Usually when I am preaching I find one or maybe two songs that become my dialogue partners for the week(s). Last week I preached on the Elijah story out of 1 Kings 19. Here is my playlist:
1) Monster Ballads :: Josh Ritter :: The Animal Years
"ones and zeros bleeding Mesa noise//when you're empty there's so much space for them//turn it off fall down a still small voice//comes in blazin' from some vast horizon."
2) The Weight of Lies :: The Avett Brothers :: Emotionalism
"the weight of lies will bring you down//and follow you from town to town cause//nothing happens here that doesn't happen there//so when you run make sure you run//to something and not away from cause//lies don't need an aeroplane to chase you down//mmm mmm mmm mmm mmmm...."
This one might need a more explaining. Elijah runs out of fear (not lies) but nevertheless he runs away from his work hoping to escape his reality and responsibility.
3) Jezebel :: Iron & Wine :: Woman King EP
First, if you have time, read this critique and review of Jezebel (both the historical person and the song) by Pitchfork Media. Iron & Wine offer a love song to the woman behind the king, Jezebel. She, of course, is in the shadows of this text, threatening Elijah from beyond reach.
4) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot :: She & Him :: Volume One
The classic, covered by the rich and mellifluous vocal of Zooey Deschanel (there, I said something nice). This song goes more with the account of the end of Elijah's life on this earth from 2 Kings 2.
5) The Sound of Silence :: Simon & Garfunkel :: The Definitive Simon & Garfunkel (Original: Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.)
God was not in the wind, the earthquake OR the fire, but there was a sheer silence//still small voice//quiet whimper... this song was written in the aftermath of JFK's assassination, when words were hard to find to express the tragedy. Certainly different circumstances for Elijah, but still that uncertainty abounded.
6) Roll Away Your Stone :: Mumford & Sons :: Sigh No More
Best album of the year so far. The line "darkness is a harsh term don't you think" played in the back of my mind as I thought about Elijah and the soul in depression.
7) Heart with No Companion :: Leonard Cohen :: Various Positions
I found this song thanks to Cheryl Lawrie over at [hold this space]. "For the heart with no companion...Now I greet you on the other side//of heartache and despair//with a love so vast and shattered//it will reach you anywhere". Again, this was keeping with the theme of the sermon.
8) The Cave :: Mumford & Sons :: Sigh No More
"It's empty in the valley of your tears//The sun, it rises slowly as you walk//away from all the fears//and all the faults you left behind..."
9) Head Full of Doubt//Road Full of Promise :: The Avett Brothers :: I and Love and You
"There's a darkness upon me that's flooded in light..."
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