Elbow, ASBO’s and The Parable of the lost son….

I believe that ‘Nature herself has imprinted the very idea of God’ (Cisero) and that is one of the reasons why i love music. I love buying a new record, putting it on my iPod and listening to it for hours. I love pouring over the lyrics, reading up about the writer of the song, their history, their influences, why they wrote what they wrote, it totally fascinates me.

And Elbow have written 5 of the best records money can buy. They are not just musically brilliant, the lyrics, themes and motives behind their songs make every listen more interesting.

Elbow have recently been through some massive success, their fourth album ‘The Seldom seen Kid’ quite deservedly won the Mercury prize, the result of which pushed them out of the underground into the bright spot-light and a massive arena tour this month (and of course a much-coveted appearance of one of their songs on Match of the Day).

Guy Garvey - lead singer and unofficial poet laureate of a generation - said that the pressure of writing another stadium-filler type record was immense, and so went back to his roots for inspiration. A situation that a certain Arcade Fire found themselves in not so recently. Guy went back to his childhood for this record, back to where he grew up. And what a record it is.

Build A Rocket Boys! is a great mix of traditional Elbow material and their new found stadium success, and it is filled with ideas, beautiful lyrics, powerful choruses, choirs, strings and heart-warming themes. And there are two tracks in particular that I’ll be using in my ministry as a Youth Minister.

‘Lippy Kids’

Lippy kids on the corner again
Lippy kids on the corner begin settling like crows
Though I never perfected the simian stroll
The cigarette scent, it was everything then

Do they know those days are golden?
Build a rocket boys!
Build a rocket boys!

One long June I came down from the trees
And curbstone cool
You were freshly painted angel walking on walls
Stealing booze and hour long hungry kisses

Nobody knew me at home anymore
Build a rocket boys!
Build a rocket boys!
Build a rocket boys!

I recently saw Elbow live, and he introduced every song with a story or some background. This song is about Young People. He explained that one day he noticed a gang of youths hanging out outside of his house. His immediate gut feeling was that they were up to something; ‘Lippy kids on the corner begin settling like crows’ and that he needed to protect his family. He quickly realized that they were just kids, hanging out, with nothing better to do, probably bored out of their brains. And he realized that the ASBO society we are growing up in is encouraging chasm the size of wales between young and old.

I see this song as a message to the older listeners of Elbow. How do you view young people? Are your views being distorted by an ASBO culture? You were young once! Remember that? ‘Do they know those days are golden?’ How can we help to stop this growing disassociation between young and old? How can we change peoples views of young people from ‘Lippy crows’ to ‘freshly painted angels?’

Open Arms

You’re a law unto yourself
And we don’t suffer dreamers
But neither should you walk the earth alone

So with finger rolls and folding chairs
And a volley of streamers
We can be there for tweaks and repairs
Should you come back home

We got open arms for broken hearts
Like yours my boy, come home again

Tables are for pounding here
And when we’ve got you surrounded
The man you are will know the boy you were

And you’re not the man who fell to earth
You’re the man of La Mancha
And we’ve love enough to light the street
‘Cause everybody’s here

We got open arms for broken hearts
Like yours my boy, come home again
We got open arms for broken hearts
Like yours my boy, come home again

Everyone’s here
Everyone’s here
The moon is out looking for trouble
And everyone’s here

I love this track. It was an unofficial theme for this years comic-relief, quite fitting i think. But how much does this song echo a story told by Jesus? Luke 15: 11-32 is the story of the lost son, a story of redemption, forgiveness and love.

I look at the lyrics of this song and think of the father in the bible story singing it, a man who has seen one of his sons disappear, squandering his share of the inheritance ‘You’re a law unto yourself’; whilst his other son has stayed home, working and obeying the will of his dad.

At one point this ‘son’ is described as ‘not the man who fell to earth, you’re the man of La Mancha’ La Mancha is a region in Spain - and the name means the dry land or wilderness.

This son was created by God to be a perfect creation, to live and work with God, to have a relationship with him. But humanity today is in ‘La Mancha’ we are wandering alone in the wilderness, apart from God, apart from our father.

But there is redemption, there is a way back. In the bible story the son comes home and the father greets him in a way he never expected;

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15: 20)

Our God throws his arms wide open for us.

He is ALWAYS looking for us. And the invitation is always there. Are you a person of La Mancha or a person who is wrapped up in the arms of God?

I could write a conclusion, but Guy Garvey writes better than me;

We got open arms for broken hearts
Like yours my boy, come home again