the song anyway. It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift, the baffled king composing Hallelujah Oh, so now David is no longer the shepherd boy soothing Saul, but the singer-songwriter-ruler? Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelu----jah This is what makes everyone think this is a hymn. Your faith was strong but you needed proof, you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you So King David was thinking, "I'm pretty sure the neighbor gal is smokin' hot, but I need some confirmation"? She tied you to a kitchen chair, she broke your throne, she cut your hair, and from your lips she drew the Hallelujah Pretty sure we're talking about Samson and Delilah now, though Sam didn't have a throne, and this makes it sound like he kinda enjoyed the bondage thing...should this really be in a "worship" song??? Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelu----jah Gee...sure SOUNDS like a hymn. Maybe I have been here before, I know this room; I have walked this floor, I used to live alone before I knew you If this IS a song of praise, then "you" would be God and this is an acknowledgement of our fallen state before coming to Him. Maybe Cohen is finally getting on track. I've seen your flag on the marble arch, love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah For God so loved the world that He left us cold and unable to praise Him properly. Wait...that doesn't sound quite right. Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelu----jah Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get on with the next verse already. There was a time you let me know what's real and going on below, but now you never show it to me, do you? Remember when I moved in you; the holy dove was moving too, and every breath we drew was Hallelujah To explain this verse in non-poetic terms would move this blog into the "adult" category. Not gonna do it. (And can you imagine your church's choir singing this?) Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelu----jah I can no longer take this seriously. Maybe there's a God above Maybe? and all I ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you There goes the whole "turn the other cheek" thing. And it's not a cry you can hear at night, it's not somebody who's seen the light, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah Way to end on a positive note, there, Leonard! Praise the Lord!
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