While doing a little looking around on Amazon both with some birthday money to spend and on request from Mommy, who likes us to give her our Christmas lists as early as possible, I stumbled upon a series of fantasy books by Andrew Peterson. This was kind of surprising to me. Wasn't this Andrew Peterson guy a songwriter? I only knew his one song, "Dancing in the Minefields", so I decided to look him up really quick and stumbled upon these two songs of his that I absolutely love! His style of music is so refreshing from your typical Contemporary Christian song. Enjoy!
And hey, his fantasy saga gets amazing reviews on Amazon! Woot woot!
ReplyDeleteHey Kyle,
While I do agree on the actual music part being pretty cool, I don't care for most of the lyrics in the 2nd song . It sounds like the “father” in this song is letting his son go “see the world” (“first time you pack it all up and drive alone across America" …huh???) without knowing if he has a solid spiritual foundation to stand on when he goes through hard times. It sounds like the father is simply “hoping for the best” in regards to his son’s Christian life. Or maybe I’m missing something or misunderstanding his meaning? Having a parent or parents send his/her/their child into the world and hoping for the best is not what we believe, and is definitely not how we were raised. It is the parents’ responsibility to ensure their children have a solid foundation “before” they leave the home. We don’t assume that they are “gonna grow up and gonna get lost”, and that they need to find their own way. It was especially troubling that they portrayed the son in the video as being a young boy. But I guess that is even the title of his album, “Light for the Lost Boy.”
Andrew P. incorporating the "ancient paths" in the song is pretty cool (considering Jeremiah 6:16 is one of our family’s favorite verses). We believe by faith and God’s grace, that following the “ancient paths” as he speaks of, and raising children according to Deut. 6:4-9 will Lord willing, lead to children being solid Jesus followers that will not stray from the ancient paths and have to “find their way back home.” I feel the whole song in general is very shallow and not glorifying to God. I'll take a Keith and Kristyn Getty song over this song any day! :)
Just my opinion.
Love you so much!
Victoria
Hmmm, interesting thoughts, sis! I think a couple of your points are valid, but I would tend to disagree with your conclusion.There is a point where we as individual human beings have to make our own choices; our parents can only impact us to a certain extent, even if that extent is a great one! Our parents have lead us down the ancient paths and got us going on this grand journey of life, and their input will be invaluable as we move forward, but our life is our own journey. We are responsible for the decisions we make. That is why I think this song is so powerful. When Andrew sings "Please remember the words that I told you" I think it is pretty clear that he believes in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and even though he can no longer "follow" his son down his own path, he is exhorting him to stick to the "old roads"--the Ancient Paths of Jeremiah 6:16
ReplyDeleteAs far as the line "you're going to get lost", I would agree to an extent. Though we of course are going to stumble along the way, the last thing we should do is be fatalistic about it. However, Andrew then exhorts his son over and over again to go back to the ancient paths, "to lash his heart to the ancient mast". To me, this shows that Andrew still has a heart to guide his son, even as he realizes that his son is responsible for his own journey. But I agree, and older boy would have been a much better cast for the video. ;0)
Anyway, those were my thoughts on the song!
Love you more!
Kyle
Excuse me while I butt-in here, if I may!!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteBut Andrew Peterson....... You just found these two songs?????? ;) I guess it's that I'm a rather big AP fan! You'll have to let me know what you think of Wingfeather. Lots of people have recommended them to me, but I haven't had the time to read them.
And my thoughts on You'll find your way... I've always kinda thought of it as the Proverbs 22:6 principle: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Sure, I'm not into just sending your kids out into never never land had hoping they come out okay, but I don't think that's totally what he's saying in the song. For a lot of people, there will come a time when you have to strike out on your own so to speak... This could be with getting married, starting a family, etc. The song applies in that starting out, you need to be grounded.... IDK.. not coming across terribly well here, but that's just a thought!
Haha, yeah, Jordan Strang! I am just now finding out about AP, believe it or not! Did you see this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2krjLu_MNY :0P
ReplyDeleteHaha!!! That was pretty funny!!!
ReplyDeleteThe one other one that's totally funny is this song he wrote! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5pWhpnV6CM
Interesting thoughts. I can see what you both mean and maybe I did misunderstand the lyrics. Still not a fan of the song though. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, to each their own, sis, and I did agree with your concern over the song. It is especially relevant to me, though, as I start down my own path of adulthood. I know that is exactly what Daddy would tell me, "Stick to the Ancient Paths!"
ReplyDeleteJordan: HAHAHA, that's hilarious!
I'm so glad you are enjoying his songs Kyle! Those are two of his best! I think you might also like "Little Boy Heart Alive", "Carry the Fire", The Reckoning", and "Don't You Want to Thank Someone"! "Carry the Fire" is rocky but in my opinion it is a good use of rocky because it fits with the lyrics so well.
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