When Music Rules Our Lives

The music we listen to every day affects us more than we could ever know. While we work out, fold laundry, or hang out in our bedrooms, our brains are feeding nonstop on our iPods, CDs, and radios.

Author Stephanie Meyer wrote the Twilight series while listening to Muse, My Chemical Romance, and Coldplay. Singer Taylor Swift is inspired by Kelly Pickler’s songs. Songwriters all over the world will tell you that you have to listen to good music to make good music. In the movie Josie and the Pussycats, the music bands play secretly send messages to the brains of all the fans. Using music as a tool, the industry is able to sway public opinion, trends, sales, and worldviews.
As weird as it sounds, the music industry actually whispers messages into our heads. Sometimes we don’t notice them – maybe we’re too busy dancing (or maybe that’s just me). But the whispers are there and they aren’t going away. Some music “whispers” good things to you, like in Taylor Swift’s “Change”, Relient K’s “More Than Useless”, or Britt Nicole’s “You”. These songs inspire positive views of life, whereas other songs influence you in negative ways by sending you messages about sex, or by using explicit language. Even negativity, revengeful lyrics, or a sense of “who needs God when I’ve got me” are dangerous to your mental health and wellbeing. Songs like Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” give us false views about love and relationships while Pink’s “So What” evokes a feeling of anger and revenge.
What you listen to really does affect how you see the world around you. Think of it as an IV into your brain. Are you filling your brain with junk or with truth?
I first heard Pink’s “So What” on Dancing with the Stars. I thought it sounded quirky and cool, but I didn’t pay attention to the lyrics. When I put it on my iPod and got past the initial “na na na na na na na” part, I was surprised by the lyrics. Besides dropping the s-word, the singer rants about an unfaithful husband and starting fights while drinking her money away. My reaction was, “Wow. OK. It’s not so bad, though, right? I wouldn’t really do that stuff, and I’m not listening to the words. I just like the beat.” Excuses for what you listen to are lame and they get you into loads of trouble. I’ve chosen to not listen to that song anymore. I don’t want it to influence my choices or attitude in life. My mind and wellbeing is more important than a song.
God knows that music is a big issue in your life. He’s willing to help you sort the good from the bad. His advice to you? “Whatever is pure, whatever is right, whatever is noble, think about such things.”
JUST DO IT:
- Following God’s advice to you, what songs do you need to rid your life of? Go ahead and take them off your iPod or chunk the CD in the garbage so no one else has to listen to it.
- When you’re hanging out with friends, encourage them to listen to positive music. If you guys are listening to a song that doesn’t honor God, ask if you can listen to a different song. If they say no, they aren’t honoring God or you, so they probably aren’t your real friends at all.

Concert Time!

At 5:30 my mom, dad, and I, along with my friend Hannah and her parents, are going to a concert featuring Natalie Grant, Casting Crowns, Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, and PureNRG! I'm really excited and I promise to tell you guys all about it!

This would be my 3rd concert. I've gone to TobyMac/Barlow Girl/Thousand Foot Krutch concert, Jonas Brothers concert, and now this. The best part: it'll last late into the night, which is super cool. What a great lineup!

What concerts have you gone to?

Home for Christmas

My whole family (except for Dalton, he's with Nana) is watching Elf right now. So funny! This is my second time to see it. Did ya know that when Alyssa, Becca, and Lauren of Barlow Girl were making their new Christmas album, Home for Christmas, they only allowed themselves to watch Christmas movies like Elf and It's a Wonderful Life? It's true.

Home for Christmas has no instruments and, unlike what you'd expect from BarlowGirl, it doesn't have the slightest hint of rock in it. Barlow Girl wanted to focus on their vocals, and it has really shown. I have one of the songs from this album, What Child is This, and their voices are sooo pretty together, I seriously recommend buying the whole album. I might buy it myself.

Jesus Take the Wheel

"She was driving last Friday…." So begins Carrie Underwood’s hit song "Jesus Take the Wheel". I hear it on the radio in the car. I set my iPod to "shuffle" and Underwood’s rich voice floats through the earbuds.

The whole song is a story about a woman who’s simply forgotten her faith. When her car spins out of control, she takes her hands off the steering wheel and cries:

"Jesus take the wheel; take it from my hands,
cause I can’t do this on my own.
I’m letting go. So give me one more chance.
Save me from this road I’m on….
Jesus take the wheel."

These lyrics can apply to anyone’s life. Whether your facing tough times or preparing yourself for the tough times in the future, let Jesus take the wheel of your life. When he’s in control, everything turns out just right.

Praising God with your iPod

Do you have an iPod (or an mp3 player)? If so, iTunes and other places have lots of legal downloadable music. But don’t listen to just anything. Why not actually enjoy worshipping God for once, and listen to some cool, upbeat praise songs? I mean, it’s not like you’ll hear Relient K or Britt Nicole at your church in praise time.

Jeremy Camp and Bethany Dillon also make worshipping God cool. I love Bethany Dillon’s song, “Top of the World”. Her songs can be upbeat or slow, but the music is excellent, the meaning clear, and her voice is very sweet sounding.

Jeremy Camp’s music is great for teen boys and girls – and even adults! His voice is also clear, his music great and it has a good beat. He brings life to praise songs that you normally wouldn’t really want to listen to.

Megan (Casting Crowns) Speaks

When you write music, usually the songs are something that you've experienced.
So Megan Garrett (piano/vocalist from Casting Crowns) tells us how a song on their new album "The Altar and the Door" relates to her.

"A lot of the songs feel like they were written for me. But on the new album, 'Slow Fade' really touches me. I see people who have made a lot of mistakes, and they’re at a place where I think, I’d never be in that place. I’d never allow myself to get there. After hearing Mark’s [lead singer and songwriter] explanation on it, it’s not just one long mistake that causes you to be there. It’s a series of little compromises, where you take something that flatters you and you acknowledge it. And the next time something flatters you, it goes a little bit further. It makes me realize that I need to take every little thing that happens captive and say, 'God, what is the right decision I need to make on this?' - Megan Garrett, Casting Crowns

My Purpose: Switchfoot Speaks

Switchfoot gives us some advice on making career decisions to find out what your purpose is.

What advice do you have for teens making career decisions?

Jon: There’s a quote from A.W. Tozer that says essentially it’s not necessarily what you’re doing or where you’re doing it that determines whether it’s sacred or secular but why you’re doing it. I found that to be true in my life with all sorts of people. Certain people have a ton of money, but they couldn’t care less about money. They’re all about people. Then certain people in charge of some charitable organization couldn’t care less about people.
I remember something Charlie [Peacock] said that inspired some kind of motto for me: “People over projects.” He said at the end you won’t look back and say, “Oh, I wish I would have won more Grammy Awards. I wish I would have produced more records.” The one thing you’ll have is the people, those relationships. Where you put your treasure, that’s where your heart will be. So be careful what you invest in, where you invest your time.

My Purpose: God Picks

We all have a purpose in God's plan. We're all here for a reason. We don't get to pick our gifts. God knows what's best for us, so HE's the gift-giver. If we didn't have his guidance, who knows what would happen? Who would we be?
“If I had to do another job, I imagine that I would be a theology professor. That’s what I was studying before Crouton [a fellow band member] called and asked me to audition for the band. Or perhaps a draygon (spelling intended) slayer. Or maybe a fisherman. I think I’d be a pee-wee football coach.”
—Chap Stique, Family Force 5

Songwriting (Rebecca St. James)

Rebecca St. James, an Australian songwriter, gave her gift to God at 13. (See, you're not too young to serve a purpose for God!) She takes the common church songs and turns them into works of art with her clear, beautiful voice. Where does she get her inspiration?

Most of Rebecca's song ideas come straight from the outdoors, God's beautiful creation. “I’ll go for a walk and notice a little flower. I might think, Wow, God crafted that flower!” During her devotional time, an idea expands into the lyrics for the song “God,” for example. “Then I’ll start to sing to the words, and I’ll think, Yeah, that works!” says Rebecca.

Amazingly, Rebecca spends some time away from her career by talking to God and praising him. According to Rebecca, “Just like a prayer, worship isn’t reserved for one or two days a week. It’s a constant part of our lives."

Go check out one of her songs today!

Songwriting (Thousand Foot Krutch)

Have you tried writing poetry, or composing a song? It's a great way to organize your thoughts and get a message out to people. (And it's also a great thing to work on while singing in the shower.) When writing a poem or song, look around you. What do you see? What do you feel? What do you want people to know? What do you believe?

"I'm inspired by a lot of things I see, hear and feel that move me everywhere I go. We're traveling a lot, so I'm usually writing on airplanes or buses, or in hotel rooms. I used to go to the top of this hill in the city I grew up in that overlooked downtown. It was a great place to sit on the hood of the car and write."
Trevor McNevan, Thousand Foot Krutch