The Friday Fix

Category: 2020

  • ‘What a Wonderful World’ – Louis Armstrong

    Jill writes:

    I can’t listen to this song without feeling better! I know it’s slushy but it speaks of reality to me. Although the world can be really, really crappy, there are, always, experiences that remind me of its wonder-full-ness too.

    I used to wonder if it was only when you live in a ‘plush’ area that you feel so positive about the world but when we’ve lived in ‘tougher’ bits of London, Rotherham and Leicester, I’ve still noticed “trees of green” and “skies of blue and clouds of white” and watched as children have grown. The idea of friends ‘shaking hands’ currently seems a bit remote (!) but the colours of the rainbow have taken on extra significance recently.

    The phrase ‘dark sacred night’ is one that has stuck with me too. I don’t feel afraid in the dark and I think that the darkness and the light are both the same to God in their intensity, sacredness and wholesomeness… I think of the phrase when I’m awake at night sometimes. 

    Somehow the song reminds me of all that is good, and the simplicity of valuing it. It feels as though the music reflects that simple goodness. 2 minutes or so of musical perfection!

    I didn’t know the Louis Armstrong original until I came across the Alison Moyet version through Comic Relief one year, but, personally, I love both of their different versions equally!

    It’s fascinating to know that although, to me, this song speaks simply of simple things, the complexity of race relations in the USA at the time Louis Armstrong first sang it meant that it was received with conflicting views about it and Armstrong was accused of ‘disney-fying’ African-American experience. There’s a great explanation of this in the BBC soul-music series, here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00dvtpn

    Whatever people made of Armstong’s original singing of it, the song has continued to speak to people across many cultures.

    It’s worth listening to Louis Armstrong’s comments  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nGKqH26xlg – especially when we have seen the glimpse of ‘hope’ that we’ve given to the environment during lockdown: “See what a wonderful world it would be, if only we gave it a chance… If lots more of us loved each other we’d solve lots more problems”

    Find out more about Louis Armstrong at https://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/

  • ‘Three Little Birds’ – Bob Marley and The Wailers

    Gill writes:

    I can’t quite pinpoint the moment in time when I became aware of Bob Marley’s music but by the time that I was at Sixth Form College, a day wouldn’t go by without hearing one of his songs. For me, this song never ages and neither does the message – which I love.

    I am, by nature, an optimist. Always trying to look for the silver lining. Trusting that things will work themselves well in the end. That’s not to say that I don’t worry (my family will vouch for that!) but the energy that worrying takes up could be used more constructively elsewhere. Or you could turn your worry into action for change.

    Whilst I have the tendency to believe that ‘all will be well’ (thank you Julian of Norwich), I’ve spent the last six and a half years working with our brilliant Co-ordinator, Jane, who has a different perspective to me on Julian’s reflections. We’ve had a good bit of chat and banter time and again around the subject – and I’ve loved her for it because I think her perspective is shaped by her need to care and make sure that everyone is okay. All might be well but it needs input and action – so Jane will always try her hardest to make everything alright for others.

    So I’ve chosen this song especially with Jane in mind. Today is her last day before she moves to her new role and although she knows that we’re a capable bunch, there’s probably a teeny tiny bit of worry too so ‘this is my message to you’:

    Don’t worry about a thing
    ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright
    Singing’ don’t worry about a thing
    ‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright

    And if there’s still a bit of railing against this message, perhaps we could think about what both the Three Little Birds have to say and what the One who we follow has to say in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6:

    25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

    So thank you Jane from the three little birds (and a bit) in East Central team. We’re going to miss you a lot but we know that every little thing is going to be alright…

    Bob Marley still lives on through his work and music – find out more at https://www.bobmarley.com/

  • ‘March March’ – The Chicks

    Lynne writes:

    I don’t think I can put into words just how much I love and adore The Chicks (formerly known as The Dixie Chicks until a very recent name change in response to the Black Lives Matter movement). I have done ever since they first hit the country music big time in the late nineties (when I was just about to turn 20) with their album Wide Open Spaces. As someone who was raised on country music – my parents relationship is pretty much founded on a shared love of the genre – discovering The Chicks was like growing up and finding my own voice (and, funnily enough, that’s pretty much what the title track from Wide Open Spaces is about).

    I could wax lyrical about how much I admire the band’s politics, courage, resilience and second-to-none fiddle playing, and I could pontificate endlessly about many of The Chicks’ songs. But the one I have chosen to write about today is the very recent release, ‘March March’. If you haven’t heard it yet then you’re in for a treat – especially if your first introduction to the song is through watching the equally powerful video that supports it. It’s a song all about the individual’s power to make a difference in a difficult world. Lead singer, Natalie Maines sings in the chorus:

    March, march to my own drum

    Hey, hey I’m an army of one

    The Chicks know something about persevering with what you believe is right, even in the face of great adversity. In 2003, while introducing their song ‘Travelin’ Soldier’ at a concert in London, Natalie Maines said that the band did not support the upcoming invasion of Iraq and that they were “ashamed” that President George W. Bush came from Texas.

    Many American country music fans were supporters of both Bush and the war and so there was a huge backlash against the band – including being blacklisted from many major radio stations and even death threats. The brilliant documentary ‘Shut Up and Sing’ follows the band over the three years following the statement made in London if you want to know more. And if you want to get a feel for their (what I believe is righteous) anger over the whole thing, then the song ‘Not Ready to Make Nice’ will give you a very definite sense of that!

    But, back to ‘March March’. Why, out of all the many brilliant lyrical offerings from The Chicks, did I choose to write about this one? This song is an anthem that celebrates, most of all, the power of youth. It lifts up young activists who are putting older generations to shame, particularly with demands for gun control and environmental action.

    Standing with Emma and our sons and daughters

    Watchin’ our youth have to solve our problems

    I’ll follow them so who’s comin’ with me?

    “Emma” in this verse is Emma Gonzales, survivor of a high school shooting and one of the young leaders in the protest movement against gun violence in the US. The video that I’ve already mentioned also features images of other young activists, such as Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai and nameless other young people protesting peacefully as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

    I love my job. I have the amazing privilege of being part of the Methodist Children, Youth and Family Team and, in particular, developing work that helps to inspire and equip children and young people as agents of change. The belief that our young people can show us the way and help us to grow the Kingdom of God on Earth is what gets me out of bed in the morning. As a team we have spent a lot of time in the past few months reflecting on the story of Samuel and Eli (1 Samuel 3) and we really believe that God is working in and through the children and young people we seek to serve.

    We want to encourage children and young people to share their prophetic voice with the wider Church but, just as with the message that Samuel was given for Eli, the things God has given our younger prophets to say may not be easy for the older generations to hear. Greta Thunberg has been mocked and dismissed by the adults she has tried to speak to. Malala Yousafzai was shot for her efforts in championing female education. As Paul says in Galatians 4:16, these young people run the risk of becoming the enemy by telling the truth, and yet they persevere – and that’s why young people give me hope. As the quote at the start of the video for March March says, “If you’re voice held no power, they wouldn’t try to silence you.”

    Find out more about The Chicks at thechicks.com

  • ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It for You’ – Bryan Adams

     

    Claire writes:

    I first heard this song at the cinema in the film ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ in 1991 when the film was released.   The song by Bryan Adams spent 16 weeks at Number 1 in the UK singles Chart.

    I visited the cinema with some friends from school who were in the year above to watch the film; I really liked a lad who was in the group. Of course he wasn’t interested in me!  I played this song over and over again imagining that one day this lad would “Look into my eyes”  and “Everything I do I do it for you” as the song says.  I wanted him to be my “Robin Hood”.  It was never to be. At 15/16 years old it was hard to take that I liked him but he wasn’t interested.

    A couple of years later, I was at an MAYC weekend in London. This was a Christian gathering where thousands of young people all dressed in yellow and green, came together to worship and show their love of God.  As a young Christian it always amazed me how many young people would be at the MAYC weekends – so many that they could fill the Royal Albert Hall twice.   My mum made me some yellow and green dungarees especially for my many trips to MAYC weekends.

    This particular year we were in the Sunday morning worship. I was always totally blown away by the worship as I usually ended up in tears of joy and happiness that we were all gathered as one worshipping God.

    The music started to play and on the big screen was a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross. I soon realised that the music playing was ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’.

    It was in that instant that this song took on a completely different meaning to me.

    This song could have been written about how Jesus died on the cross. Similar to my journey of faith, I have had to search and find where God is in my life, and the sense of peace I find on my journey with God as I travel through my life with him by my side.

    “and when you find me there, you’ll search no more”

    We all enjoy a good love story, and Jesus’ is probably the greatest love story ever told.  John 15:13   “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends”  This is where it all made sense for me, this is where my faith started, a man called Jesus died for me. 

    The words of the song are so inspiring and resonate in me, telling of the great love that Jesus has for us and that I am “worth dyin for”. The song talks of sacrifice and how we need to give it our all to follow Jesus, I have certainly found that following Jesus can be a rocky road at times.

    Ok. So maybe Bryan Adams didn’t have God on his mind when he wrote these beautiful lyrics but for me this song has been a ‘go to’ song for me as a reminder of Jesus’s great sacrifice and love for us. It has it all ! 

    In John 3:16 “For God so Loved the World, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life “

    A son; Jesus who fought for the poor, the oppressed, those who were seen as lepers, for prostitutes, refugees. The list goes on for those who Jesus loved and fought for.

    Let’s go out with this song in our heart and as the lyrics say. 

    “There’s no love
    Like your love
    And no other
    Could give more love .There’s nowhere. Unless you’re there All the time
    All the way, yeah”

    Look into my eyes
    You will see
    What you mean to me
    Search your heart
    Search your soul
    And when you find me there
    You’ll search no more

    Don’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for
    You can’t tell me it’s not worth dyin’ for
    You know it’s true
    Everything I do
    I do it for you

    Look into your heart
    You will find
    There’s nothin’ there to hide
    Take me as I am
    Take my life
    I would give it all
    I would sacrifice

    Don’t tell me it’s not worth fightin’ for
    I can’t help it, there’s nothin’ I want more
    You know it’s true
    Everything I do
    I do it for you

    There’s no love
    Like your love
    And no other
    Could give more love
    There’s nowhere
    Unless you’re there
    All the time
    All the way, yeah

    Look into your heart, baby

    Oh you can’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for
    I can’t help it, there’s nothin’ I want…

    Bryan Adams is still going strong – here’s his website https://www.bryanadams.com/

  • Take A Chance On Me’ – Abba

    Nigel writes:

    In thinking about this post, I have been reflecting on two major challenges. The first is that normally it is the Friday Fix song that inspires our thinking, but in this case, I started with the thought and then my mind went to the song. It is sort of the wrong way around.

    The second – and a much more troubling challenge for one raised on the adolescent delights likes of the Sex Pistols, Sham 69, Buzzcocks and Joy Division – is that the song in question is an Abba song!

    In response to my first dilemma, I’m told this is ok as the ‘Friday Fix’ is flexible in approach. I’m also told that liking Abba is now cool. Whilst I’ll reserve judgement on this second point, I willingly concede that ‘Dancing Queen’ is one of the all-time great songs of its type.

    However, I digress – I’m not talking ‘Dancing Queen’ but ‘Take A Chance On Me’ … and I’m not delving into the lyrics, more about the idea of taking a chance – particularly taking a chance on, and with, God.

    My question is this: is exposing ourselves – deliberately – to chance, especially when we don’t know what to do or where to go – the best chance we have of allowing God to meet us in the ambiguity of our uncertainty? I say this in the belief that when we have no idea where it is we are supposed to be going – or how we are going to get there – that it is better to set off on the adventure and allow the voyage to determine what outcome subsequently results.

    In Mark 5:21-34, we read of a woman who reached out to touch Jesus’ cloak in the hope she would be healed. If you read the story, you discover that she had run out of other options and just decided to take a chance on Jesus. Given her circumstance, she decided that was her best chance.

    Similarly, in Luke 19:1-10, we read about Zacchaeus who took a chance and climbed a tree because he wanted to see Jesus. Maybe his life of taking advantage of others had caught up with him or maybe he was just nosey, but he took a chance and got an eternal reward.

    If you are anything like me – to borrow a few lines from the song – maybe you have times when you want to ‘change your mind’. Perhaps you have seasons when you ‘you’ve got no place to go, [and are] feeling down’. If so, my advice is to take a chance on God and see what happens.

    In both the above stories, Jesus meets those who ran to Him. Both characters took a chance and Jesus met them with compassion, healing and restoration. Neither the woman, nor Zacchaeus, took an unfettered, unassessed, reckless risk, but rather a voyage into the unknown in the hope of finding something better in the deep waters of God’s love.

    In Acts 1: 23-26, we read about the disciples who literally ‘took a chance’. They prayed about a decision that needed to be made, gave it over to God, and then cast dice or lots to decide the outcome. They had faith that taking a holy and righteous chance was their best chance of getting the decision right. I wonder how our world, lives and churches might be if we embraced such faith and took similar chances; a chance on God?

    My first Friday Fix was a Joy Division song – Joy Division to Abba is a big leap but our souls are so often shaped by an eclectic collection of songs and symphonies.

    If you sense you might need to reach out and touch God; or go climbing in search of goodness and grace; or are facing a tricky decision then perhaps you might like to take a chance – it could be your best chance.

    May the God of second, third and many more chances meet you if you do take a chance; and may grace abound in the ambiguity of our various uncertainties.

    Find out what Abba are up to these days at https://abbasite.com/

  • Come on – you know you want to…

    We know you’ve got a song that you really want to share – and we’d love to share it for you.

    Is it a song from a moment in a film?

    Is it a song that sums up a key moment in your life?

    Is it a song that’s always in your playlist?

    Is it a song that speaks to you about love?

    Is it a song that expresses your faith and spirituality?

    We know lots of you follow this blog and we’d love to share songs from a wider range of people. We really would like to share one of your songs and why it ‘speaks to you’.

    So stop worrying that others won’t like what you share; take a deep breath and dive into writing it for us. (If you’re worried about grammar, spelling and so on – don’t be because we have top class editing if needed!).

    Please send your song and story to Gill at thomasg@methodistchurch.org.uk.

  • ‘End of a Century’ – Blur

    Gill writes:

    I’ve been thinking about endings this week. I think it was triggered by listening to Danny Dorling last week on the ‘Somewhere To Believe In’ podcast (it’s the new Greenbelt podcast – it’s brilliant – check it out https://www.greenbelt.org.uk/somewhere-to-believe-in-a-brand-new-podcast-from-greenbelt/) where he explores the death of Empire (and inequality, Brexit and pandemics too) and the implications that this can have on us.

    Another reason to think about endings is that, come September 1st, our team will have reduced to three (and a bit) because our wonderful Jane is moving to pastures new (the Ministries Team no less) and so there’s all the ‘handing overs’ and tying up of tasks that only Jane can do.

    Us humans really struggle with endings. We want them to be neat and tidy. We use phrases like ‘drawing a line under it’ ‘wrap it up’ and ‘done and dusted’. We struggle with messy, or complicated. When people leave or move away, many of us prefer to say ‘see you again’ rather than ‘goodbye’.

    Even though we want a clean ending in some ways, when it comes to people we like or love, we still want to keep a thread that connects us – ‘we’ll come and visit’, ‘we’ll keep in touch’ and ‘we’ll see each other on Facebook’.

    Of course, Jane isn’t the only one making a move this summer. Many of our ministers and their families (please – let’s not forget their families) will be facing endings as a number of them move to a new circuit. With those endings, come endings for many Methodist people as they say goodbye (in very unusual cirumstances this year) and have to embrace the changes too.

    This song by Blur, which I think is one of their best, speaks to me of change – and our relutance (or reticence) towards it. You may recall that Blur were at their peak in the mid to late 90’s as we approached a new century. It was the time of Cool Brittania, the ‘Titanic’ film, the Millenium Dome and the Millenium Bug. It felt like we were being encouraged to get excited for the future when really lots of people preferred to stick with what they already knew.

    We all say “don’t want to be alone”
    We wear the same clothes ’cause we feel the same
    We kiss with dry lips when we say goodnight
    End of a century, oh, it’s nothing special

    That’s another way that we deal with endings – pretending that nothing is going to change. We’ll just keep on doing what we’re doing. ‘It’s nothing special’. While the world around us changes, we’ll make an effort to stay the same. I wonder – surely it gets to a point where trying to stay the same uses up more energy and emotion than adapting to change.

    Blur were one of those groups whose music evolved and changed with them. If you compare their album ‘Leisure’ to ‘Parklife’ (which this song is from) to ’13’, you’ll see what I mean. Or perhaps listen to ‘There’s no other way’, this song and ‘Coffee and TV’ – and you’ll see what I mean. The same could be said of many groups & singers – U2, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie to name but a few. The artists that are open to new ways and willing to take risks with their music often carry on their craft for longer.

    Endings and the change that they bring are often life-giving and energising. They can bring deeper understanding of ourselves and those we share the planet with. They push us to new places where we are likely see God at work in a new way – and what’s not to embrace about that!

    So – just to tie this post up nicely 😉 – just a reminder of what Jesus says at the end of Matthew’s Gospel ‘And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ Whatever the change; Whatever the ending; God is with us.

    Find out more about Blur at https://www.blur.co.uk/?frontpage=true

  • ‘Black’ – Dave

    Gill writes:

    I’m the parent of a teenager. Before he hit his teens (and being a person with ‘green’ tendencies), I used to moan about parents ferrying their children around in cars. I still do sometimes but we’ve settled for a balance between foot, bike and car – and that’s because some of the most crucial conversations with teenagers happen in cars. This should have been no surprise to me really – as a youth worker by profession, it was the minibus moments that were the most insightful and engaging!

    A key issue in parent and teenager travel is the ‘music in the car’ debate – and tempting though it is to say ‘my car, my music’, I’d have missed out on a whole load of musical education in the last 18 months if I’d had that rule.

    In 2018, British rap and grime music entered my life and became the soundtrack to many a journey (and background to conversation) with my adolescent offspring. And for much of 2019, the Mercury Prize Winning album ‘Psychodrama’ by Dave formed the backdrop to our journeys.

    When I heard ‘Black’, I was driving Max somewhere and I was blown away by what I was hearing. The opening words are so powerful:

    ‘Look, black is beautiful, black is excellent
    Black is pain, black is joy, black is evident    ‘

    I kept playing it and watching the official video of it (which is not the one above – that’s his performance at the Brits 2020 which is very powerful in a different way). It is refreshingly honest, eye-opening, poetic, intelligent, thought-provoking and the challenge that I needed to hear as a white, privileged person.

    ‘Our heritage been severed, you never got to experiment
    With family trees, ’cause they teach you ’bout famine and greed
    And show you pictures of our fam on their knees
    Tell us we used to be barbaric, we had actual queens    ‘

    Of course, the song has courted controversy with some white people, particularly on Twitter, who felt threatened by a black man celebrating his identity and people – with comments along the ‘imagine if it was a white man singing about being white’ type of lines.

    This led to DJ Annie Mac responding on Twitter with “It’s so very frustrating to see so many negative comments from listeners when I, and other BBC Radio One DJs play the Dave track ‘Black’. Let me get this straight, if you are genuinely offended by a man talking about the colour of his skin and how it has shaped his identity…then that is a problem for you. It’s a real issue that a song so intelligent, so thought provoking so excellently put together can actually offend you. It’s not just okay to talk about race. It is crucial. Listen to the song with open ears. Please.”

    The gospels show how Jesus spoke out against inequality, how he helped those who were oppressed, how he condemned those who oppressed and how he embraced those on the fringes.

    If we really want to follow Jesus, this means being more like him and not burying our head in the sand or shrugging our shoulders or denying that racism is not integral in our world. It means speaking up, asking questions and using the power that we have to bring about a world where nobody ever feels valueless.

    Find out more about Dave at https://santandave.com/collections/all

  • ‘Wish You Were Here’ – Pink Floyd

    Jane writes:

    For me a car journey has always been about far more than getting from A to B. Of course that matters but it’s about so much more. Music. The whole listening experience of music remains confined in the car space and I can tell you where I was going the first time I heard all kinds of albums. U2’s ‘The Joshua Tree’ or Alanis Morisette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’ – I could go on.

    We had car music listening rules in our house for as long as I can remember. Family trips as a child meant taking it in turns for your choices to be played with those of grown-ups. My daughter and I had rules about playing new albums all the way through first time around before launching into the repeat city that was around instant favourites.

    It’s also a place of singing. Loudly. Probably out of tune – well a little bit. Great improvised harmonies tho. All this with my Mum and Dad as a kid – those easy listening numbers that Neil Diamond and his contemporaries had to offer. My daughter and her friends – especially the big show-stopping tunes. My best mate and pretty much anything frankly!

    Right now all this looks radically different. We’re not really going anywhere to speak of. We’re definitely not going anywhere with groups of other people. So this week, when I went off for a trip to see my mum as a “bubble person”, I took great delight in putting on my “retro-happiness” playlist.

    When this track appeared it cut right through into everything. I sang it word for word. I knew when the lyrical content started. (I can do a mean impression of a guitar solo actually too it turns out.) I sang more harmony than even PF dreamt up.

    I can’t claim to understand it at all really. It’s typically Pink Floyd but it set me off thinking about what and who I was missing. Oh, and how I wished they were there. I knew exactly who in my life would relish a big sing to this track. Who would smile as soon as they heard the intro. Who would be playing their guitar along in their heads. Who, in that moment, I wished were in that car with me or indeed with me anywhere.

    It set me off thinking about broken relationships, long-distance friendships, contact thwarted by lock-down and new things being stopped from flourishing. It made me think about all those people I wished were really really in my life. Right now. The people who see me and wish to be seen in return.

    How I wish, how I wish you were here.

    We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year.

    Running over the same old ground.

    What have we found?

    The same old fears.

    Wish you were here.

    It’s interesting to me that even the writers of this track – Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour – think it’s about different things. For the former it’s a song he sings to himself about being really present in his own life and for the latter it is, in reality, about the loss of a friend and fellow musician. So I think that gives us permission to read into it just what we like.

    Being in real and right relationship with each other is what we are called to by God. Sometimes things don’t work out. Sometimes we only pretend. Sometimes we don’t know where to start. Sometimes it’s a click.

    For me the reason for that is to remind ourselves that we are a people of community, distant or otherwise, and that it really is okay to need others. So go on – get in touch with someone you value and if they are long gone, allow yourself to be sad about missing them because their value to you and to God never diminishes.

    Oh, for the record, we’re called to be in real and right relationship with people we don’t really “wish were here” too but that’s maybe a story for another day.

    You can find out more about Pink Floyd here – https://www.pinkfloyd.com/home.php