Thank you C.S. Lewis for stating so eloquently one of the awesome responsibilities of being made in the image of God –
It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ‘ordinary’ people. You have never talked to a mere mortal… It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit–immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.
I must say that I really like ‘Happy’ by Leona Lewis. It’s a beautiful song and Lewis’ vocal performance is stunning; it might well be my favourite pop song of the year. But I think it’s a good song not just because it sounds nice, but also because of the message that it conveys. If you don’t know the song, watching the official video clip on YouTube is probably the best way to understand the story it tells.
The song begins with the protagonist saying that her life isn’t the way it should be, for she wants to be happy but finds herself ‘so unhappy’. In doing so it admits that life isn’t all hunky-dory, that the world could and should be a better place. The song then goes on to say that we have two choices: either to ‘stand by the side’ and ‘watch this life pass me by’ or to pursue happiness in romance. In the song, the protagonist refuses to accept the former, so she runs after happiness in a romantic relationship. If you watch the video clip on YouTube you will see that all seems to be going well until it is revealed at the climax of the song that her lover has rejected her to be with another woman.
This is where the song really shines, for it exposes the impotence of romantic relationships as the ultimate source of meaning and joy in life. It unmasks the lie that says ‘once I find the guy/girl of my dreams, I’ll be happy.’ This is a theme which is repeated, either explicitly or by inference, in many of the other tracks on the album. (If you’re interested: ‘Can’t Breathe’, ‘Brave’, ‘Outta my head’, ‘My Hands’, ‘Love Letter’, ‘Broken’, ‘Naked’ and ‘Alive’).
Despite being a beautiful song, the story that ‘Happy’ tells is in some ways a tragedy. The protagonist sees the powerlessness of romantic relationships to provide ultimate happiness and satisfaction, but she knows no other way to live her life. This is the cry of the chorus: ‘So what if it hurts me? So what it I break down? So what if this world just throws me off the edge, my feet run out of ground.’ Sadly, the song ends with this tension unresolved, the question of where to find happiness unanswered.
Where do you look for happiness?
Each of us has an answer to the question of where to find happiness and satisfaction. Even if it’s not one we’ve put into words before, it’s there somewhere deep inside us, often more obvious in others than in ourselves.
Some common answers are relationships, possessions, religious observance and experiences. Although each of these things provide some temporary satisfaction and happiness, many people, if they are honest, as this song is, will admit that none of them give us what we really long for. Like the late American billionaire John D. Rockefeller, who said, ‘just a little bit more,’ in reply to the question of how much money is enough, we find that these things never truly satisfy.
So why do we desire what we cannot find? Is life just a great tragedy, a cosmic joke? Should we be bothered that we want what we seem to be unable to get?
C.S. Lewis’ answer was this:
‘If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.’
This is the answer that the Bible gives as well. The Bible speaks of a relational God existing in three persons — Father, Son and Spirit. The Father spoke the universe into existence through and for the Son, just because he loved him. It speaks of an eternal relationship of love between Father, Son and Spirit. It speaks of mankind being made in God’s likeness, to know God and to worship him.
But it also speaks of mankind’s rebellion against God in looking for satisfaction outside of a relationship with him. This happened when the first man and woman believed the lie that they would be better off doing things their way rather than God’s. In doing so they rejected the kingship of God over their lives and chose to make their lives into their own little kingdoms. The result of this was separation from God.
One of the symptoms of this separation is what is described in this song: a longing for happiness and satisfaction that is met by nothing in this world. Because we have forsaken God, who is the fountain of living waters, we find ourselves perpetually thirsty. Like someone shipwrecked on a raft in the middle of the sea, we try drinking the saltwater around us, but we find it only makes us thirstier than we were before.
If the Bible’s story ended there, it would be no less of a tragedy that the story told by ‘Happy’. But it doesn’t; the eternal Son became a man, lived, died and rose again to life to change the course of history forever. When he was alive, Jesus said, ‘if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.’ He could say this because he was about to remove the barrier between God and us by dying to take upon himself the punishment we deserved so that by trusting in him we might have a restored relationship with God.
Once the sin that separates us from God is dealt with, the way to God is open: we can now know God and worship him, just as he intended from the beginning. As we do so, we will find that knowing happiness and satisfaction in this life is no mere pipe dream, for we will be in relationship with the one of whom King David wrote of in the Psalms, ‘you make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.’
What do you think of ‘Happy’ by Leona Lewis? Does your source of happiness deliver?
Chatbible is an experiment in interactive discussion of the Bible on Twitter, launched in early May 2010. See my post on Chatbible or visit the Chatbible Twitter profile for more info or to get involved.
Recently there have been a number of Facebook campaigns aiming to get Christian music to the top of the charts. This got me thinking a bit about music charts, what makes music good and the wisdom of jumping on the Facebook campaign bandwagon.
Why do we have music charts?
Music charts list top-selling singles, albums or artists. The point of having them is to provide information on which singles, albums or artists are currently selling well. They give an indication to individuals what music they might want to listen to or buy, radio stations what to play and music stores what to stock. This means that music charts are most useful when they feature lots of good music.
What then is good music?
In his little book Art and the Bible, Francis Schaeffer lists four criteria for judging art (i.e. art in general, not just ‘high art’). I’ve found them very helpful, so I’ll reproduce them here in an abbreviated and slightly modified form.
Technical excellence — Is it technically good music? Are the lyrics well written?
Validity — Is the artist being true to their worldview or are they only producing music for money or for the sake of being accepted?
Intellectual content (the worldview which comes through) — How does the worldview that is communicated by the artist’s body of work match up to Scripture?
Integration of content and vehicle — Does the style of music match the content?
These are the standards by which we should measure music or an artist.
One of the implications of this is that music isn’t good just because it is by an artist who is a Christian. Neither is it good just because it has Christian lyrics. This doesn’t mean that music by a Christian artist or songs that have Christian lyrics are always bad, just that they shouldn’t be judged on that basis alone as it ignores the other aspects of the work.
So what?
Where does this leave us? I want to suggest that to make music charts most effective in achieving the purpose for which they were made, we should make it our aim to buy good music. If any song makes it to the top of the charts, it should get there on its own steam — simply because it is good.
If you are a Christian reading this, instead of using your money, time and effort in getting music that you wouldn’t otherwise have bought to the top of the charts, why not invest it in living a life that is a work of art?
I’ve just finished reading Art and the Bible by Francis A. Schaeffer. It’s an excellent little book (only 94 pages!) and the first one I’ve read by Schaeffer — but not the last I expect!
Here’s a little quote from the end of the book:
No work of art is more important than the Christian’s own life, and every Christian is cared upon to be an artist in this sense. He may have no gift of writing, no gift of composing or singing, but each man has the gift of creativity in terms of the way he lives his life. In this sense, the Christian’s life is to be an art work. The Christian’s life is to be a thing of beauty in the midst of a lost and despairing world.
- Hedonese
- David
- Matthew Weston
- Mark Leong
- Hedonese