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(THIS WEEK: What We Know)
When I was young, transistor radios made Frankie Valley and The Four Seasons sound like Alvin and The Chipmunks.
It wasn’t until I saw their story on Broadway called Jersey Boys that I could hear all of the incredible vocals and understand the lyrics.
It was the latter that made all of the difference. I’m a lyric guy. The musical aspect of a song can take my emotions, but it is the words or story behind the melody that unlocks my heart.
One of my avocations is that of a songwriter. Those of us who dabble or make a living at this art can tell you that there is also a science or technique or formula that’s second nature after a while. A couple of minutes or hours after the kernel of the song springs up out of my soul, I “find” my verses, chorus and bridge.
After cataloging a few thousand of these, I felt I really knew the craft. It was the go-to for my emotions to be sounded out – with one caveat. I cannot accurately represent the exact venting of my deepest feelings. What I hear never quite matches what is in my heart. It’s like taking a photo and telling your friend, “The picture doesn’t do it justice; you had to be there.”
I will probably write songs until the day I die, but it will never be like the ones I will sing after I die. All previous ones will sound like transistor radio speakers compared to the choirs of heaven.
PORTAL TO HEAVEN: We go to what we know and we offer up our best efforts to God here on earth. He is pleased with them. But there will be a time when even songwriters will fully understand what it means for music to sound “heavenly.”
And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders.
Revelation 14:2,3 (NIV)