For those who caught the FEJMILRS webcast* last night, you were exposed to a new song. Note that I didn’t say you were “treated” to a new song. I would hardly be so assuming as to say that it was a treat… I can say that I liked it.  Below are the lyrics to the new song.  The working title is “What We Want.”  (no relation whatsoever to the 2000 film release entitled “What Women Want” starring Mel Gibson). It will be one of the songs that makes up my next project, which is a followup to the Untitled EP.

v1
It’s not about the drinking
It’s all about the being drunk
Like it’s not with whom you’re sleeping
It’s with whom you wake up

pre-chorus
It’s not about the wars you fight
it’s whether or not you win
Not so  much about being right
As not letting all the wrong ones in

Chorus
See, we all want that resurrection
But we don’t want to die
We all want that sweet salvation
WIthout the bitterness of sacrifice

v2
It’s not about forgiveness
It’s about making sure they know
You’re the one they’ve injured
You’re just too strong to let it show

v3
It’s not about believing
It’s about making it look good
So that when you lose your reason
You just keep doing what you should.

(**if you missed the FEJMILRS, there are rumors [and they are only rumors] that there will be further broadcasts.)

Come one, come all to the First Ever Justin McRoberts Interactive Living Room Session (FEJMILRS) Wednesday night August 18 6pm PST. This unique event will be a 20-minute, live webcast made up of menagerie of interview questions (submitted by you), a performance of an old McRoberts favorite (to be voted on!), a performance of a song from Justin’s recent covers album (also to be voted on! ) and a sneak peak at a new song from Justin’s upcoming project, Untitled volume 2.

How does a FEJMILRS work? It works in 3 easy steps…

1. SUBMIT: your questions and requests over Twitter before Friday, Aug 13. The top 10 questions will be answered in no specific order.

2. WATCH: live via Twitcam Wednesday night August 18 6pm PST. The stream will be accessible through Justin’s Twitter page. Or watch the session when it re-airs on FOX this Fall.**

3. RECEIVE: If your question is answered during the session, you will receive a $2-Off coupon for any digital album at the McStore.  Keep posted at Twitter or Facebook for further details.

(**FOX airing pending FEJMILRS being picked up by a production company and inking a contract with FOX… so.. you should probably just watch it on Wed, Aug 18.)

Most are familiar with the opening lines to the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…” But the Declaration begins with a short explanation of it’s necessity.  Jefferson, ever the gentleman, wrote the Declaration under the assumption that “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”  It is striking to me that this letter, inflammatory as it is, is nonetheless tempered with “respect” for its readers and their opinions, oppressive tyrants though they be.

That is, I suppose, the thing I have come to believe is at the heart of America’s strength as a Nation. As the philosopher Bernard Henri-Levi notes, America…

“…never was  and never will be founded on the continuity of a race,..  the solidity of a soil, or on an intrinsic autochthony or even a shared history.. “

Instead, we are a nation…

“… forged by people of diverse origins who had nothing in common but this sharing …of a desire and an Idea.”

We are a people whose roots are tangled up in the Idea that a diversity of thought strengthens us just a diversity of culture enriches us.

If your celebration of America is peppered with the notion that certain opinions, certain philosophies and certain people must be silenced or defeated (or deported) in order to enjoy your America, your celebration is… well, unAmerican. It is a vast, complex and truly great conversation we have entered into and entertained for over 230 years; it’s energy is provided by the tension between cultures, opinions, theories and world-views. No, we do not always carry the conversation well; but we are exactly at our worst when we  react poorly; when we receive the differing political, religious and philosophical thoughts of another as ONLY a threat to our way of life and not, at least in some way, an enrichment of a diverse, growing and still young nation.

Don’t get me wrong: I am no dualist. I believe in one, uniform, whole, encompassing Truth which pervades and permeates all life, space and time… I just don’t think we arrive at anything resembling that Truth by silencing, much less insulting the “other guy.”  I believe, in fact, that discovering that Truth or coming to an understanding of what is good for a people happens best in the context of a sincere and spirited conversation; one with the foundation of “a decent respect.”

Happy 4th of July.

May has traditionally been an emotional month for me. This week, in fact, marks 12 years since I lost my father to depression and suicide. Every May 6th since has a surreal quality to it; as if the day should have been retired for all its wear and tear. But this May has a different shade to it than the past 11, as my first child, a son, is due May 31.

Up to now, what I have known of fatherhood I have only known as a son; a son who lost his father at that. May 2010 represents the end of that era and the beginning one in which I have the privilege of being a father. So, I’m releasing a special collection of songs through Noisetrade (see the widget below). I’ve re-arranged four songs from the album “Father”, which I wrote about my dad and the experience of losing him.  

Recorded mostly at my home, the collection is entitled “Father Revisited” and it will be available for  limited time as a way to celebrate this new era and the passing of the last. As a bonus, if you use the Twitter feature to tell your friends about the project, we’ll send you a coupon code good for $3 off my covers project, Through Songs I Was First Undone.

Thanks for your support over the years, I hope you enjoy this special project.

My church community fasts during Lent each year. For the past few years, we’ve partnered with the Blood:Water Mission in a water fast to support the building of wells in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is a short clip from a sermon I did recently about the redemptive nature of our Lenten fast, particularly as it pertains to the work of the Blood:Water Mission.

We fast and say “I know you suffer and in whatever way I can, I will bear your suffering with you” … and the world says that you live on the other side of the planet and what happens to you doesn’t matter to me but I am going to choose to say that what happens in your life affects me.”

Here’s an excerpt from the blog I just posted at Soul-Audio.com:

“At times it can be difficult for me, as an artist, to articulate what I want to see happen with my work. In one way, the ‘result’ or desired effect of my work once it’s left my hands is not really even my responsibility. But if I desired any particular kind of response or reaction it would be something like what a recent visitor to my blog articulated when he wrote…”

Read the whole entry at Soul-Audio.com