Unlucky month

Due to a series of firsts related to a 20-year-old car, all I have to offer for this month is a little bit of real talk. For the past 8 years or so, I’ve had such good luck while driving—albeit with more than a few near misses—and now it’s all fallen apart. At least now I have a newer car (and smartphone), but one undisclosed source of stress remains until precisely next week (at best).

In the lyrics of NEEDTOBREATHE, “You can’t change without a fallout.” This has been the fallout I needed to start driving more safely: giving myself more time for dealing with a rather sucky commute, as well as leaving more room between cars so that traffic as a whole can flow more easily.

As someone destined to enter a great debate despite lacking social aptitude, the Holy Spirit has me thinking about the latest album that I have bought (two months ago): The Story’s Not Over by Jeremy Camp. This artist has had my attention ever since the days of “Give You Glory,” “Walk by Faith,” and “Take You Back”; particularly with his distinctive voice and catchy tunes. The reason I chose this album in particular is because the more I heard “Keep Me in the Moment” and “Out of My Hands” on the radio, the more the lyrics resonated with me. (I’m still as neutral about “Dead Man Walking” as I’ve ever been, but at least it’s somewhat catchy.) There was a little reluctance based on reading iTunes reviews about the artist being more pop-sounding nowadays, allegedly because “it sells better,” and yet here I am with another faith-related investment. If you ask me, the zenith of the album is tracks 6-10, which funnily enough start off with “Keep Me in the Moment” and “Out of My Hands.” (I can’t vouch for “Dead Man Walking” because of the vocal effects after the second chorus, as much as I like all the other differences from the radio version.)

• To summarize “Keep Me in the Moment” in a We Are Messengers lyric, “We can’t enjoy the moment when we always want what’s next.” That’s one of the lessons I’m repeating internally to guard my heart amid the trials of this life.
• Overall, of the three tracks I’ve mentioned, “Out of My Hands” is the only one of which I prefer the album version over the radio version. “Keep Me in the Moment” just isn’t the same without the high notes in the choir, whereas the first chorus of “Out of My Hands” really brings the atmosphere of the title in the form of echoing effects. It just makes me think of a seemingly infinite expanse of darkness with drops of liquid dripping from above, forming a thin film along a mysteriously illuminated ground.
• “The Story’s Not Over” is the first of a trio featuring what I would call “powerful lyrics with powerful delivery.” My first thought when I first listened was, “This is one of a kind,” but the chorus is not unlike that of “When You Speak,” one of Jeremy Camp’s latest songs. Speaking of the chorus, whenever I listen to it, I can’t help but imagine Asuka Kudou dancing to it (see below).
• “My flesh may fail me, but my future is secured.” The opening lyric of “Indestructible Soul” summarizes it well. Between The Story’s Not Over and Life After Death, I was intrigued enough by “You Lift Me Up” by Rachael Lampa (in no small part thanks to the K-Love Birthday Blend) to listen to her flagship album Live for You; through this, I found the song “Shaken” to be nothing short of a hidden gem, and lately I’ve been associating “Indestructible Soul” with the low-key “Shaken” lyric, “Faith, hope, and love will last eternally.”
• Then comes my favorite song of the album: “You Don’t (feat. Social Club Misfits).” First of all, I just love the first half of the chorus. “Earth shakes, hearts break, things change, life fades away… Days end, stars (?) burn out like men lie, kings die, but You don’t.” It’s humbling to pair the statement “You don’t” with one or more of the verbs preceding it: “You don’t shake / break / change / fade away / end / burn out / lie / die.” Past that, while I used to scoff at rap in my teenage years, I’ve taken a liking to hearing testimonies delivered in a free-form lyrical flow (as before the final chorus), especially having heard Tedashii featured on a performance of “Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains)” by Crowder. (It’s like the verses of “Bleed It Out” by Linkin Park, but with far less morbid lyrics.)

“Wilderness” deserves an honorable mention due to its atmosphere, but it makes me think of “King of the Jungle” by Steven Curtis Chapman (“The Lord of the gentle breeze is Lord of the rough and tumble”), which I prefer.

One might say that this was quite the little tangent I went on, considering the topic at hand. As for me, I’m not opposed to it in the slightest; rather, the whole impetus behind this post was to unleash some heavy thoughts and relieve myself in a way that a possible audience can behold. Think of it as a declaration of resolve to stay strong amid my circumstances.

À la prochaine! (Until next time!)