What Matters More In Jesusland

When I first heard mention of the song "Jesusland" by Ben Folds, I was a little wary. I was expecting a song of mockery and ranting against the evils of religion, or some such. What I got was a moving melody and a bittersweet lyric of cultural (Christian and secular) commentary that brought me to tears at the first listen.

"Town to town
broadcast to each house, they drop your name
but no one knows your face
Billboards quoting things you'd never say
you hang your head and pray".

Ben Folds has said that the song was written to be a view through Jesus' eyes if he came back to see what had happened to the land that was originally founded as "Jesusland". It seems slightly ironic that this honest appraisal comes from a non-Christian secular artist and disappointing that this kind of examination is not more prevalent in popular contemporary Christian music (CCM).

While I had grown up on the likes of Caedmon's Call, Derek Webb (one of Caedmon's former lead singers) was actually an acquired taste for me. The folk rock/country sound usually featured in his music was never really my 'thing', as I tended to lean towards stuff with more of a jazz/blues foundation. However in recent years what drew me to Derek's music was not the music as much as it was the lyrics and his timely messages for the Christian community.

"If I can tell what's in your heart by what comes out of your mouth
Then it sure looks to me like being straight is all it's about
It looks like being hated for all the wrong things
Like chasin' the wind while the pendulum swings".

The powerful lyrics on the new album, plus a new and different sound make this well worth the listen.

There are several themes that jump out at me when I study these lyrics. The one that seems most prevalent in both "Jesusland" and "What Matters More" is the sadness at the lack of action in the religious community of today. Webb sings to the people who "don't give a shit / about 50,000 people who are dying today", noting the relative silence on subjects of world hunger and genocide in comparison to more favorable or fashionable christian causes. Folds, too, touches on the inaction of Christians. His lyrics about "parking lots / cracked and growing grass" portray a broken down city without a cure in sight. Even more gripping is the imagery in the second stanza of walking through a city brimming with apparent prosperity, but never truly seeing the people; we "still / have yet to see a soul".

"Jesusland" covers the subject of materialism which is even more illuminated by a view of the music video. Against a backdrop of melancholy music and heartfelt words, a televangelist with ring-laden fingers sells guaranteed "miracle-working holy water" juxtaposed with pictures of a decaying city and devotees sitting in front of ramshackle houses and boarded up shops. He even goes so far as to mention the "McMansions" that have come to equate happiness and the American Dream in our culture -even in our religion today with the excess of 'Christian' merchandise and even books promoting material gain as evidence of a strong prayer life.

Folds' composition touches on the disconnect between Christians and the culture they are professing to reach. Webb, too, has a point to make about the dichotomy between what Christians are called to and what they do instead. Webb plays on the Golden Rule (Luke 6:31), remarking that "you say you always treat people like you like to be" and goes on to bring up the example of the conservative Christian community's evident animosity toward homosexual people and the gay rights movement.

What I get from both of these songs is an overwhelming sense that the Christian community has lost it's focus. Reverence for God; for our fellow man have been pushed aside in favor of consumerism Christianity and material religion. There is a difference between being a 'light in the darkness' and being so isolated that we lose touch with the rest of the world.
__________

"Jesusland" by Ben Folds

Take a walk
out the gate you go and never stop
past all the stores and wig shops
quarter in a cup for every block
and watch the buildings grow
smaller as you go

Down the tracks
beautiful McMansions on a hill
that overlook a highway
with riverboat casinos and you still
have yet to see a soul

Town to town
broadcast to each house, they drop your name
but no one knows your face
Billboards quoting things you'd never say
you hang your head and pray

for Jesusland
Jesusland

Miles and miles
and the sun goin' down
Pulses glow
from their homes
You're not alone
Lights come on
as you lay your weary head on their lawn

Parking lots
cracked and growing grass you see it all
from offices to farms
crosses flying high above the malls
A longer walk

through Jesusland
Jesusland

_________

"What Matters More" by Derek Webb

"You say you always treat people like you like to be
I guess you love being hated for your sexuality
You love when people put words in your mouth
'Bout what you believe, make you sound like a freak

'Cause if you really believe what you say you believe
You wouldn't be so damn reckless with the words you speak
Wouldn't silently conceal when the liars speak
Denyin' all the dyin' of the remedy

Tell me, brother, what matters more to you?
Tell me, sister, what matters more to you?

If I can tell what's in your heart by what comes out of your mouth
Then it sure looks to me like being straight is all it's about
It looks like being hated for all the wrong things
Like chasin' the wind while the pendulum swings

'Cause we can talk and debate until we're blue in the face
About the language and tradition that he's comin' to save.
Meanwhile we sit just like we don't give a shit
About 50,000 people who are dyin' today

Tell me, brother, what matters more to you?
Tell me, sister, what matters more to you?"

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Folds, Ben. 2005. Jesusland From Songs for Silverman. New York: Epic Records.
Mishan, Ahrin. dir., 2005. Jesusland. 4 min. New York: Epic Records.
Webb, Derek. 2009. What Matters More From Stockholm Syndrome. Nashville: INO Records.