A Few Videos

As many of you know, I am a frequent peruser of YouTube videos, and I enjoy sharing good ones. That's what I'm going to do in this post. Enjoy.

First of all, I stumbled upon this guy a few years ago, but I'd completely forgotten him until I stumbled upon him again a few days ago. First, a little background. Back in 2003, when American Idol had exploded onto the scene, countries all over Europe had their own version of "Idol". So, at the end of 2003, there was a one-time competition called World Idol which pit the winners of the American, Canadian, Belgian, British, etc. Idols against each other. The general consensus was that Kelly Clarkson (US) and Will Young (UK) were the heavy favorites, but the general consensus didn't factor in a funny looking little Norwegian named Kurt Nilsen. He sang U2's "Beautiful Day" and, as you will see, he absolutely kills it:



This performance and his somewhat less than rockstar looks prompted one judge to tell him "you are a hell of a marketing challenge, because you have the voice of an angel, but you look like a Hobbit," and Simon Cowell to say "If this competition were on radio, you'd walk it" (which, it turns out, he did anyway). Anyway, I think he's got an unbelievable voice, and I love listening to him. There are tons of great videos of his performances out there (like here and here), but I'll just embed one more video of his here:



Speaking of Idol, I will share my thoughts on the top 24, since I know you are all waiting with bated breath for my thoughts on American Idol. I mean, how else are you going to know who to look up on YouTube? I do not claim to be a music expert (if I were, why would I be watching American Idol?), I often listen to bad cheesy pop music (again, this is why I watch American Idol), but these are the people I like:

Casey Abrams is really good. He's really confident and seems to have a clear sense of who he is as an artist. Also, he's really talented. That helps.



I didn't like Jacob Lusk until this week, when he gave an absolutely killer performance of "A House Is Not a Home". He's got absolutely crazy range.



Among the ladies, I really like Lauren Alaina (who reminds me of Kelly Clarkson) even if this week wasn't my favorite performance of hers.

The judges raved about Pia Toscano this week, and though I wasn't wowed on first listen, when I went back and listened again, I came away really impressed.



Most impressive for me, though, was Karen Rodriguez, who sang Mariah Carey's "Hero", half in English and half in Spanish. I can take or leave the Spanish thing, but she sang it flawlessly.



One last video before I go (So many videos. I know). Reed Berger introduced me to this guy last time I was in Cary, and I really like a few of his covers. I'm not a fan of all his stuff, but he manages to make the song "Firework" enjoyable, which I thought was impossible (seriously, that is the worst song ever written, ugh). I love this cover of "Just A Dream" which he does as a duet with another artist:



Well, I'm finished with my videofest for now. Hope you enjoyed them.

Project Switchfoot: Dare You To Move

My ongoing (and doomed to failure) attempt to give my take on all of Switchfoot's songs.

Dare You To Move

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone’s here
Everyone’s here
Everybody’s watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

Up until now, The Beautiful Letdown has presented the desperate position of mankind. We're a lost people, searching constantly for something in life that will satisfy us, and finding nothing. We want to be "more than fine", but we just can't get there. Why not? What's the problem? Last week, I wrote about Ammunition, which is Switchfoot's answer to that question. What's the problem? We are. We're broken and messed up and we can't fix things. We can't find satisfaction because we're broken and incomplete. The world is screwed up because we are screwed up. In the midst of this though, there's a small glimmer of hope. What do we do about "one world, one desperation"? Well, the answer is that we have "one hope and one salvation." That's where we stand now in the album.

So, now comes a call to action. You know you're missing something. You know that the problem is your brokenness. You know that there is one path to salvation, one hope for change. So, what are you going to do now? "What happens next?" Salvation is here. Are you going to grab hold of Christ? Are you going to fall on your knees and submit to God as lord? Are you going to take the plunge, be changed, and live like this is the first day of the rest of your life, "like today never happened before", or are you going to turn away and try and keep filling yourself with the world?

In this song, Switchfoot boldly "dares you to move," but make no mistake, they don't say it's going to be easy. Life in the kingdom is hard. We live as exiles in the world, a resistance movement behind enemy lines. "Welcome to resistance", you're in for a battle. There is a constant tension for the Christian between the "already" and the "not yet". We are saved, but not perfected. There's a game of tug of war going on in our lives between our spirit-revived souls and our sinful natures. Paul struggled with this in Romans 7. Why do we do what we don't want to do? Why do we sin when we know not to? It's the tension between "who you are and who you could be." That's not all though. We struggle not only against ourselves, but we struggle to live in a world that is not yet perfected. Christ has come and we can see glimpses of the future glory, but it has not come yet. We battle on enemy territory, and we feel every day the results of living in a sinful, broken world. We live "Between how it is and how it should be." In many ways, this decision is like the one Neo is asked to make in The Matrix. You know something is wrong, but to know the truth is going to cost you. You're going to be part of the revolution, and it won't be easy. Red pill or blue pill? Are you going to move, or not?

I'll end with some of Jon Foreman's own thoughts on the song, which I really like.

"This song is an attempt to honestly face the gap between who I am and who I want to be; between the way the world spins and the way the world should be. I’ve heard that we only use a small part of our brain. Maybe out soul is the same way. And maybe we’re half asleep most of our lives, simply reacting to the stimulus our brain receives. Action, true action is rare indeed. This is an anthem of action and responsibility. Who will live our lives for us? Who will seek the Lord in these dark days?"