Some people think I'm crazy because... well, people think I'm crazy for a number of reasons, all of them perfectly valid. Specifically, though, some people think I'm crazy because of my Christian interpretations of a number of rock songs. The thing is, most Christian rock is just boring. What's wrong with Christian rock? I'll tell you what's wrong with it: It sucks. It's awful. There are a hand-full those bands that are decent... I can think of a few Jars of Clay and 12 Stones songs that are OK, and I really enjoy POD and early stuff by King's X... but most of it is just so amateurish. The musicians are mediocre, and for the most part, the lyrics are just tepid. It seems like the really talented musicians and songwriters don't come out of religious colleges, where most of the Christian rock bands are formed. Now and then, though, some of the best secular rock bands write lyrics that seem to fit my spiritual life and my ideas about Christianity... so I end up finding Christian messages in songs that probably weren't written with anything spiritual in mind. Like this song, for example. And this one. Other times, a secular song will have sort of a spiritual element, and I'll find a Christ-centered interpretation of my own, like with this song and with this one.

Of course, I haven't always done this. When I was a teenager, I was pretty heavily into rock and roll for rock and roll's own sake. My parents, of course, frowned on this. I remember being in my late teens and going to see the Monsters of Rock show, with Van Halen, The Scorpions, Dokken, Metallica, and Kingdom Come (remember Kingdom Come? Me neither.) at RFK stadium, and knowing that my parents would have frowned on the debauchery taking place there. I saw the show with my friend's John and Saul, and after the show, when we got back home and dropped Saul off at his house, his dad came out to greet us. He asked us how the show was, and we told him it was OK. John and I were afraid to say too much, because Saul's dad was, after all, a parent. At this point, Saul's dad regaled us with tales of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath show's he'd seen in the '70's. He told us about one show where the cops had come in and, to use his phrase, "teargassed the whole f---ing place, man." John and I listened to these stories in amazement. I remember telling Saul afterwards that his dad was the coolest human being who had ever lived.

Saul's dad was not just interested in the music that we were listening to, he actually shared our taste in music. Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were like gods to us, and meeting a parent who was a fan just blew our minds. After meeting Saul's dad, I decided that he was the kind of father I wanted to be... I wanted to share music with my son, to be as relevant and hip, musically speaking, as Saul's dad was, and to be just as cool.

I remember when my first wife was pregnant with our son, it was very, very important to me that I pick just the right album for him to hear as his very first album. I agonized over the decision. It had to be an album that represented rock and roll at it's very best. The music had to be perfect, the lyrics had to be perfect, and the arrangement and sequence of songs had to be just as unassailable. It had to be an album that "spoke to me," an album that summed up not just rock and roll but the world and life in general. It had to be something he could brag about to his friends when he was older. I wanted him to be able to say "The very first rock album I ever heard was..." But, what? What would it be? Finally, I decide on what I thought was the perfect album. My son was born at a hospital an hour away from home, and on the car-ride home I played for him, in it's entirety, his first rock album. This rock album. Looking back, I'm still sure I made as good a choice as I could have.

Of course, all his life, I've subjected my son to my music. The (clickable) picture to the right is him when he was just a year or so old, munching on a Ritz cracker, wearing a custom-made onesie that advertised one of my favorite bands. Over the years I've played a ton of music for him, and he's developing a fairly distinct musical taste of his own. When he was only a two or three years old, he could identify just about any song that came on the radio, or at least tell you the artist. "This is Lenny Kravitz," he might say... or "This is Metallica." I remember being in the car with him once, listening to a Top 40 radio station. A Janet Jackson song came on and my son said "This is Garbage." I was surprised at him having made a mistake, since Shirley Manson and Janet Jackson don't sound anything alike. I said "No, actually this is Janet Jackson." To this, he replied "I know. And, it's garbage."

Some of what I've played for him hasn't set well with him. Two bands he flat out hates are Thrice and Faith No More. Faith No More, to put it in his terms, just sucks. His only comment about Thrice was "I have no idea what this guy is trying to say."

He's a big Lyle Lovett fan, though, which I think is just great, because Lyle Lovett is coolness personified. He also likes Toad the Wet Sprocket and Jimmy Eat World and he thinks Fishbone is alright. I'm just glad he's heard Fishbone. How many eight year olds do you know who have distinct ideas about Fishbone? My son is so cool.

I have visitation with him on the weekends, and every Sunday I take him back to his mother, which is an hours drive. When I take him back by myself, we usually have a chance to check out new music. I'll put CDs in for him and ask him what he thinks. Today I decided to try Tom Waits on him. If you've heard Tom Waits, you know that his vocal style is... well, unconventional. I put in the Bone Machine album and went to the track I Don't Want To Grow Up. My son got a big kick out of that song, but asked me if he "always sings that way." I said that he pretty much did, and said that he even sang that way on the slow songs. He asked to hear some more, so I skipped to That Feel and Who Are You This Time, both of which he said were just "weird." I asked him if he'd like to hear some more or hear something else, and he said he'd try some more Tom Waits... so I took out that CD and reached for my copy of Rain Dogs. While I was changing CDs, the radio was on the AM band and was just playing static. After about thirty seconds of static, my son said "He sounds even worse on this song." I laughed and told him that it was just radio static, and he laughed like crazy about that.

I don't know if I'll be considered one of those "cool dads," and I imagine that most dads can't do much to make their teenage kids think they are cool. Oh, well. For now, my son and I have a shared love for music, and for now it's a fun common interest. I know that lot of kids end up rebelling against their parents by getting into music that is offensive and awful. The day might come when that happens. The day might come when he only wants to listen to music that offends and disgusts me. Can you imagine? My own son bringing Shania Twain CDs into my house?

For now, though, it's all good.

Labels: Faith, Metallica, Music, Personal