If you are my friend on facebook, you know that I struggled
with the entry on Sound City I posted last Saturday. I watched and rewatched, wrote and
rewrote, cut, copied and pasted… I was driving myself nuts trying to organize my
reflections. I guess the problem I had was … just that I had so
many different thoughts about it… and I would be writing about one thing, and
meander off into some other territory…
And the whole time I was dwelling on it all, I was fully
cognizant of the fact that it was kind of weird that I would compare the
Christian life to the making of rock and roll records. But … rock and roll does
tend to inspire fervent devotion from its… devotees. I’m not sure why – I just
know how it makes ME feel.
And I’m obviously not alone. This film has everything –
reverence, shrines, pilgrimages, relics, saints, evangelism, heaven… See, in the
latter part of the action showed how Dave Grohl heard that Sound City was
closing, so he purchased the revered Neve soundboard (relic/shrine) for his own
personal studio.
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| Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney having fellowship |
Then, he invited a bunch of the people who had recorded at
Sound City to come to his studio to make a record. And they made the
pilgrimage. Stevie Nicks. Rick Springfield. John Fogerty. Paul McCartney. All
the saints. I loved the part where the guys from Nirvana were jamming with Paul
McCartney and they slipped into a familiar groove… and Dave looked over and was
like,”Wait… Paul McCartney’s here?!”
Of course, I have no idea what heaven is like, but I love to
imagine that in addition to my dear departed loved ones I will get to hang with many other of God’s saints… have tea with C.S. Lewis, run on the heavenly shore with Eric
Liddell, sing with Bono (I know he’s not dead yet… plus I can’t sing worth crap,
but it’s MY vision of heaven, right?!)
Anyway, the musicians all jam in
different configurations and we get a peek into the creative process. Brad Wilk
from Rage in the Machine urges us to explore the works of rock’s founding
fathers – to carry our appreciation to its roots. Rick Rubin tells us to be true to ourselves, and spread the good news personally.
And in one of my favourite quotes of
the movie, Neil Young, in a fit of evangelistic fervor, tells us what
it’s all about: "Let’s rock, let’s play, let’s record, let’s play it back. ‘Wait
‘til you hear this.’ I can’t wait to get in my car to here this. I’m gonna play
it for my friend. I’m making a copy. I’m gonna blast it for f*ing 10 hours and I’m
gonna listen to it."
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| Neil Young: "Let's rock. Let's play. Let's record." |
See? It’s all there! And I’m really not sure why... but again, I know how I FEEL. Of course I’ve
written more than once – including in the last blog post – about the salvific
role rock and roll has played in my life… just like Jenny in the Velvet
Underground’s Rock and Roll – “Jenny said when she was just bout five years old / You know my parents are gonna be the death of us all
/ Two TV sets and two Cadillac cars - / Well you know it ain't gonna help me at all Not just a little tiny bit / Then one fine mornin' she turns on a New York station
/ She doesn't believe what she hears at all
/ Ooh, She started dancin' to that fine fine
music / You know her life is saved by
rock 'n' roll, / Yeah, rock n' roll
/ Despite all the computations / You could just dance to that rock 'n' roll station…And baby it was allright…”
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| The Velvet Underground |
But rest assured, this rock and roll salvation – well, it’s
salvation with a small “s”. More of a diversion, really. I have actually
wondered since I was just twelve years old whether my love for the stuff
constitutes idolatry. And … well, I hope not! I mean, it means a lot to me… but
not everything. I could certainly live without it. It was just… a lifeline when
I was sinking. It gave a lonely outcast a bit of sunshine when every day was
gray.
And even though it's been called the devil's music, I think it actually pointed
me to God. In C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan tells
the children that they have to go back to their own world, but that he’ll be there too. Aslan
says,
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| Aslan |
"There I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there"
And no, rock and roll was not a
wardrobe to an alternate universe where I met a Christ figure, but it did give
me a sense of home… a place I belonged… when my own world didn’t
serve me well. So that when I finally came to my TRUE home, that is Christ, I
recognized the feeling.
And, it being art, and full of soul, I
think rock and roll was the vehicle through which I learned to worship… to look
for meaning, to weigh it in my mind, and to let my heart soar in response to
something outside myself.
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| Sure, it's made him a gazillion dollars, but even Mick Jagger knows it's only rock and roll. |
Yes, rock and roll as a savior – and as an art form – is limited. It never
died for me (naked, stoned and stabbed), nor can it actually Save me
– with a big S. It’s kind of like the part of Sound City where Dave Grohl
talks about how Trent Reznor uses computer technology as a tool rather than a
crutch. Just so, I like rock and roll for what it is… a style of music that I enjoy and subculture
that fascinates me… not as a Saviour.
So, yes I DO know that it’s only rock
and roll… and even the people who make it find the worship of it silly. “I know
it’s only rock and roll but I like it,” Mick Jagger slurs. I like it too, Mick.
I really do.
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