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Posted by Ron E on 03-31-2008 at12:26:

 

Any chance both are right? I mean Terry has at times used clever double meaning and intelligent creative use of language. I mean, he's not as good as we are, but, give him some credit.

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Posted by Ron E on 03-31-2008 at12:28:

 

Take sarcasm for instance, and my amazing rapier wit, (Terry stole that phrase from me btw.) in the last post. Its not like Terry is up to that type of writing yet, but give him a few more songs and a little more criticism from us and he'll have it down.

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Posted by jiminy on 03-31-2008 at13:20:

 

OK - I was venting a bit...
and did not put on my best Christlike attitude.
Audi J - I apologize for that.

But I felt belittled-like I'm too stupid to see all the spiritual and direct biblical themes in a guys SONG..(It wasnt a thesis was it?- its a tune, that s really all- and one of many that Terry does so cryptically well)
I felt like someone was lecturning me- going line by line in the song.

So I'm sorry- though I still dont see how saying:
One mans old garbage-
is another mans steak

can be pinned to Galatians 5.

Starting your post with
"hmm- lets see-"
sounded to me like you were ridiculing me for not "getting it"
(and to be fair - I was saying everyone other than me was WRONG- I hoped it would be seen as a joke from the onset, for it cetainly was.)

Thats all I'll say about it.

Peace~

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Posted by Strange Animal on 03-31-2008 at13:41:

quote:

Originally posted by Ron E Any chance both are right? I mean Terry has at times used clever double meaning and intelligent creative use of language. I mean, he's not as good as we are, but, give him some credit.

i've taken several of terry's songs that way....
i may get one thing out of it,
you may take something totally different from it.........
is one of us right and the other wrong?
once again...........
"i suppose it all depends
on how you look at these things"

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Posted by Ron E on 03-31-2008 at14:04:

 

I've heard song writers say that they think its great when people see other meanings that they didn't put into it, that's the beauty of writing it down. I read stuff that I write and later wonder where it came from, for better or worse.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 03-31-2008 at16:59:

 

Yeah, I have never been told that an interpretation of a song is flat out wrong.

It seems most good writers start out with a specific idea, and if they are lucky, the message transcends itself to a more universal meaning.

If Terry is really trying to make a bible study into a song, than I must admit that does not hold any real interest for me.

However, if that's really what it means to someone else, I will not say say it's wrong, just not what it means to me.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 03-31-2008 at17:00:

  In Terry's own words.

Mars Hill Review
To Craft The Night Watch
An Interview with Terry Taylor
By Devlin Donaldson
Copyright © 1996 Mars Hill Review 5 · Summer 1996: pgs 119-128.



Mars Hill Review: You went from singing straight-ahead Christian songs in the early years of Daniel Amos to creating much more oblique, challenging songs. That change blew many fans, who wanted their dogma reinforced, right out of the water.

Terry Taylor: I have to agree with Flannery O'Connor. She said, "Piety kills the creative mind." I think a lot of our early records contained a lot of piety and a sort of "God is our lock, stock, and barrel" mentality. It was a reflection of what I knew at the time and what I could write about then. But as my experience has increased-I mean, I'm forty-five years old now-I've come to the place of recognizing there is mystery involved, not only in human existence but in God himself. God gives us enough of himself so that he is knowable to some degree, yet there is much about him that is unknowable. I think my current music is an exploration of that theme.

MHR: That builds on a quote I recently read in a Madeleine L'Engle book: "A comprehended God is no God."

TT: Exactly. What makes a song powerful is the exploration of that mystery. The audience that Daniel Amos has now is one that senses a certain degree of transparency in my writing-a transparency that says, "I don't have it all down. I don't have all knowledge."

The Bible isn't simply an instruction book, but an exploration of God's character and how it relates to us and the way we live our lives. So I think the music's themes now are much more infused with the searching spirit. This doesn't negate the fact that Christ has redeemed. But the riches of God know no limits. I believe as a writer that it is essential for me to explore those mysteries and treasures.

MHR: Do people ever tell you what a song has meant to them, yet you felt they completely missed it?

TT: Usually, when people ask me what a song means, I turn around and ask them what they think it means. More often than not, when they say what they feel it means, a light will click on in my head. I'll think, "Yes, that is viable. That makes sense to me." And I'll tell them, "I intended one thing in writing this, but your explanation provides another aspect of what the song may mean." They're telling me an aspect that I didn't really think about-but that is as valid as what drove me to write the song.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 03-31-2008 at17:18:

  Here is some more.

MHR: As you've grown in your writing, one theme that seems to pop up regularly is the mystery of God-which you've mentioned-and the inability of humans to articulate that. A couple of examples would be "Shape of Air" and "Darn Floor...Big Bite." Yet you work in a medium where you are constantly trying to articulate God. How would you comment on the paradox of not ever being able to do what it is you are trying to do?

TT: [Laughs.] I think it makes sense. We have to try to describe who God is. And I believe we can in many ways. It would be foolish for me to sit here and say, "God is indescribable, so let's just be silent." We need to express something of what we see in our own lives and find in our own hearts, and convey that to the listener. That may mean saying nothing more than, "God is unknowable, God is holy."

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Posted by audiori on 03-31-2008 at18:30:

 

I know Terry's always said he likes to hear what fans think a song means because sometimes they hear something that wasn't intended but might be just as good. (Terry would probably say that some are better than what he intended, but I have yet to hear those ideas )

However... and I say this as someone that hasn't even been following this conversation, so I don't know who said what or whatever.. but if anyone suggested that the song is about moral relativism.. as in "there is no right and wrong, it all depends on your perspective, etc." Then, yeah, I think its safe to say that is a wrong interpretation. I know Terry would not go along with that line of thinking.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 03-31-2008 at19:04:

 

Terry Taylor: I have to agree with Flannery O'Connor. She said, "Piety kills the creative mind."

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Posted by Ron E on 03-31-2008 at19:07:

 

quote:

Originally posted by audiori I know Terry's always said he likes to hear what fans think a song means because sometimes they hear something that wasn't intended but might be just as good. (Terry would probably say that some are better than what he intended, but I have yet to hear those ideas ) However... and I say this as someone that hasn't even been following this conversation, so I don't know who said what or whatever.. but if anyone suggested that the song is about moral relativism.. as in "there is no right and wrong, it all depends on your perspective, etc." Then, yeah, I think its safe to say that is a wrong interpretation. I know Terry would not go along with that line of thinking.

Don't believe anyone thought that. Though I think someone mentioned it.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 03-31-2008 at19:15:

  Yup.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr Rich "some got the patience of job some moods are pendulum swings i suppose it all depends on how you look at these things"

I posted the above.
Then the below was posted as a response.

quote:

Originally posted by Audiori J Yes, that song is about looking at things from a spiritual perspective vs a fleshly one. It is not by any means a song of moral equivalence. It is summed up by Galations 5:13-26 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Life by the Spirit So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. It is not the fruits of the spirit that drive someone to accuse other brothers in Christ of lies or fraud, which is what Terry and we were accused of. Discord, strife, hatred and anger are fleshly desires, every person has the choice to look at things from a spiritual perspective as Job did, or they can give in to the flesh and be angry and slanderous. It all depends on how you look at things, from a repentant spirit or a rebellious one. When your CD preorder takes longer than you like you can either be angry and cause discord, or you can be patient and kind. We can keep in step with the spirit, or provoke each other. It all depends.

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Posted by jiminy on 03-31-2008 at19:26:

 

well - thats exactly what I thought the song as about.

Terry is trying to seduce us into thinking that bad is good or good is bad, and that there really is no moral compass for us to follow, its all in our heads, and all up to us, because the bible is a fable.

Thats what everyone else is thinking I'm sure...no?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Posted by audiori on 03-31-2008 at19:39:

 

Then whats the argument about? Sounds like everyone agrees...

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Posted by jiminy on 03-31-2008 at19:47:

 

everyone does agree

the song "It All Depends" is about-

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Posted by jiminy on 03-31-2008 at19:53:

 

and we all agree
"Medley of our Hit "
is about-

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Posted by jiminy on 03-31-2008 at19:54:

 

anymore to discuss here?

It is a discussion, isn't it?

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Posted by audiori on 03-31-2008 at20:58:

 

One thing we don't need to discuss is whether or not you get too much cafeine.

I'm not stopping anyone from discussing anything - just trying to find the source of the disagreement. So... its whether or not theres a spiritual point to "It All Depends?"

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Posted by Ron E on 03-31-2008 at21:01:

 

no, its whether that's all there is to it and or if that is the main point.

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Posted by Jevon the Tall on 03-31-2008 at22:12:

 

Might I suggest a viewing of Monty Python's "Meaning of Life"