Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
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RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
Ron E |
03-31-2008 12:26 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
Ron E |
03-31-2008 12:28 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
Strange Animal |
03-31-2008 13:41 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
Ron E |
03-31-2008 14:04 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
jiminy |
03-31-2008 13:20 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
Audiori J |
03-31-2008 22:15 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
Dr Rich |
03-31-2008 16:59 |
In Terry's own words. |
Dr Rich |
03-31-2008 17:00 |
Here is some more. |
Dr Rich |
03-31-2008 17:18 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
audiori |
03-31-2008 18:30 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
Ron E |
03-31-2008 19:07 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
Dr Rich |
03-31-2008 19:04 |
Yup. |
Dr Rich |
03-31-2008 19:15 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
jiminy |
03-31-2008 19:26 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
audiori |
03-31-2008 19:39 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
jiminy |
03-31-2008 19:47 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
jiminy |
03-31-2008 19:53 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
jiminy |
03-31-2008 19:54 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
audiori |
03-31-2008 20:58 |
RE: Swirling Eddies - the midget, the speck and the molecule |
Ron E |
03-31-2008 21:01 |
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Ron E
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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.
__________________ The opinion expressed is that of the participant and does not necessarily reflect that of Mr Dan Amos. But if it doesn't, he would be wrong.
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03-31-2008 12:26 |
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Ron E
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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.
__________________ The opinion expressed is that of the participant and does not necessarily reflect that of Mr Dan Amos. But if it doesn't, he would be wrong.
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03-31-2008 12:28 |
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Ron E
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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.
__________________ The opinion expressed is that of the participant and does not necessarily reflect that of Mr Dan Amos. But if it doesn't, he would be wrong.
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03-31-2008 14:04 |
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Audiori J
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quote: |
Originally posted by jiminy
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.
Peace~ |
Because Galations 5 is about seeing things from a perspective of the world or the perspective of God, the choice of how you look at these things. It is the ultimate definition of perspective. Are you thankful to God for what you are given or do you get angry for not getting enough. The old cliche' parents used to use to get their kids to eat.. "there are kids starving in japan.. eat your dinner." Are you thankful for whatever food you have, or are you ungrateful and wasteful.
The song IS about perspective, and being as it is written by Terry Taylor it will convey his Spiritual views. The album as a whole pretty much runs this theme from the very first song. The first song sets the tone, that everything depends on how we choose to look at things.
My original post was a response to the use of lines of this song that were used more than once to respond to me in this manner;
Someone posts something, I respond offering a differend view.. and someone will post "I guess it all depends on how you look at these things.." as if the song is conveying the morally relativistic view that everyone has their perspective and all of them are right... or that we can't know. I would not of posted what I did had a couple of people not used the lines this way to me.
I remember talking to Terry about the difference between Swirling Eddies music and Daniel Amos music and he said something to the effect of how his songs will always convey his belief, his message, and that message is a spiritual one. He said he will always be true to that. (And Dennis, thanks for posting those interviews... I remember them, I typed most of them in myself.)
This theme of how the world is contrary to the spirit is a common one in his songs; Driving in England, Mall All Over the World, Real Girls, As The World Turns, Its Sick, and so on. The song "Thick Skin" is quite autobiographical, that he tries to convey his spiritual message through his songs, and he writes them purposefully to convey it in a little bit different way.
When it comes to "the Midget, The Speck and the Molecule", the album is a pointed message for people to have perspective, and not just any perspective, a Godly one. Even the title song is about getting further and further from the message, that none of us really can ultimately escape. I knew a pastor that once said, that "what you are full of will spill out when you are bumped.." A paraphrase of "you will know them by their fruit..."
If a preorder, or a messageboard post, can cause you to go into a fit of rage, or any other relatively insignificant thing.. maybe you need a little different perspective. In our culture we can loose our temper if we wait too long at Mc Donalds, or if someone drives too slow on the highway. We have grown out of touch with what real suffering or persecution is. "Faith to move a mountain...", is the size of a mustard seed, how little is our faith in God if we lose it over ridiculously small insignificant things?
Are we thankful for what we get? Are we pessimistic? Are we kind or angry? Have we slandered our brothers or lifted them up in prayer? Are we focused on the world/ourselves or those less fortunate? These questions and this perspective is pretty much always present in Terry's music, and I would say even more bluntly on this particular album considering the situation.
__________________ "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." ~ Robert Frost
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03-31-2008 22:15 |
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Dr Rich
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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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This post has been edited 4 time(s), it was last edited by Dr Rich: 03-31-2008 17:19.
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03-31-2008 17:00 |
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audiori
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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.
__________________ "Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall enjoy everything" -St. Francis of Assisi
"A strange fanaticism fills our time: the fanatical hatred of morality, especially of Christian morality." - GK Chesterton
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03-31-2008 18:30 |
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Ron E
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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.
__________________ The opinion expressed is that of the participant and does not necessarily reflect that of Mr Dan Amos. But if it doesn't, he would be wrong.
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03-31-2008 19:07 |
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Dr Rich
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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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This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Dr Rich: 03-31-2008 19:15.
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03-31-2008 19:15 |
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jiminy
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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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
__________________ jiMinY
theres nothing to EVER put here that will please everyone-let alone anyone.
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03-31-2008 19:26 |
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audiori
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Then whats the argument about? Sounds like everyone agrees...
__________________ "Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall enjoy everything" -St. Francis of Assisi
"A strange fanaticism fills our time: the fanatical hatred of morality, especially of Christian morality." - GK Chesterton
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03-31-2008 19:39 |
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jiminy
Tallowy Tamale
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everyone does agree
the song "It All Depends" is about-
__________________ jiMinY
theres nothing to EVER put here that will please everyone-let alone anyone.
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03-31-2008 19:47 |
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jiminy
Tallowy Tamale
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and we all agree
"Medley of our Hit "
is about-
__________________ jiMinY
theres nothing to EVER put here that will please everyone-let alone anyone.
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03-31-2008 19:53 |
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jiminy
Tallowy Tamale
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anymore to discuss here?
It is a discussion, isn't it?
__________________ jiMinY
theres nothing to EVER put here that will please everyone-let alone anyone.
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03-31-2008 19:54 |
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audiori
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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?"
__________________ "Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall enjoy everything" -St. Francis of Assisi
"A strange fanaticism fills our time: the fanatical hatred of morality, especially of Christian morality." - GK Chesterton
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03-31-2008 20:58 |
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Ron E
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no, its whether that's all there is to it and or if that is the main point.
__________________ The opinion expressed is that of the participant and does not necessarily reflect that of Mr Dan Amos. But if it doesn't, he would be wrong.
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03-31-2008 21:01 |
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