MONDAY THOUGHTS: IF YOU CAN'T FIND ANYTHING GOOD TO SAY...

I have lots of time on my hands today, so I sat down and listened to almost every track. It was an auditory assault, and I stopped at track 6. I don't like laughing at singers. I did chuckle, though. 

I repented shortly thereafter. 

Payback can be a dog, and what goes around usually comes back around like a really big, vicious dog.

I couldn't listen any more. I just sat there scratching my head. Some people are either extremely bold, or deeply deluded. 

I felt so badly. 

Did no one have the guts to stop it before it began? 

Studios are in business to make money, I suppose, and shame on the studio that took hers.

I thought about "I Love Lucy", and one of the funny exchanges between Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz:
Lucy: "Now, Ethel, give me one good reason why I shouldn't sing the lead!"
Ethel: "You can't carry a tune."
Lucy: "Well! if you're gonna get petty about it!

The music was lovely, but the vocals were, well, painful. 

The whole time I listened, I was thinking of all of the other people who I thought could do the songs such glorious justice. 

Maybe that was it. Maybe the singer is supposed to be a songwriter. The lyrics were fantastic! Not trite or obvious, but powerful and relevant. 

The voice, however, was killing them- and not in the good, hip way that musical folk use the word "killing" these days.

Her goal was to make a gospel music project that appeals to Christian listeners. I'm a Christian. I'm also a listener. But I appreciate Art, and there are principles and elements that go into the making of what I believe to be good art. 

One's belief system can certainly be the motivating force behind a decision, but it can't be the sole basis for following through. There has to be some talent or divine intervention, or special anointing in there somewhere.

 
There should be at least a remote recognition of one's true calling. 

We can do a lot of things that we're capable of, but the question is should we, and are we qualified? Further, should we expect others to approve? 

Whether it's food, a performance, or the behavior of a bratty little kid, I can't say that something is good when it is not.

Art is subjective. As quietly as it's kept, even Christian music is art--subject to constructive and often destructive criticism. 

I'm not going to be roped into endorsing something just because it happens to mention biblical principles and truths. 

I can read my own Bible, choose the music I like, and avoid being hammered by poorly executed music that just happens to be about the Lord. 

Everything that purports to be God-centered, does not do an admirable, effective or acceptable job of representing him. 

Attaching "God" and "Jesus" to a thing doesn't insure the audience, tolerance, or appreciation for it--nor does it increase the value of it. Junk that is manipulatively created for self-serving purposes, and packaged in the name of Jesus, doesn't devalue Jesus in any way--and it is still junk. 

Fortunately, his name isn't that easily tarnished in my book. 

My Dad was right. Sometimes you have to, "Take the word, and let the goat go".

You just can't come out and say, "I'm sorry, but that sucked". 

Well, at least I can't. 

I mean, I guess I could, but it wouldn't be nice. 

I hate being such a wuss sometimes. 

I just don't like hurting other people's feelings. 

Maybe it's because I so carefully guard my own heart, and have only recently learned the critical role that words of affirmation play in my own life. 

We are quick to ask what others think, but do we really want to know? People want you to back them up, "support" them, agree with them, and if you don't you're a "hater", or not "with" them, or you don't "belong" to them. 

That little boy in the story "The Emperor's New Clothes" is truly one of my heroes. Sadly, though, not everyone appreciates or welcomes the truth. What have you lost, then, when the truth you speak means the end of a casual, serious, or working relationship? Should speaking the truth be such a chore or a deal breaker? 

Should just telling the truth be so difficult? 

Should you care if a stranger decides you're awful for being honest?

I dread being asked for my opinion, especially when it is my approval and endorsement that is really wanted. 

"Who am I?", I ask myself. 

When did I get highly qualified to judge another person's artistic offering? 

What difference should my two cents make? 

Didn't I have a sign in my classroom that read, "ART IS ANYTHING YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH" just to encourage every child that their work was valid just because they did it? 

I'm no well-connected super producer with deep pockets. 

I'm just one person with a functioning pair of ears. 

My ears won't allow me to lie, though.
I suppose there is something to be said for sincerity, determination, and following one's dream. She got off of her duff, researched studios, hired musicians and background vocalists, and produced an entire album. What am I doing? I've been hibernating since the Kennedy Center's "Joyful Sounds Across America" events wrapped. 

I'm sitting here looking like Miss Jane Pittman, wondering who to write, and complain to, about the cereal box of overabundant flakes, and eerily absent honey oat bunches and almonds. 

I took out the trash today. 

Whoopee. 

She's set up a webpage to promote her project.

*SIGH* 
I'm only one of the several strangers she's aggressively solicited via twitter to review her project. I won't burst her bubble. I can't. 

I'll go back and listen, and try to find at least one good thing to say. 

I won't criticize her effort. 

I think I admire her persistence and work ethic too much.

 
Someone WILL like it. I don't have to. 
I wish I could, though.