Music Archives - Page 12 of 23 - Jonathan's Blog From The Source

Gaga “Born This Way”

Posted on: 02/7/11 6:03 PM | by Jonathan McKee

For someone typically so immersed in mystery, her lyrics are crystal clear on this occasion:

I’m beautiful in my way
‘Cause God makes no mistakes
I’m on the right track baby
I was born this way

Lady Gaga has posted the lyrics to her upcoming song, “Born This Way.” The message of the song is hard to miss. So we dove into the lyrics and provided our two cents in our new Youth Culture Window article, Born This Way: The Theological, Moral, and Scientific Revelations of Lady Gaga’s New Song.

I wanted to let you– my blog subscribers– know first. Our entire EZINE list will receive an email tomorrow morning!

Here’s just a snippet.

If we were to sum up this song’s message, we’d say, “Lady Gaga believes homosexuals are born that way, so let them live that lifestyle because they cannot help it.” As lovingly and respectfully as we can, we must say, there’s a lot about this song, and its message, that’s intrinsically wrong and internally incongruent. Just take a look at some of the key lyrics in this song to see for yourself.

For starters, Lady Gaga encourages her listeners to “just love yourself and you’re set.” Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as that. Honestly, we sometimes wish it was! But it’s simply not. If a guy goes around shooting other people – but loves himself – is he “set” by cultural standards? Just ask anybody impacted by the actions of Jared Loughner. You’ll get a resounding “no!”

Is the woman who displays wrathful anger to everyone a perfectly capable benchmark for civility…so long as she loves herself? Is the kid who steals from others (to sustain a drug habit) off the hook because he loves himself? Nope and nope.

Although a healthy self esteem is a good thing, I’m not “set” just because I happen to love me. Neither are you. Neither is Lady Gaga.

CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE

I’m eager to see your comments on the bottom of that article!

Last week I asked for your prayers as David and I worked on this article. Thank you for your prayers and the emails/comments of encouragement. It’s a delicate subject in today’s “politically correct” world. Frankly, much of that is our (Christians) own fault because we’ve been unfair to homosexuals in the past– holding them to an even higher standard than the rest of us sinners.

That opens up a whole nother can of worms. So… you’re getting a double-whammy this week. We also posted another article from David and I: Coming Out of the Closet…and Into the Church: What Should the Church Do About Homosexuality? This article tackles the issue of homosexuality for the sake of youth leaders and adult mentors who need to provide answers to the questions that our teenagers are asking us– questions like, “Isn’t homosexuality okay now? Can’t they NOT help it?” Adults need to be able to answer these questions and provide a Biblical basis for compassion AND the unchanging truth of the Word of God.

Happy reading!

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Gaga Releases “Born This Way” Lyrics

Posted on: 01/28/11 11:33 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Lady Gaga’s Twitter fans received a tweet from her yesterday saying, “Maybe I should leak the lyrics to Born This Way today…” A few hours later, she released the lyrics to her song that will release February 13th.

MTV just covered the tweeting event, with the headline, “Gaga sings about love and equality…”

For those of you who haven’t heard, Gaga has become a huge advocate for LGBT (an acronym referring collectively to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people), specifically speaking against the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell,” and speaking loudly for LGBT rights, after all, she claims, they are “born this way.”

A glimpse at these newly posted lyrics:

DON’T BE A DRAG -JUST BE A QUEEN…

IN THE RELIGION OF THE INSECURE
I MUST BE MYSELF, RESPECT MY YOUTH

A DIFFERENT LOVER IS NOT A SIN
BELIEVE CAPITAL H-I-M (HEY HEY HEY)
I LOVE MY LIFE I LOVE THIS RECORD AND
MI AMORE VOLE FE YAH (LOVE NEEDS FAITH)

CHORUS:
I’M BEAUTIFUL IN MY WAY
‘CAUSE GOD MAKES NO MISTAKES
I’M ON THE RIGHT TRACK BABY
I WAS BORN THIS WAY

David R. Smith– my good friend, co-author of my new book, and author of many of our Youth Culture WIndow articles (including the brand new expose’ about Lil Wayne launching this weekend) — and I talked this morning for about an hour about Gaga’s release of these lyrics and upcoming song. We discussed the ramifications of speaking out about this issue. It’s an emotional issue for some, a political issue for many.

We’ve decided that we’re going to address the issue of homosexuality, despite the criticism that might come. Pray for us as we write a Youth Culture Window article this week. Pray that it would clearly communicate God’s compassion for everyone, but not stray from his unchanging call to holiness, even when it’s not politically correct.

You’ll see that article in one week.

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Using Music as a Springboard for Conversation

Posted on: 12/15/10 12:33 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Music is on my mind. I’ve been writing about it, and we’ve just launched a few new/revamped free Music Discussions on our two websites (more on that in a minute)… so today my foot is tapping!

Much of youth culture is centered around music. Today’s young people seem to require speakers blasting or small white headphones plugged into their ears. In the last 5 years, they’ve upped their daily intake of music by 47 minutes per day, to an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes a day (KFF, 2010). Music rules. That’s why adults should consider using music as a springboard for conversation.

Today David R. Smith and I are finishing the draft of our final Youth Culture Window article of 2010 (It’s now up- CLICK HERE), a glimpse at the #1 music hits of 2010 (We’ll post the article this Sunday). We’re reviewing every single song that made #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, a great list that blends the popularity of radioplay, downloads, actual CD sales, etc. It is a great place to look when you want to know what’s truly the #1 hit in America at any time (I always look there, and at iTunes. The two are usually pretty close).

It’s interesting to look back at the content of the #1’s from the past year. Emenim, B.o.B, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Kesha… quite a variety really. Some of it pure garbage, some tasteful romantic tunes, and a few intellectually stimulating pieces.

Some of this music can serve as truly effective discussion jumpstarters with our kids.

Take a peek at two resources, one totally revamped, and one brand new . They are our MUSIC DISCUSSIONS pages on both TheSource4YM.com and our brand new TheSource4Parents.com

Many of you have already seen our Music Discussions page on TheSource4YM.com. Take a peek today. It just got much better. Each discussion offers the ability to comment and rate. And now you can organize the discussions by Title, Category, Artist, or User’s Rating. Check it out, rate them and post a comment.

Our Music Discussions page on TheSource4Parents.com offer the same features, but are totally different discussions- designed specifically for parents. They are short discussions with three “quick q’s” that parents can ask their kids about a song. But then we offer a section called “For Deeper Discussion” if parents want to take it a little further. Take a peek, rate them, and/or post a comment.

You’ll see numerous new discussions on each page. I pray that they catalyst some great conversations with your kids!

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Justin Bieber’s “Pray”

Posted on: 12/9/10 12:01 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Have you seen what video just moved up to the #1 downloaded video on iTunes?

It’s a song called “Pray” from Justin Bieber.

Here’s a snippet of the lyrics.

Children are crying.
Soldiers are dying
Some people don’t have a home
But I know there’s sunshine behind that rain
I know there’s good times behind that pain, hey
Can you tell me how I can make a change
I close my eyes and I can see a better day
I close my eyes and pray

The video gives a glimpse of soldiers with their families, homeless people, and poor children on the street– all this mixed with shots of Justin interacting with needy people… and him praying. You can take a peek at it here.

I have two reactions to this video, and the fact that it’s at the top of the iTunes chart:

1. Excitement. The number one spot in the video charts aren’t often held by a clean video. Look at other videos that hit #1 this year: Teenage Dream, OMG, Like a G6… the list goes on (David and I are actually writing a Youth Culture Window article right now reviewing all the #1 songs of the year). Bieber’s “Pray” is not only a nice break from the typical racy content of #1, it’s wholesome and uplifting. Thanks Justin, truly.

2. Hesitation. Yes, I’m always a little scared when celebs speak out about prayer and their faith, simply because so many of these celebs turn around a month or two later and live out the exact opposite. Most followers of Christ probably feel a little bit burned and hurt by the “Gospel according to Hollywood.” But I’m not going to throw stones at Justin in any way here. I don’t know him at all, and I haven’t seen put out anything really racy. Let’s just say… I’m holding my breath. (…and just closing my eyes to pray!)

The video ends with these words… some great advice to us all:

God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.

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Stuff You Can Use

Posted on: 11/15/10 9:29 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I’m clocking out early today to get alone and write (I have to finish my last two chapter of my parenting book this week), but I wanted you to see some helpful new resources on our web sites.

1. David just finished an intriguing new Youth Culture Window article titled, The Gospel According to Hollywood, giving you a peek into celebs like Gaga, Bieber, Perry and Cyrus as they talk about their “Christianity.” David challenges parents and youth workers to talk with their kids about these claims and he gives us a few ideas to teach truth. Be sure to check that out, using the new “rating” and “comment” features on that page to give us your two cents on his article.

2. The second resource is featured in the SPIRITUAL GROWTH RESOURCE OF THE WEEK section on the front page of TheSource4YM.com (I don’t know how many of you look at the front page of our site weekly, but it always offers new Youth Culture Window articles, OUTREACH resources of the week, SPIRITUAL GROWTH resources of the week and more). It’s a brand new discussion from our MUSIC DISCUSSIONS page using David Crowder’s “Everything Glorious” to talk with your kids about Demi Lovato’s recent struggles and how we can build strong and healthy self-esteem.

3. TheSource4Parents.com is almost completely finished. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a moment to look around. The site is live and kicking, with only one page to finish up (ASK THE SOURCE). You’ll see some 4YM favorites like the Youth Culture Window articles, the Slang Dictionary and my blog, but then you’ll also see some new stuff like MUSIC DISCUSSIONS specifically for parents and an amazing PARENTING HELP page with articles from Jim Burns, Wayne Rice, Al Menconi, David R. Smith and myself.

That should keep you busy!

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Wholesome… and Not… in the Music Charts

Posted on: 11/12/10 10:31 AM | by Jonathan McKee

The music charts have had some interesting movement in the last few weeks, some wholesome stuff, and still plenty of the “not-so-wholesome.” I always find it intriguing to see what our kids are listening to.

A FEW OBSERVATIONS:

1. Willa Smith (10-year-old daughter of Will Smith) found #1 on the iTunes video charts with her new song and video Whip My Hair. The song is well done and the video is really cute. (Wow, am I showing my age? Only a dad would say… “this is cute!”) No one is dressed risque’ in this video, the lyrics aren’t about picking people up in the club… speaking candidly, it’s a breath of fresh air. I saw it as high as #2 on iTunes for songs in the last week, it currently rests at #13 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Not bad for a 10-year-old singing a clean song!

My only worry- in all honesty- is what fame can do to a 10-year-old. I hear from numerous sources (including Scott Derrickson when I interviewed him about Jayden Smith in his film “The Day the Earth Stood Still”) that Will and Jada are really good parents. So I hope the best for her. But fame creates a lot of pressure, as we’ve seen over and over again recently (Demi Lovato)

2. Glee did a version of Katy Perry’s racy song Teenage Dream this week and it immediately catapulted to #1 on iTunes and hasn’t budged since. This shows you the incredible draw and power of this show. Many of you read my two cents about the show before the launch of Season 2. Season 2 has proven to be edgier and even more risque’. I was bummed when I saw them redo Teenage Dream. If you wonder why I don’t like the Katy’s Teenage Dream, just google the lyrics of the song or… grab your accountability partner and co-watch the music video (And while you’re watching the video, especially at the 2 minute to 2 1/2 minute mark, realize that 28 million people have watched this video on YouTube alone! Yikes!)

3. Black Eyed Peas are back with a new dance song called “The Time (Dirty Bit).” The song is #2 right now, I predict it will go #1 in no time. Black Eyed Peas are amazingly talented, but keep putting out these typical “I wanna lose control” club dance songs. Sometimes the lyrics are clean, like I’ve Gotta Feeling,” but with really raunchy videos- I’ve talked about that before. Other times they try to slip some raunchy stuff under the radar– but our kids know what they’re talking about. I showed a sobering example of this (an insight into their lyrics and an interesting YouTube video of kids performing their song) with their song “Imma Be.” Regardless… they are back!

Other noteworthy observations:

Another clean option- Taylor Swift’s new “Speak Now” album is selling like gangbusters (what exactly is a “gangbuster?”), claiming Billboard’s #1 spot on the Top 200 Albums, the #2 album spot on iTunes, and with six of the songs from the album in iTunes top 200 downloaded songs.
Rihanna teamed up with rapper Drake for the song What’s My Name. That song flew to #1 on the Billboard charts, which isn’t as quick to move as iTunes (iTunes changes almost hourly- revealing trends like the Glee song, where Billboard won’t reflect those changes for a week). Don’t underestimate Rihanna. She’s getting racier and her new album “Rated R” will be releasing November 23- her first album to bare the “explicit lyrics” label. Hmmmmm.
Katy Perry still owns the charts, with her Glee song at #1 on iTunes, her new song Firework at #1 for videos on iTunes, #4 for song, and #10 on Billboard. My thoughts on Katy here.

Keep talking with your kids about the music they listen to. The lyrics do affect them.

Make use of our MUSIC DISCUSSION pages on both TheSource4YM.com (for youth workers) and TheSource4Parents.com (for parents)…different discussions for each page. If our kids are already listening to this stuff, let’s use it to get to the Gospel!

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Spontaneous “Hallelujah” at Macy’s

Posted on: 11/9/10 10:16 PM | by Jonathan McKee

A flash mob hit Macy’s in Philadelphia on Saturday– with more than 650 vocalist- thanks to help from the Opera Company of Philadelphia- who, unkknown to shoppers, had arranged to burst into song at noon, singing “Hallelujah” from Handel’s Messiah accompanied by the world’s largest pipe organ.

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Crowder Shines

Posted on: 10/22/10 9:24 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I don’t know if David Crowder can even fathom the amazing impact he has had on worship in the 21st century. He’s not only filled arenas with jumping young people lifting their hands to God and rocked churches across the continent… he’s given believers a tune to hum throughout the day. He’s provided ‘ammo’ for worship.

I can remember the first time my wife heard the words to Everything Glorious and came in to me, “Jonathan, have you heard this?”… I think I teared up. A bunch of us were dialoguing about lyrics of today’s music in the comment section of my blog about pop music earlier this week, and I mentioned, in a world where young girls constantly look in the mirror and think, “I’m ugly,” Crowder provides a song that says:

You make everything glorious
And I am Yours
What does that make me?

So powerful.

Yesterday I was working on my parenting book in progress (5 chapters due today… I’m done with 6. Yeah!!!) and I was finishing up a chapter on “creating guidelines” in our homes. I listed some of my guidelines, one of which had to do with starting and ending the day with Christian music.

This has been an interesting experience in my house. We, like most people, enjoy secular music (The Fray, John Mayer, Five for Fighting…). And we allow secular music in our house that doesn’t distract us from our relationship with God (The Fray and Five for Fighting are great… Mayer is an interesting one…). But we’ve also added this guideline of only allowing Christian music the first hour in the morning and the last hour at night. My kids were really whiney about it when we first discussed it years ago. But we discussed it and agreed on it as a family… and it’s been powerful.

There’s nothing like starting and ending your day with God’s truth in your ears. If you haven’t tried it… I encourage you to.

That said, Crowder is often in my ears. Call me picky or whiney… but I don’t like a lot of Christian music. I’m constantly on the lookout for the good stuff. But Crowder, Dutton, Tomlin… and yes, even a few Toby Mac songs have been a huge help.

Yesterday Crowder blogged about a new video they made with a Lite Brite (hilarious description of trying to make the video with over 80 friends all “pegging” to make it happen). I love Crowder’s videos. I’ll never forget in the last year when I popped on iTunes to look at the Top 10 (something I regularly do) and saw his HOW HE LOVES video at #6 (amazing song and video). I thought, “Rock it Crowder!” So proud of him for making something so quality and so praiseworthy. Well… Crowder’s at it again, this time to his song, Shine.

Other people are already blogging about it this morning… I won’t repeat. But I encourage you to check out his blog, and check out this video. You’ll be humming the song later… I promise. (I downloaded the whole album- I couldn’t resist)

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The Content Behind The Top Ten

Posted on: 10/18/10 2:59 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I always find it intriguing to see what kids are currently listening to. Last weekend at the parent workshop I taught in Philly, I encouraged parents to jump onto iTunes any given day, see what the top songs were, watch snippets of the videos and Google the lyrics.

Let’s take a quick peek at a few of today’s top songs that kids are downloading.

#1 Song: Like a G6, by the Far East Movement.

Lyrics:

Poppin bottles in the ice, like a blizzard
When we drink we do it right gettin slizzard
Sippin sizzurp in my ride, like Three 6
Now I’m feelin so fly like a G6…

…Get them bottles poppin, we get that drip and that drop
Now give me 2 more bottles cuz you know it don’t stop
Hell Yeaa
Drink it up, drink-drink it up…

The message is clear. No need to go into more detail, I blogged all about it last week.

#2 Only Girl (in the World), by Rihanna

The video is #1, which really surprises me. It’s painfully boring– I really doubt it will remain #1 very long. It shows her dancing around… being Rihanna (or as the American Psychological Association would put it, “sexualized”).

The lyrics:

Want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world
Like I’m the only one that you’ll ever love
Like I’m the only one who knows your heart
Only girl in the world…

Forget the video for a second. I find those lyrics very Interesting–a plea to be “the only one that you’ll ever love.” Those are pretty monogamous words from such a non-committal, ‘hookup’ society. What a good discussion point to start conversations with teenagers.

Oh… but just in case you think the song might be just about love. Don’t get your hopes up. Today’s music almost always has to include sex as well. The song goes on…

Take me for a ride
Oh baby, take me high
Let me make you first
Oh make it last all night
Take me for a ride
Oh baby, take me high
Let me make you first
Make it last all night

#3 Just a Dream, by Nelly

Okay, this has to be the cleanest thing I’ve ever heard out of Nelly (he doesn’t have an album without the EXPLICIT warning). It’s a pretty catchy song and kids love it. It was the only slow song they played at the dance I chaperoned two weekends ago.

Here’s some of the lyrics:

I was at the top and I was like I’m at the basement.
Number one spot and now she found her a replacement.
I swear now I can’t take it, knowing somebody’s got my baby.
And now you ain’t around, baby I can’t think.
Shoulda put it down. Shoulda got that ring.
Cuz I can still feel it in the air.
See her pretty face run my fingers through her hair.

My lover, my life. My shorty, my wife.
She left me, I’m tied.
Cuz I knew that it just ain’t right.

CHORUS
I was thinkin about her, thinkin about me.
Thinkin about us, what we gonna be?
Open my eyes, yeah; it was only just a dream.
So I travel back, down that road.
Who she come back? No one knows.
I realize, yeah, it was only just a dream.

Correct me if I’m wrong… but are we hearing another song talking about desiring “one love” from “one person.” It’s almost as if we were created with that desire. Hmmmmmm.

Some other songs of interest.

#6 Raise Your Glass, by Pink

Sigh. Another, “I’m Pink, I’m angry, so I’m drinking” song?

Lyrics:

So raise your glass if you are wrong,
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs,
We will never be never be anything but loud
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks
Won’t you come on and come on and raise your glass,
Just come on and come on and raise your glass

Slam slam, oh hot damn
What part of party don’t you understand,
Wish you’d just freak out (freak out already)
Can’t stop, coming in hot,
I should be locked up right on the spot
It’s so on right now (so f**kin on right now)

I quote Pepito from Doctor DoLittle 2. “So young. So angry. D*mn that rap music!”

#7 Bottoms Up, by Trey Songz, featuring Nicki Minaj

Here’s a screenshot from the video.

Any questions?

#8 Club Can’t Handle Me, by Flo Rida

Flo Rida, known for his mega hit, Low, the #1 song of the year in 2008, is back again. This time with more of the same. Good dance music that all the kids love, with lyrics that all the parents hate:

Still feelin myself I’m like outta control
Can’t stop now more shots lets go
Ten more rounds can I get a Kato
Paparazzi trying to make me pose
Came to party to I came no more
Celebrate coz that’s all I know
Tip the groupies takin off their clothes

Nice.

So what should we do as parents and youth workers?
1. Keep aware. Jump on iTunes like I just did right there and look to see what kids are listening to. Take a peek at the video, Google the lyrics. It’s good to know what music our kids are marinating in.

2. If you hear these songs, use them as a springboard for conversations with kids, just like the Apostle Paul did in Acts 17. I pointed out a few points of discussion above. Or, you can use our free MUSIC DISCUSSIONS at www.TheSource4YM.com … they provide small group questions, scripture, and everything you need. We’re also about to launch our parenting page that will have MUSIC DISCUSSIONS for parents to use as springboards for conversations with their kids.

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What Are Kids Learning from “Like a G6”

Posted on: 10/14/10 4:09 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Okay, I’d love your thoughts on this video. Kids cheered when it came on at the dance I chaperoned the other night, it’s at the top of all the charts… all kids know this song right now! The song is Like a G6. It’s got a great beat and is really catchy.

Adults keeps asking me, “What does that mean? Is it code for something really bad?” lol As far as I understand, “G6” is a really nice jet (yes, as well as a nice car. But I think they are referring to the 50 million dollar Gulfstream G650 in this context.), and the song is just saying that they are “fly like a G6.” In other words, when they “get those bottles poppin” they are “amazingly cool like one of the nicest personal jets around!” In slang usage, only something really good would be described as “G6.” (“Want to go hang with some girls in Tyler’s Escalade?” “Oh yeah! That would be so G6!”)

The sad part about this video is that it is all about the drinking. Heck, I’m Irish, and my first thoughts were, “Dang, this is a lot of drinking!” Funny, the school played it at the dance the other night, but kicked kids out for drinking. (Nice example of sending a double message.)

Check out the video and post your comments below using the blogs comment feature. Remember, each day someone comments, their name goes in the hopper once again for our contest this month. (Contest Details here!)

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