I've been a music fan for a long time. When I first became a fan I would obsess over one good song for weeks. I can remember buying Coldplay albums, finding those "go to" songs, and literally listening to them on repeat for days at a time in my car. I remember when I picked up "X & Y" by Coldplay I listened to it once through and then for weeks afterwards I listened to tracks 2,4,10 and 11 repeatedly. When I opened up my musical tastes a little bit and got into different styles of music, it seemed to happen less and less that one song would hold my attention for an extended period of time. There have certainly been some jams like "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver, "Helplessness Blues" by Fleet Foxes, and some others that have done this, but none have matched "Rivers and Roads" by the Head and the Heart in recent years for me.
I was a counselor at Suncrest Camp a few weeks ago, and one morning out there Jake Nelko told me I needed to listen to the Head and the Heart, I said ok and was going to go back to drinking my morning coffee, and then he explained that I needed to listen to them immeadietly, so I looked them up on my phone, and they caught me pretty quickly.
It is nothing new at this point that Americana folky sounds are popular right now. There are a lot of bands doing this well, and there are a lot of bands that are doing this because its cool. I'll be honest with you and tell you that I dont know very much about the Head and the Heart and I havent seen them in concert, so its tough for me to say if they're jumping on the bandwagon or not. I hope this band isnt just a flash in the pan because their energy, harmonies, and intelligent lyrics have had me captivated for two weeks now, especially the song "Rivers and Roads."
In my office for the past two days I've put on a youtube playlist of live performances from KEXP in Seattle, and I think there are only like 6 or 7 songs on the list, but I've kept them on all day. Yesterday, I chose not to go to lunch because I didn't want to stop listening to their music."Rivers and Roads" has been a song that really hit home these past few weeks. This song is about life changing and about how "nothing is as it has been." In bittersweet tones it talks about people coming and going in and out of their lives, and how even when that is a good thing it doesn't make it easy or fun, and then like so many good songs it talks about the struggle of getting back to that one person that they aren't willing to just let go without a fight. It's a great song, with simple lyrics that builds into this explosive ballad with beautiful harmonies and wonderful sentiments about loved ones.
I think this song has been so powerful for me the last two weeks because I am in a time of changes like they are talking about. For just under four years I have had the privilege of being a pastor at a church of people that I really care about and love. It has been a wonderful opportunity and one that has changed my life. I have grown as a person, have had the chance to spend time with a lot of people that I love and care about, and to work as a part of a great team. Two weeks ago today I was offered a position as a Resident Director at Geneva College, and over the past few weeks I have been telling the community that has shaped my life over the last four years that I will be leaving. I am really excited to begin this next step in life, but the last few weeks have also held some unique challenges. In that time there have been a lot of moments shared that have been really difficult, and at the same time there have been really beautiful human moments. It is a privilege that we have to let people know how we feel about them, it is an honor that we have to have people that care about us speak into our lives. These are things to embrace and not take for granted, because we never know when a year from now all our friends will move away...or when we will be the friends moving.
I hope you enjoy this video.
