A haunting melody sung by a severe and beautiful woman is the perfect antidote to the various poisons floating about.
This song, originally performed by Crowded House in the twilight of the Reagan era, is covered here by Sixpence None the Richer.
Where did they get that name?
Turns out that "Sixpence" is a Christian band, and it's name is a reference to a passage in C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity:
Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given to you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already.
So that when we talk of a man doing anything for God or giving anything to God, I will tell you what it is really like:
It is like a small child going to his father and saying, 'Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present.' Of course, the father does, and he is pleased with the child's present...
...It is all very nice and proper, but only an idiot would think that the father is sixpence to the good on the transaction.
I'm not surprised that a band with this inspiration was drawn to this song. It's the second verse which resonates particularly for me...
Now I'm towing my car / there's a hole in the roof
My possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof
In the paper today / tales of war and of waste
But you turn right over to the T.V. page...
My possessions are causing me suspicion - gathered around me, I feel like I'm missing something, hiding right in front of me...
I'm suspicious that the "tales of war and of waste" in the "paper today" have become just another part of "the T.V. page", one seamless reality crime drama...
I'm suspicious that the Devil is advancing his works by legerdemain.
And so I close my eyes and listen to the music tap at my heart, that I won't fall for his misdirection by chasing after his flashes and shadows.
What store of wealth do we have on loan from our creator? What shall we obtain as our gift for Him?
Ok. I have a confession.
ReplyDeleteI edited C.S. Lewis' passage for punctuation and paragraph breaks.
An Anglican scholar writing immediately post WWII cannot be expected to compose in a web-friendly format. That passage was just too dense; it needed to be ventilated.
As Stormi used to say - Jesus wants you to use paragraphs... ;)
Ah, I was going to tell you they were a Christian band, but you already discovered that. I'll slink away quietly now.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Matt. I so enjoyed what you wrote and the cover is certainly a good 'un. I wouldn't have known where their band name originated.
ReplyDelete"I edited C.S. Lewis' passage for punctuation and paragraph breaks."
lewy, lewy, lewy...
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Florrie, LMAO!!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the music and reading your thoughts, lewy.
I think the election run-up is making me more mixed up than ever (if possible). I thought Matt wrote the article and lewy edited it.
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Now it's my turn to slink off...
I' sorry, Florrie. I thought you were referring to my pithy little comment, or I would have corrected you.
ReplyDeleteBut at least I slinked away quietly. ;)
Boy, I'm just getting all sorts of musical educatin' tonight. I'm a fan of both Crowded House and Sixpence, but have not heard this cover before.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the background info on the band (and connection to this song) lewy!