Love all. Serve all.

They don’t write ‘em like they used to…

I worked a show in Nashville this week called Timeless Treasures (more about this in the next post). It got me in the mood to go back and listen to some Christian oldies. I bought Randy Stonehill’s “Love Beyond Reason” album on iTunes and have been jamming out ever since. It’s pure 80’s music – lots of slick vocals and over-production. Plus, it brings back shiny happy memories of when my mom was working on the music video version of the album. I had plenty of time on the drive back to Charlotte to listen closely to the lyrics of the songs. Some of them are blowing (present-tense) me away. Here are the words to the two songs I can’t stop listening to…

YOU’RE LOVED TONIGHT

It’s the fear of silence that gives us away
‘Cause when we’re alone, we have to hear, what our aching hearts try to say

And we’ve been walking in dead men’s shoes
Now there’s only one saving grace and we’re given the power to choose

Whoever you are I hope you’ll be alright
I hope you’ll let the good Lord fight your fights
No matter what you hear whispered in your ear
Just remember that you’re loved tonight

We keep our distance we state our case
We keep telling ourselves that we’re anything else
But a fallen and renegade race

So we keep running watching our sin take its course
While the life that we long for is holy by nature
And we must return to its source

Whoever you are I hope you’ll be alright
I hope you’ll let the good Lord fight your fights
No matter what you hear whispered in your ear
Just remember that you’re loved tonight

Everywhere you go, there are signs to show you
Trying to let you know you’re loved tonight
Someone’s waiting, watching over you

We’re restless spirits, we’ve lost our way
But until we confess that we dwell in the darkness, we’ll never catch sight of day

It’s the fear of silence that puts us to shame
It’s like we know in our souls if we shut off the music,
The wind would be crying His name

Whoever you are I hope you’ll be alright
I hope you’ll let the good Lord fight your fights
No matter what you hear whispered in your ear
Just remember that you’re loved tonight


Written and composed by Randy Stonehill
© 1985 Word Music (a division of Word,
Inc.) and Stonehillian Music (ASCAP)

HYMN

In this land of the walking wounded, in this desert of countless sorrows
I will cling to His hand today and fear not for tomorrow.

In my heart I have made this promise. With this song I declare my choice
I will walk where the Shepherd leads and heed no other voice

In the chill of my darkest hour, I am saved from my deep despair
For the Father who loves His children hears my trusting prayer.

In my soul there is one light shining from the flame of my true belief
And its embers cannot be quenched or robbed by any thief.

In the end we are not forgotten, and our journey is not in vain
For the Master who brought us here will lead us home, lead us home again

Written and composed by Randy Stonehill
© 1985 Word Music (a division of Word,
Inc.) and Stonehillian Music (ASCAP)

July 12, 2007 - Posted by michellecwheeler | Music/Concerts, Spirituality/Theology | | 3 Comments

3 Comments »

  1. Ok, so it’s my goal to have my name listed on every spot in the recent comments column to the right…

    This post is about something that has been changing my life- literally. The old music has been taking me back to places that I forgot about in my life. Some are places of nostalgia, but some are to places and experiences with God that I thought were long gone. I can remember singing songs like, “Can’t nobody do me like Jesus…” and seeing people’s lives changed in the midst of it. Some of them seem a little cheesy, but when I think about how good those times are and how distant they seem to me now, I immediately long for them. I love the fact that music can literally take you back where you remember the smell of a certain place or the shirt he was wearing… Ahh the influence it has over our emotions. And I love that- that’s why I’m such a music junkie. WHen I need to cry, I know just the song to put on that will get me there. When I want to feel the summer wind blowing through the sunroof, I know just the album. I think i have music for blood flowing through my veins.

    Comment by Leah | July 12, 2007 | Reply

  2. Love Randy Stonehill. We recently had a rush of oldies too, when a friend passed around his Allies and Sweet Comfort Band albums. That’s probably before your time, but I was amazed at both the slick production and the powerful lyrics.

    It got me thinking about other pioneers like the Altar Boys, Undercover, and Daniel Amos/Swirling Eddies. The Eddies, in particular, cut with humor. As silly as some of their songs were, others seemed silly until you listened to the lyrics.

    And on a more recent oldies note, I’ve been listening to the Violet Burning again. The album Chosen was like nothing we’d heard in CCM, and the song, The Killing, is the best song about the Crucifixion that I can think of at the moment.

    Comment by Jamie cain | July 14, 2007 | Reply

  3. I don’t remember the name of the women who wrote and/or sang the song “One Day Closer” but I remember my mom playing and singing that song in our house. My mom was in singing group and my dad helped out with the sound. They sang songs like “Keep the Flame Burning” and (believe it or not) “What’s Love Got to Do With It” to slide shows at colleges and churches. Still now, those songs bring back a flood of memories. When I really became committed to my walk with Christ, I connected to those songs on a whole different level.

    Comment by Amy | July 14, 2007 | Reply


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