9 Songs That Help Me Sift Through the Current Chaos

"If I had a formula for by-passing trouble, I wouldn't pass it around. I wouldn't be doing anyone a favor. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it... Meet it as a friend, for you'll see a lot of it, and you had better be on speaking terms with it."  

-Oliver Wendell Holmes, (Supreme Court Justice, 1902-1932)

 ...


Let's sit a while.

It's been a heavy day, hasn't it? For some a weighty year, and for others a lifetime, or generations of difficult. You've gotta be tired. You must feel defeated.

There's a place I go, when I don't know. 
God gave it to me, in His effortless kindness, there is a place I sit: called music. 

People write songs when their words are too watery. They press their most abstract phrases into perfect rhymes. Musicians can put the passion they don't know what to do with into a song and someone else who just needs a little courage can find out they aren't alone. I like to think of the Tower of Babel as where we lost our common language, and music is the place where we pick it back up again- for those that listen. 

Anyway, God reminds me in the Psalms of a place where we can understand, challenge, empathize, question, etc. the experience of the writer. They're a place where we see the interworking of the heart. Modern songs can offer us some of that same insight. These nine songs are close to my heart because in the tumult of today- from actions of hate and rage, political unrest, poverty, to places of entitlement, to all the heartbreaking ways we put other's below ourselves and back again - these songs remind me to hope. They are where I sit and think when I don't know what to say. They are how I remember we can be both passionate and compassionate. These little darlings are my encouragement that God has given us all ways to meet darkness with light. 

I hope they hit you square in the heart and make you open your arms a little wider. 


1. "Orion" by nobigdyl.

I could just post the entire lyrics for this song and that would be my best explanation of why this song keeps me hopeful. For my wordies here are those lyricsNobigdyl is a great place to hang out if your heart needs some heavy lifting. I chose this for my walkout song for a church softball game. This song gets me excited. There's so much talk of dark in the world, but there is so little talk about how to combat it in love. In steps, "Orion". 

Trouble will come, Mr. Holmes told us that to start, Jesus said it first, it's real and there is certainly a time to mourn it. There are things that can't be moved, things that can't be versed, there is pain and evil that is deep rooted, this is not to discount those areas. It's to honor them. Trouble, darkness, and evil will always be. They cannot be erased. But they can be rivaled. And I'm telling ya'll, I want to be out there playing tennis, hitting it back with love, grace, and His kindness. 

Just stand up so you can dance while you listen to this one.


2. "You're Not the Only One (Redemption Song)" by Lukas Graham

You know Lukas from, "7 Years" and though the radio stations overplayed it, he's a serious talent in pop. I won't nerd out on this post, but here's where I did if you want to know more about this Danish crooner

This song is pretty simple, but I love it. The intro is fun, the hope for hope in the lyrics is relatable, and the line, "If you only knew, I'm as scared as you" hangs in the air.

I like to imagine two people arguing, it's volatile, they are both of strong beliefs and can't see what the other sees, even if one is obviously right and vice versa. There's anger, confusion, hatred, and then after years of building themselves and what they know - they take a second to hear that phrase "I'm as scared as you." And then they unpack and work through all the wrong and right ways they've acted out that fear out. 

Sounds like a dream.
But then I hear the borrowed line from Martin Luther King Jr.,
"The time is always right to what's right." 

There's reason to hope. 


3. "Teach Me to Know" By The Lone Bellow

This is one of my favorite bands. They wail, and I love it. This song borrows from Psalms 90, with the theme of numbering our days and not being swayed or carried away by time or the illusion that we have it.

"Teach me to know my number of days.
Hold out my heart from getting carried"

We don't have forever here. That means our time is purposeful. This gives me hope in my lazy moods, or times of comfort to remember it's vital to live with intention and to be deeply rooted in what you stand for. There are so many attractive distractions that come for me to carry off my heart, but my intent is on Jesus who keeps my days. 


4. "Maranatha" by Jackie Hill Perry 

Jackie's songs are complete substance, like every single one. That's a rarity in music today. You usually get a few on an album, but Crescendo is stacked. 

This song laments injustice, corruption, unbelief, the difficult to keep on, and what it takes to go in the way of faith. The word Maranatha is used quiet sparingly in the Bible, just once I believe, to call on the Lord. It literally means, "Our Lord is coming, Oh Lord, come". So this song is a hope that all the things I cannot articulate justice for, God will.

"Might be night, but the Son's coming back"

This song makes me hopeful, instead of fearful of what I do not understand. It challenges me to fight darkness well and rest in the fact that it's okay to not have every answer. It reminds me my power is in Him.


5. "Sincerity is Scary" by The 1975

My Manchester lovelies, ah yes. I could blab here, but I'll keep it short. I wanted to write a review of A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, but I sorta listened to interviews that broke down what every song meant and why it was written. So instead of try to copy what Matty said about the band's own album, I didn't. 

I digress. Sincerity is scary, huh?
This song is all about how as a society we've pushed aside being sincere for the challenge and fear of the thing. 

My favorite line is, "And why would you believe you could control how you're perceived. When at you're best you're intermediately versed in your own feelings?"

I love it because it hits home. I think I can control my reputation or what others think of me. It keeps me analytical. But I can't make people think a way about me. Another thought is, people aren't forming tons of opinions about me anyhow. There are far better things to do. Then the second part is smart. Why would we think we can be in control of how people take our actions when we're only moderately skilled at understanding our own emotions. We're not even experts at ourselves, we don't even define ourselves well, why would it matter if anyone else did?


6. "Regardless" by Jimmy Needham

An oldie, but a goodie. I used to be annoyed when adults would say that, now I'm an adult who says that. Go figure. Moving on, meet Jimmy.

This song chronicles Job's despair as well as Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael (King Neb names -Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) refusal to bow. To me, these are some of the most hopeful stories in the Bible. Job, who God calls faithful, withstands Satan's deconstruction of his life and still manages to call on the Lord. Our long named friends, are my favorite Bible story. King Neb renamed them and told them to bow to his idols or they faced being burned in a furnace. They were resilient. In return, God was glorified and their lives preserved.

They had hope, regardless.


7. "Ring the Bells" by Johnnyswim, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors 

Jswim is a delight in concert. They're touring, so go see them. The Holcomb's organize musical festivals, run a family, and have a ton of heart. It's a good bunch on this track. 

I love the call for revival here. For how we think, the ways we're stuck in, and to realign what we've gotten wrong perhaps. It's about justice and doing what's right and that doesn't need much elaboration. 

There's joy when the noise is split through with freedom bells. 
It sounds like these lines happening:

"Mercy won't be rationed here.
That's what we're fighting for."


8. "We Thought Your Hearts Were Beating" by From Indian Lakes

The Man With Wooden Legs was a large part of being 16 for me. This album says so many powerful, honest things without you knowing it, especially with how they do their instrumentation.

This song is about how we can loose part of ourselves in the path of life. It's about how we can mimic life, but not quite be awake. It's abstract, but you can give it wings to the things you interact with. The end is triumphant and it's the hope I have for all of us.

"I hope you wake up one day
And tear the veils from our faces
And see how beautiful the world can be.
We will open our mouths and reach our hands towards the sky.
'The Sun Has Come For Us Again!'"


9. "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

The remake of A Star is Born perfectly etches the lines of reality. You see the hold of alcoholism, the weight of fame, and how the pressure to stay on earth can be too much. You need to see the movie, so I won't give it away.

I'm a huge fan of seeing Lady Gaga as she is. This song is about breaking out of the rut of the shallow, the surface of life and relationships. It's about going where there's room to swim and room to sink. It's about allowing change to happen when you no longer want to wade, but you want to ride the wave.

Gaga's opening response in the song is, "Tell me something boy, aren't you tired trying to fill that void. Ain't it hard keeping it so hard core." Isn't that all of us? I know it's me often. The songs' resolve is where I'll resolve this super long blog post,

"I'm falling
In all the good times I find myself

Longing for change
And in the bad times I fear myself
I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in
I'll never meet the ground

Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us
We're far from the shallow now"


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