“On a crystal clear blue morning/There is a peace that only you can know/It is truth and love, and it is always there/Even if you fall down/Even if you fall down/Love shines” —from “Love Shines (A Song For My Daughters About God)”
Although most music aficionados would agree that Live’s career peaked in the ’90s, the band known for spiritually-charged songs like “Sell the Drama” and “Lightning Crashes” experienced a career revival of sorts when rocker Chris Daughtry performed “Mystery” (from Songs From Black Mountain) alongside the band on last season’s American Idol finale.
Even though teaming up was a successful move for everyone involved as the remake climbed the Billboard charts, the band has continued to make music regardless of its declining sales figures. And like many of its previous projects, the group’s quest for life’s deeper meaning is front and center on Songs From Black Mountain, Live’s 10th album.
When I say “deeper meaning,” that doesn’t always fall into the explicitly Christian category. In fact, at times, the album couldn’t be a more fitting example of religious pluralism, a place where the teachings of Jesus and Buddha happily co-exist in lead singer Ed Kowalczyk’s mind.
The best example is “Love Shines (A Song For My Daughters About God).” While the line quoted above will certainly resonate with those who are already Christians, other lines—like “Think of gentle Jesus/Think of the Buddha underneath his tree/They taught the world about love and how we all can be/How we can all be free … Love shines”—would indicate that Kowalczyk’s personal beliefs are a little more ambiguous.
Although it’s been widely reported that Kowalczyk grew up in a Christian home, he says he doesn’t necessarily want his two young daughters to learn about God by attending church. “I have to teach them about God one day, and I don’t want to take them to some boring church. This [song] is their catechism,” Kowalczyk says in an interview with Starpulse News Blog. “It’s a simple lyric about awareness and how it’s shining all the time. It’s something you can take refuge in. No matter what happens in life, it’s always there. No matter what faith, there’s a presence—whatever name you give it—that’s always there as an internal refuge. I thought that was a beautiful message for kids to learn.”
But whether this “presence” is God—and God alone—is in debate. In the same interview, Kowalczyk admits he’s always been fascinated by songs that possess a “mysterious quality” that allows the listener to fill in the proverbial blanks. “U2’s ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ is the perfect example,” he says. “You know the band had a spiritual background, but they approach it so artfully on this song. They didn’t beat you over the head with a point of view because it would have limited the song.”
Yet despite his obvious lack of specificity, there are songs on Black Mountain that will certainly resonate with believers. For instance, on “Mystery” Kowalczyk seems to find peace, despite not fully understanding the complexity of God’s nature—”Mine eyes have seen the glory of a love that does transcend/Mine eyes have seen the worst inside of man/And fear is like a fallen bridge broken from an edge/And the proof is in the bloodshot eyes of the one who failed to see.”
Meanwhile, “Where Do We Go From Here?” is a relatable rant that everyone’s felt during a time of frustration—spiritual or otherwise. “I wanted a mountain, you gave me a sea/I wanted a hurricane, you gave me a breeze/I wanted to run, made me stand there and breathe/I wanted to dream, you made me sleep/I wanted to touch the bottom, but it was too deep/I wanted a revolution, you said I was already free.” And while most Christian artists would’ve inevitably pointed back to God for answers by song’s end, Kowalczyk leaves things more open ended.
And open ended is precisely how the conversation of faith is ultimately addressed on Songs From Black Mountain. But unlike the more Eastern philosophies embraced on earlier endeavors such as Mental Jewelry or the more sexually-explicit sentiments on Birds of Prey, there’s certainly more spiritual food for thought here that’s ultimately closer to the Truth than Kowalczyk would care to admit.
Unless specified clearly, we are not implying whether this artist is or is not a Christian. The views expressed are simply the author’s. For a more complete description of our Glimpses of God articles, click here
