Interview About “Through Songs I Was First Undone”

February 12th, 2010 § 2

Last month, I did a short interview with Soul-Audio about the new album. Here is an excerpt from my conversation with content editor Andrew Greenhalgh:

“Soul-Audio: Earlier, in reference to Waits’ “Georgia Lee,” you talked about the subject matter of openly and honestly questioning God, i.e, “Why wasn’t God watching, listening, whatever.” And said that, “I live there a lot of the time. I have a suspicion that many of us do.” Now, I totally concur with that. We do live in that state of questioning, even though we don’t always own up to it. And truthfully, a lot of Christian music doesn’t openly address these questions; rather, they seem to offer up simple platitudes as opposed to tackling the issues head on. Is it important for you to address these kind of questions? And why do you feel as though the industry, the CCM one, anyway, is more reluctant to do so?

Justin: I find a great sense of normality in songs like Georgia Lee; songs that reflect a disconnect between man and God. My experience of faith has been that it is a difficult road to travel on and ‘choosing to believe’ at times is a sacrifice of pride and intellect that I am unwilling to make. To trust God in the face of deep tragedy is most often not as simple or easy as waiting for the tension of minor chords to resolve into major chords which reinforce the soaring, full-throated declaration that “I will praise You in this storm.” While I think that declaration is beautiful and necessary in its place, so is the song that says “My boat sank and I lost everything I cared about.. where the hell were you?”

I would further add that there is something at least equally redemptive in giving legitimacy to these expressions of frustration and doubt. After all, before Job said to God “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand” he.. well… spoke of things he did not understand. It is BECAUSE of his courage to confront God on what he saw as unjust action that he came to really KNOW what he had previously taken for granted.

It’s important for me to voice these things on a few levels. For myself to make my own soul known to me; art serves this purpose in my life.. I am able to read myself more clearly in the things I write, especially as time passes after a recording. I also believe it’s important to create space for the many of us who live here to have a sense of normalcy in our doubts.

As you mention, there is plenty of space provided for those more ‘certain’ about their faith; I am hoping to provide some room for the rest of us.

As regards the reluctance of the CCM to do or not do anything in particular, I can only guess; not knowing very many people working in its ranks anymore. I know that it is that it’s much harder to sell a story that makes people uncomfortable; a complicated or unresolved story. The CCM industry is just that: an industry. It’s not a church and we often expect of them the same principles we do of our local congregation. The job of an industry is to sell things. A Christian industry sells Christianity. A Christianity shrouded in mystery is a hard sell. Certainty? Well, that we can do.”

Read the whole interview here

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Georgia Lee (Part 2)

Aimee Mann's "Save Me" (part 1)

Dangerous Songs Part 2

Tagged: Covers, Georgia Lee, Tom Waits

2 Responses to “Interview About “Through Songs I Was First Undone””

Paula says:

February 12, 2010 at 4:05 pm

I’m always stunned by your eloquence. Should someone ask me the same questions, I’d say, “Um, hold on. Let me think about that and get back to you say, um, next Tuesday?” Thanks for being a voice for those of us whose faith isn’t packaged as neatly as it may be for the rest.

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Kate says:

February 12, 2010 at 5:07 pm

I love the whole interview (NOTE: click READ WHOLE INTERVIEW HERE!). Im grateful to read why you choose some of the songs you did. Cant wait to hear it. Im intrigued.

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