Anthem Lights has a new single out! Fight Forever.
Okay, so I'm a late in posting this. But that's okay. I love Fight Forever. Anthem Lights have been doing a lot of covers recently. And I like Best Thing. But this one's different. This one is like our battle cry as Christians. Well, sort of. When I think 'battle cry,' my mind's dictionary doesn't flip to 'pop song to challenge enemy.' Hm, no. Try 'discordant sound to challenge enemy.' But we'll call it a poetic battle cry (since my brain insists on being geeky).
I love the lyrics! They are powerful. Motivating. It's one of my favorite songs they've written. Tying with 'Can't Get Over You,' 'Where the Light Is,' and 'Hide Your Love Away' (so I can't pick an absolute favorite, must I apologize?).
The music video. I enjoyed the beginning of it. It was really well done. But, well. . . As a Christian and a novelist-in-training, I'm consistently being warned about how cliched most Christian media is. And one of those cliches is toning down just how dark evil is. Because we don't want to see how bad evil is. It's not clean. It's messy and wrong. And we tone it down to Noah in this cute little boat that floated on water that rose higher than mountains (maybe higher than mountains if you're not like me). When, really, Noah's ark resembled more a giant box than a boat. And it stormed. The first time it ever rained, and the clouds let it rip. Lightning, thunder, tsunamis, hurricanes, everything.
If we don't show the full force of evil, than how can we show the full force of God's love? If evil and sin aren't that bad. If it isn't that powerful, than when God saves us from it, well, He really must not be that powerful either. And it seems maybe we didn't even need Him. But none of that is true. Evil is powerful. It's sinister. It's bondage. It's sorrow. It's seething dark. I'm not saying we should take joy in it or be over-zealous in portraying it. But we should be honest about it. Realistic. Truthful. The stars don't shine at twilight. You don't need stars at twilight. They shine at midnight, at the darkest time. When you need to see. And every time I attend a Christian writers conference, it's jammed into my head more and more. To be honest about both the dark and light.
So I was a little uneasy when they fought the shadows with dodge balls. It was effective. It got the message of the song through. And I can understand why they wouldn't want to show, like, a real battle or anything but. . . I don't know. I felt it down played the impact of the song. But it's just me. Certainly I'm being over-sensitive.
All the same, my love for Anthem Lights has not diminished. I still love their songs. And I think their lyrics are very powerful, and courageous since being so unmistakably Christian is looked down on. And not only the lyrics, but the music is also excellent. They stand out. They have talent and aren't afraid to use it for Jesus.
And they usually are rather honest about sin and evil in their lyrics. All the time. Circles. I love that song. It's so accurate about a Christian's life, about my life. And what about Freedom Into Slavery? I love how realistic they are about what a Christian's life is like. I wish Christian books were more like that. Maybe the genre wouldn't be so look down on if it were more honest. And maybe that's why I'm slightly disappointed. Because they usually do show evil for what it is. And I expected it again. That's okay. It was just the music video. The song itself is still one of my favorites.
And I must say I like this lyric video best out of all of them. :)
Okay, so I'm a late in posting this. But that's okay. I love Fight Forever. Anthem Lights have been doing a lot of covers recently. And I like Best Thing. But this one's different. This one is like our battle cry as Christians. Well, sort of. When I think 'battle cry,' my mind's dictionary doesn't flip to 'pop song to challenge enemy.' Hm, no. Try 'discordant sound to challenge enemy.' But we'll call it a poetic battle cry (since my brain insists on being geeky).
I love the lyrics! They are powerful. Motivating. It's one of my favorite songs they've written. Tying with 'Can't Get Over You,' 'Where the Light Is,' and 'Hide Your Love Away' (so I can't pick an absolute favorite, must I apologize?).
The music video. I enjoyed the beginning of it. It was really well done. But, well. . . As a Christian and a novelist-in-training, I'm consistently being warned about how cliched most Christian media is. And one of those cliches is toning down just how dark evil is. Because we don't want to see how bad evil is. It's not clean. It's messy and wrong. And we tone it down to Noah in this cute little boat that floated on water that rose higher than mountains (maybe higher than mountains if you're not like me). When, really, Noah's ark resembled more a giant box than a boat. And it stormed. The first time it ever rained, and the clouds let it rip. Lightning, thunder, tsunamis, hurricanes, everything.
If we don't show the full force of evil, than how can we show the full force of God's love? If evil and sin aren't that bad. If it isn't that powerful, than when God saves us from it, well, He really must not be that powerful either. And it seems maybe we didn't even need Him. But none of that is true. Evil is powerful. It's sinister. It's bondage. It's sorrow. It's seething dark. I'm not saying we should take joy in it or be over-zealous in portraying it. But we should be honest about it. Realistic. Truthful. The stars don't shine at twilight. You don't need stars at twilight. They shine at midnight, at the darkest time. When you need to see. And every time I attend a Christian writers conference, it's jammed into my head more and more. To be honest about both the dark and light.
So I was a little uneasy when they fought the shadows with dodge balls. It was effective. It got the message of the song through. And I can understand why they wouldn't want to show, like, a real battle or anything but. . . I don't know. I felt it down played the impact of the song. But it's just me. Certainly I'm being over-sensitive.
All the same, my love for Anthem Lights has not diminished. I still love their songs. And I think their lyrics are very powerful, and courageous since being so unmistakably Christian is looked down on. And not only the lyrics, but the music is also excellent. They stand out. They have talent and aren't afraid to use it for Jesus.
And they usually are rather honest about sin and evil in their lyrics. All the time. Circles. I love that song. It's so accurate about a Christian's life, about my life. And what about Freedom Into Slavery? I love how realistic they are about what a Christian's life is like. I wish Christian books were more like that. Maybe the genre wouldn't be so look down on if it were more honest. And maybe that's why I'm slightly disappointed. Because they usually do show evil for what it is. And I expected it again. That's okay. It was just the music video. The song itself is still one of my favorites.
And I must say I like this lyric video best out of all of them. :)
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