Protest Song

I wrote a song of political protest in August 2009. Actually, it was a pretty easy task because I borrowed lyrics from the Woody Guthrie song, "Roll On, Columbia", and just changed them up a bit to match the subject matter that I was covering in the song. My version is sung to the tune of "Roll On, Columbia", which is the song I "borrowed" for this project.

Some of the subject matter could be considered a bit outdated, but it's really not. With new lawmakers going into Washington D.C. next month, the health care debate could ramp up considerably, as could other issues mentioned in my musical diatribe.

OK, enough chit-chat from me. Enjoy the lyrics!
(sing it if you want to!)

ROLL ON, OBAMA lyrics by Michael Stone Roll on, Obama, roll on Roll on, Obama, roll on Your power is turning to darkness our dawn So roll on, Obama, roll on "Green" fueled cars where the safe ones once were, down busy freeways, move slowly for sure, because of a promise the air would be pure. Roll on, Obama, roll on Other great car makers watching their backs because General Motors took on the attack and lost their autonomy 'cause of their lack, So roll on, Obama, roll on Obama's wild vision would not let him rest An empire he saw that he'd rule east to west, Sent his talking heads out, and they did the rest So roll on, Obama, roll on It's there in D.C. they fought many a fight the House and the Senate, from day into night They once represented us, now they just slight, So roll on, Obama, roll on In Washington D.C. the liars and crooks, who promised us change, are adjusting the books to make the banks happy, and left us on hooks, So roll on, Obama, roll on And on up the hill, they just don't give a care The mightiest powers promoting it there to "reform" our health care, it is such a scare, So roll on, Obama, roll on This ruthless government works through the night Matching their strength against citizens' plight. They don't understand how the people will fight. So roll on, Obama, roll on.

Godbeat TV | Video | Larry Norman & Cliff Richard-

Godbeat TV | Video | Larry Norman & Cliff Richard-

Make A Joyful Noise: What Makes True Worship Music Holy(sets it apart)?

PSALM 100

*[from the Geneva Bible]

A Psalm of Praise. Sing ye loud unto the LORD, all the earth.

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before Him with joyfulness.

Know ye that even the LORD is God: He hath made us, and not we ourselves: 

we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with praise, and into His courts with rejoicing: praise Him and bless His Name.

For the LORD is good: His mercy is everlasting, and His Truth is from generation to generation.

Our Creator wants us to praise and worship Him. He created us. We are all created in His likeness. He loves us more than we can ever imagine. To be truthful, perhaps we cannot even imagine love. It is the most misused and abused word in the world (aside from "God" and "Jesus"), especially in the English language, but I digress. That is another blog. 

Our Creator loves us powerfully, loves us passionately, and loves each of us equally. Nothing that we do can cause Him to love us any more than He already does, or cause Him to love us any less than He already does. His love is the most powerful force in the universe. He loves us all just as we are. That is amazing! Because He loves us, He would like for us to return the favor. 

We may not feel worthy of His love. After all, we're so not perfect! How can One so perfect love me? I suck! I fail miserably, daily! Be that as it may, He loves me. He loves you! That's just how, and Who, He is. We need to show Him the love that is due His Name. 

Psalm 100 gives us very simple and clear instructions on what true worship and praise to our Creator looks and sounds like. The first thing the Psalm says is to "sing loud unto the LORD". He wants us to make some noise! In addition to singing loudly to the LORD, Psalm 100 says to "serve the LORD with gladness". That clearly states that our hearts need to be glad all the time, because serving Him is a 24/7 lifestyle. (Pollyanna was definitely onto something!)

Psalm 100 then tells us to "come before Him with joyfulness". That goes right along with being glad 24/7. Our LORD wants us to come before Him with hearts full of joy. It's not that He doesn't understand that we suffer trials, pain, and trouble. He does. When we praise Him, however, he wants us to come before Him rejoicing, simply because He is the One who saves us from those things. He alone is our source of joy. (The subject of "joy" would be another cool topic to cover in its own blog.)

We are reminded next in Psalm 100 that the LORD is God, that He created us, we didn't create us, and that we are His people-the sheep of His pasture. That is a call to humble ourselves before Him, knowing that we are nothing without Him, and, yes, we can rejoice and be glad while being humble before our LORD.  :)  See, He actually esteems us when we humble ourselves before Him! (Isaiah 66:1-2) How cool is that?!??!!

Psalm 100 then tells us to "Enter into His gates with praise, and into His courts with rejoicing", and to "praise Him and bless His Name." Yep! You see exactly what I see - the Psalm is repeating what it says at the beginning. Why? The reason is clear. The LORD wants us to remember that point. It is important to Him. 

Psalm 100 closes with a reminder of Who our LORD is, and why we need to always have hearts full of gladness and why He wants us to rejoice and be glad, singing loudly to Him: "For the LORD is good: His mercy is everlasting, and His Truth is from generation to generation." That's enough reason right there for me to do as He asks. It should be enough for us all.

*The Geneva Bible holds the honor of being the first Bible taken to America, and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims. It is truly the "Bible of the Protestant Reformation."

Many people tend to cling to traditional hymns, believing that modern music used to praise and worship the LORD is not appropriate. While taking a "History of Music / Music Appreciation" class in college when I was in my 20s, I wrote a term paper on that very topic, comparing original Christian rocker Larry Norman and his music to traditional hymns as the subject of my report. In that term paper, I did not claim that one was better than the other, nor do I make any such claims today. As Psalm 100 states, it's the heart of the worshiper that makes true worship. Both traditional hymns and modern praise and worship music can be "joyful noise". It depends on the hearts of those singing.

In January 1975, Larry Norman wrote a well-researched article about the history of Christian music titled, "The Story of Solid Rock-1975"  

Here is that entire article:

THE STORY OF SOLID ROCK - 1975

Once...there was a tune and everyone knew how it went, but as time went by, people began to forget, until at last no one could remember.

("The Tune" - 1971 by Larry Norman)

From the discovery and development of music by Jubal (Genesis 4:21) and the psalms of David up until modern time, music has been used to worship, praise and proclaim the majesty of God. Today, most of us think of the hymns as holy songs - both the melody and the lyrics written as a direct inspiration from God. We think of the hymns as totally separate from secular music, but in reality, when many of the traditional hymns were first composed, they represented the sound of their day, just as "Jesus Rock" might represent the sound of today.

In 1524, then Martin Luther borrowed popular drinking song melodies and grafted Christian lyrics onto them, he outraged his spiritual colleagues and no doubt gave new ammunition to his critics; but today these same songs, such as "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" and "Away In A Manger" are considered among the Christian classics.

THE MODERN CONFLICT

A young boy complains to his father that most of the church hymns are boring to him because they are so far behind the times. His father becomes angry and states that "the hymns are good enough for your Grandfather and me, and they will serve you just as well". But the teenager says that not only are the tunes boring, but the words are meaningless ... the songs are just too old fashioned. Putting an end to the discussion, his father says to him, "Well, if you think you can write better hymns, then why don't you?" The son says that he will. He goes to his room and writes his first hymn.

The year was 1690, the teenager was Isaac Watts, and the hymn was "Behold the Glories of the Lamb". During the next few years he wrote other songs. "We're marching to Zion", "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", and "Joy to the World" are among the almost 350 hymns he created. The lyrics were his own but sometimes the melodies were similar in origin to Luther's ... seized from the streets or from popular theatre.

THE ORGAN IS REPLACED BY DRUMS

A few centuries later, William Booth was moved to update the music of the church. Only, instead of writing all new songs, he removed the fabric of religious music by discarding the organ and the piano, and in their place putting trombones, trumpets, tambourines, drums (drums??!!!), tubas, piccolos, clarinets etc. and the took this menage a brass out into the streets. His marching Salvation Army Band disgusted and outraged many of the Christians in his day, but he was confident that Christian music should be taken where it was conspicuously absent ... to the people ... and played in a fashion that non-Christians could understand.

Music is a powerful and spiritually persuasive art form. The young shepherd boy David soothed the tormented mind of King Saul with his songs, and his lyrical psalms are still among the most poetically uplifting that we have. The music of the teenager Isaac Watts supported the large evangelistic thrust of his day. William Booth took his band out into the streets and reached thousands that had been overlooked by the religious community. His music and message helped harvest the soul of many a businessman as well as the skid row mendicants. And these are but a few examples from Christian church history.

CRITICS BE CAREFUL

The lesson is clear, or should be. Continually embracing the current musical forms to present the Christian message, religious music has again and again become relevant to a contemporary world that would accuse it of being outdated. Today, the new Christian music (Jesus Music, Jesus Rock, etc.) is accessible common ground between the religious and secular world. With the advent of the vinyl 45 and the non-stop disc jockey, music has become the second language of the youth. It has the power to lead or mislead. Just as it once influenced the misdirection of the youth into drugs and campus revolution, it can be (and is being) used to proclaim in a modern tongue a message that is almost 2,000 years old.

UNHOLY VESSEL?

There are some who wrongly feel that contemporary rock music is a satanic, destructive force and is not conductive to communicating the gospel. Some feel that the innate sensitivity and nobility of quieter musical forms, such as "classical music" is more calming and more appropriate for religious worship. This is not necessarily true. They are overlooking the fact that much of classical music, opera, etc. relies on murder, jealousy and immorality for their themes. When Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" was first performed on May 29, 1913, at the Theatre des Champs Elysees, the audience rioted and tore up the seats and curtains of the theatre. Yet, classical music can no doubt be used to glorify God when it chooses to. Handel did it with "The Messiah".

SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE

Music is one of the most strategic art forms we have today. It is more widely popular than literature, theatre, cinema, poetry, or any of the other art forms. It is also the most portable. **Radios fit into back pockets, cassette players weigh less than a text book, and almost every car has a radio. Most people have access to some kind of a record player. And for many, the live concert has become the height of social excursion ... a place where you can not only see your favourite group, but be with your best friends and somehow feel close to the forty thousand other people seated around you.

Today, Christian writers like Andrae Crouch, Randy Stonehill, Malcolm and Alwyn, and Steve Camp are redefining the cultural context of Christian music and often find themselves facing the same resistance that Luther, Watts, Booth and others have had to face. Innovation and creative direction are not always appreciated, because they are both often misunderstood. But the critics of modern Christian music should keep in mind that today's young Christians may be writing the hymns of tomorrow.

Larry Norman - January 1975

(used by permission)

**Note: Technology has jumped forward drastically since Larry Norman wrote that article, and music is more accessible and portable than ever, the smallest iPod being smaller than a stick of chewing gum & with the capacity to hold literally hundreds of songs.

PLEASE HELP! ANY SUGGESTIONS?

I'll try to make this short, yet detailed enough to make sense.

My wife and I have been customers with the local public utility district (electric company), Cowlitz PUD, for over ten years, all at the same address where we live now. In the past there have even been several times when we paid extra over what our bill is into a program that helps low-income customers with their bills.

I am on a meager, limited disability income, and have been since 2002. My wife has not been able to work since August 2007 due to injuries suffered in a car accident. For the past 8 months or so, we have struggled to get our bills paid on time. While behind, we have always been able to get the bills paid, and have not had the service disconnected. Last week, however, Cowlitz PUD sent us a letter informing us that we need to pay them a $375 deposit within 5 days of the date of the letter, or they would disconnect our service. Our bill is paid in full.

My wife discussed the situation with someone at Cowlitz PUD this afternoon, and they are STILL demanding the deposit. To me that is extortion. We are paid up, and currently have service. How long-time customers who have even helped by paying extra at times, can be treated this unfairly is beyond me. I have contacted the Washington State Attorney General's office for help, but it may be up to a month before we get any response from them due to their workload. I contacted the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, and they informed me that they have absolutely no jurisdiction over our local public utility district. From what I have learned so far, Cowlitz PUD is free to do what they want to do, and may extort money from faithful customers whenever they wish to do so, because, apparently, there is no oversight agency that keeps an eye on them? What the heck?

If anyone reading this blog has any helpful suggestions/ideas, any information on who we can contact to help us deal with this situation, or can help in any way, please contact me by email. My email address is iStone.me@gmail.com We desperately need some help immediately, because Cowlitz PUD has scheduled us for disconnect tomorrow. This is SO ridiculous, but it's really happening.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.
God bless you all.