Fifty ways

Last night's practice was cookin', I tell ya. I hope that means that Sunday will go well and we won't have any of the faux pas of last Sunday.

We skated through some oldies without a hitch, and covered some new material that wasn't terribly complicated, and it sounded rather decent.

The drummer last night was Neal, who's just incredibly gifted. We were stopping for some kind of technical issue with someone else, and he just impromptu started playing the opening drum riff of Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover". The guy is amazing; he had it exactly right. I recognized it immediately... now I've got it running through my head.

After practice was over, we were all kind-of on the "old rock 'n roll songs" vein, and I started playing "Beth" by KISS. Everybody started singing it; Neal even joined in with some light percussion. It was hilarious. I'm glad it was just us musicians and sound guys there; the fogeys might've flipped out. heh

I'm of the opinion that music is to be enjoyed -- it's only a tool, and can be used wisely or foolishly. In my own mind, there is no "secular" and "sacred" music. Stuff that gets air-play on radio stations is not automatically forbidden to the Christian. Yes, there are songs with messages of hopelessness and despair... but those have just used the music to convey the truth of a Christ-less life, in my understanding. I am not against using music, ANY music, as a tool to display truth. Jesus even said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Free from the bonds of religious rules and regulations... free from sin... free to LIVE to the fullest.