Why Porter Ain't Here

Whether it's a local physician, educational leader, political figure, or religious guard, "what happens socially when leaders lose their bearing?"

Lyrics: Jeff Kreh

He was a doctor who liked to drink too much coffee

among other things, he also liked his bourbon and beer

didn't mind performing surgery while intoxicated

which was fine 'til someone died and he got twenty years

That's why Porter ain't here

That's why Porter ain't here

That's why Porter ain't here

Anymore

Another doctor 'round the same time with that small Southern-town logic

rallied with his brothers, grabbed the white sheets and headed for the sticks

burned the very symbol of the god he worshiped every Sunday

and I heard that he got sick

yeah, I heard God made him very sick

Chorus

There was another many years ago with no such problems

did His job in ways for free, Science just still can't explain

but around the time these Porters were performing their injustice

they took this guy out of schools

and since then it's been insane

Chorus

Nothing Again

Begins from the beginning of my spiritually aware journey, wondering, "if nothing comes from nothing, how can this existence just turn into nothing at the end?"

Lyrics: Jeff Kreh

When I was six or seven

I learned to play with Plato

read all those stories and looked deep in the mine

Then older, maybe many

many “olders” later

I turned around to leave, surprised at what I could not find

And I, who once believed in nothing

tried to comprehend

all this melting down

into sum nothing again

When I look on my TV

it's not the way life should be

it's not the mother who feels like she'd like to lose her child

It's wild and over-happy

but not the kind that's sappy

it's real, oh so real

it's real, oh so real

Chorus

So I sit all contemplative

if real then why the waiting

why not just come and show us right where you are

Look around at all this sorrow

no childhood joy to borrow

dressed up and messed up and crawling cross the floor

Chorus

Under the Sun (Ecc. iv.1-2)

Look through the Preacher's glasses to ask, "why is it 'okay' that there are oppressed children in this world who have no one to comfort them?"

Lyrics: King Solomon (adapted from the ESV)



Again I saw
all
the oppressions
done
under the sun

And behold
the tears
of the oppressed

Little children have
no one
no one
no one to comfort them

Song Titles (a teaser)

I mentioned in my last post that I was rediscovering Bob Marley and the Wailers for the first time again... The saturation certainly worked to help out with a new song! "Under the Sun" is too quirky-cool to be anything but the first cut. Instead of go on and on about how fun it is to take the "Paul McCartney Approach" of pretending to be another person and then try to write in their style, I'll launch into the track list and offer a brief question that the lyrics raise in my mind:

1. Under the Sun (Ecc. iv.1-2): a look through the Preacher's glasses to ask, "why is it 'okay' that there are oppressed children in this world who have no one to comfort them?"
2. Nothing Again: begins from the beginning of my spiritually aware journey, wondering, "if nothing comes from nothing, how can this existence just turn into nothing at the end?"
3. Why Porter Ain't Here: whether it's a local physician, educational leader, political figure, or religious guard, "what happens socially when leaders lose their bearing?"
4. Ishmael: holding my 4-month old son the day the towers came down, I couldn't help but ponder, "just how far back is our present geopolitical upheaval rooted?"
5. Hear: in marriage, as with any other relationship, when we can no longer agree to get along, "how can we begin to be 'we' again?"
6. To Any Looking In: it's a bit arrogant to assume the world notices religious efforts, so to be fair, "if (not when) the world thinks 'church', what does it see?"
7. I See You: "what does Jesus look like from our time/space distance to one who desperately wants to believe?"
8. Remote Control: when those in charge just keep holding their hands on either side of your face, forcing you to look into their eyes, and continually repeat, 'everything's fine, it's all okay, everything's fine...relax, trust me...' despite your most rational protest, "what then??"
9. Anymore: in a consumer-driven society oblivious to being played for profit, "how much is enough? What is enough?"
10. Lift the Veil (2 Cor 3): "if I'm spiritually blind to what I'm spiritually blind to, then how can I ever hope to see without a little help from a sight-enabling friend?"
11. Born to Die: I believe He was 'Born to Die', soooo, "why keep that story silent?"
12. My Beloved and Me: "what does sharing the story of eternal love look like in 21st century culture?"
13. The Land of Endless Day: an invitation which simply asks, "why in the world would you wait when the world offers nothing at all?"

I'll be posting the lyrics to these songs very shortly (and the final order is far from settled...). Please make comments to those which somehow connect with you and do me the honor of letting me know how or why. Also, be critical!! Lacking omniscience, I can use all the perspective you have to offer...

My hope is that "least" will help people who question the "right" answers they've been handed through life as they keep looking for The Answer. Thanks for participating.

-jdk

a little update

Spent the weekend gathering materials for pre-production. Here's the basic way I approach the production process:

1. Pull together lyrics
2. Record a rough-draft of the lead vocal and primary instrument
3. Determine musical influences already present in the song
4. Envision other influences that will compliment the song
5. Lay down the pre-production tracks in the decided key and tempo
6. Slice up the song and rearrange it to make the song either flow better or become disjointed as needed
7. Settle on the desired instrumental, chordal, and rhythmic textures
8. Record, record, record
9. Edit, edit, edit
10. Mix all along the way (allowing time between hearings to refresh my ears)

I've budgeted 100 hours in the studio for this project and have already spent 12 of those getting about half the songs to stage 7 and the other half to stage 4. Around 30 hours into the production process I hope to have all the songs to stage 7 and begin gathering the textures for layering the final sound. The 50 hours between pre-production and post-production (editing and mixing) involve a lot of playing around to experiment with sounds and arrangements.

One "new" influence for me is Bob Marley. Tim has tried for years to get me to listen to the guy's tracks. I finally check him out and can truly say that his recipe for sound is tasty... The bassist's sound is especially intriguing (as is his brother's drum sound). A tricky thing in production is to make the low-end clean enough to allow for a driving rhythm, yet open enough to allow the other parts to be heard with clarity. The Wailers were simply amazing at this, both in the studio and live, from what I can tell.

So, part of the process of designing this project is to surround the lyrics with a sound that invites listeners to listen. There's a lot of good sound out there with spiritually distracting lyrics. I'm glad Henig and I have spent some time studying up on The Beatles and other groups over the years. Glenn Miller may even end up influencing the sound (what an arranger!!). But in the end, this project will be about the lyrics and melodies. All the innovative chordal, rhythmic, and ear-candy tricks in the world won't make up for a deficiency in message.

I'll be posting the list of songs, if the Lord wills, later this week and rolling out lyrics for reviewers to start picking apart. One challenge is that I'm leaving room for at least one completely brand new song to come forth out of the wilderness that is this mind. It's a bit thorny and dry in here these days. However, the refreshing smell of the coming rain swings sweetly in the breeze...

"least" (at last) - Overview

Well, my proposal for the Capstone Project has been approved. This means that unless things go completely haywire, the Master's of Ministry program will be completed, if the Lord wills, this December.

So, you may be asking, "what exactly is the Capstone Project?" Over the past 31 semester hours of study several "practical ministry" courses have been consumed. These are not your "Bread" courses, but rather how to serve "Bread" (hoping everyone sees the biblical tie-in and that the intent was not so much "studying the Word" as "exploring ways to help contemporary culture see the Word as relevant"). The Capstone Project is a student-designed way to integrate the previous learning into a single, powerful, relevant exposition of learned concepts.

My proposal involves exposing family, friends, acquaintances, and current strangers to lyrical ideas that explore cultural, spiritual and religious issues we face each day. The Capstone Project involves three basic stages. The first is recording a set of songs that are lyrically thought-provoking, musically interesting, and culturally relevant. The second stage is presenting these songs to others, in group settings and individually, for the explicit purpose of generating conversations about the issues the lyrics address. The third stage is to synthesize the results of the conversations for presentation to my evaluators before graduation to the next level.

So. What exactly does this mean for Jeff Kreh? I am embarking on a ministerial experiment to test whether music can be used in the same basic way any other form of advertising is used by the church. We advertise with our buildings, newsletters, dress and rituals, office answering machine messages, sermons, and a multitude of other things - all with the intent and purpose of introducing souls to a greater and more meaningful relationship with Christ. This project will reveal whether a song-based method of attracting and engaging souls is relevant.

To be clear, this is not a "praise & worship" project. These are songs directed, in the main, outward and away from "spiritual" Christians . I define "spiritual Christians" as those who have come to faith in Christ on His terms.

This involves listening to His Word, accepting His claim of Lordship, repenting of the will to rebel against His Lordship, proclaiming Him in word and deed as Lord of their life, and submitting to His example and commands for life. Scripture gives baptism into His name for His stated reasons of the forgiveness of sin and gift of the Holy Guest as a key turning point away from rejection of and toward reconciliation with God.

But being a truly "spiritual" Christian means continuing to progressively submit every aspect of life to Christ, not to self or some "institution". These messages are specifically designed to challenge the assumptions of "institutionalized" Christians and non-Christians.

The main purpose and intent of the song-based material is to establish relationships between those souls who are seeking a spiritually significant life and those who are bearing the fruit of being transformed into the image of Christ. This begins with engaging each other over common issues so that we can share our story of a common struggle and our Savior as the common cure (extraordinarily common and simple in profoundly disturbing ways though He is...)

All of these songs are both from a Christian worldview and instrumentally accompanied. However, in the words of a mentor, "these are not songs that I can see being performed in a worship setting." Anyone concerned for me about this will, I believe, understand what is meant by this statement when they read the lyrics...

I ask that you join me in praying for my Capstone efforts during the course of this semester whenever you see “6:14” on a clock (my birthday is June 14, hence “6:14”). Please pray especially that God's will be done and that He bless me with emerging wisdom and a sensitivity to opportunities for influencing souls He entrusts to my presence.

...