The Source of the Echoes
The Questions Music Strives to Answer
So why the name Echoes and Answers for a Substack account?
Good question.. glad you asked.
The short answer is a belief that all music is a response… an echo if you will, to God’s design.
Let me explain.
The first two chapters of Genesis burst with the supremacy, beauty, and artistry of God. The locus of His creative work is none other than the Garden of Eden. It is there where God places Adam and his helpmate Eve to work and take care of the garden. Those words can also be rendered as “cultivate” and “guard.” What a mind blowing grace of God to create and then involve human beings to exercise dominion and replenishing of that lush paradise.
Tragically, Adam and Eve believed the lie that they could operate autonomously from the Lord and have no need for the Lord in creating moral categories on how to live. Because of that fall, humanity would never be the same again. The emotional weight is palpable as we read in Genesis 3 of God banishing our ancestral couple out of the garden… but not before clothing their shame and loading their hearts with a promise.
This explanation is certainly not original. Years ago, Jarram Barrs wrote “Echoes of Eden: Reflections on Christianity, Literature, and the Arts.” and he made a helpful observation that:
“All great art will echo these three elements of Eden: Eden in its original glory, Eden that is lost to us, and the promise that Eden be restored”
An additional thought is to not only think of Eden as a way to process, enjoy, and discern the arts and music in particular but also to look at the overarching biblical framework of creation, fall, redemption, and glorification. Each of these categories carry important theological and philosophical questions. The following are examples of these questions and the echoes of these questions that pervade modern songwriting:
CREATION- Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? What and where is my value? What is true beauty?
One example of hearing the echo from these types of questions can be found in the lyrics of “Human” by British artist Rag’n’Bone Man: “Maybe I'm foolish, maybe I'm blind / Thinking I can see through this and see what's behind.” “I'm only human after all / Don't put your blame on me.”
FALL- What is fundamentally wrong and diminished in human existence? What is the biggest problem facing us individually and culturally?
The echo of an inner instinct of our frailty and flawed human nature can be heard in Imagine Dragon’s song “Demons”: “When you feel my heat, look into my eyes / It’s where my demons hide.” “Don’t get too close, it’s dark inside / It’s where my demons hide.”
REDEMPTION- What is the cure for our deepest sickness? Who or what do I run to for significance and comfort? Is deep change possible? How can I survive the justified wrath of God?
You can hear an echo of these questions and a proposal for redemption in the famous song from The Beatles, “Let it Be”: “And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree / There will be an answer: let it be.”
GLORIFICATION- Where is life heading? Is life hopeful or meaningless? What propels my life toward the future? Is there life after death or is this simply it?
Both in creation and our individual consciousness lies a yearning for the eternal and final resolution to a sinfully broken world (Rom 8:22-23; Ecc 3:11). Even a casual listener can hear that echo and ache of longing in Steven Tyler’s voice with the Aerosmith song, “Dream On”: “Dream on, dream on / Dream until your dreams come true.”
The simple assertion of this article is that every stanza, stroke of color, movie script, and chord played is explicitly or implicitly interacting with many or all of these questions. Every painting and piece of music is offering a part or the whole of a grand story. But that does not mean that part or the whole is true. What is true is that what God has done in Christ to redeem sinners for His renown provides answers to the questions of the writers and the artists and actually provides a life of human flourishing.
Until next time..
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
-Bob Dylan