The gospel according to Good Charlotte
I have to be straight up front here, I’m not a fan of Good Charlotte. I’ve never got over their 2002 album The Young and the Hopeless with songs on there such as Lifestyles of the Rich and the famous, Girls and Boys and Anthem. Being the hardcore punker that I was when that album came out, I couldn’t stand their pop lyrics and tunes mixed in with what appeared to be an “I want to be a punk rocker” image, which especially annoyed me when they played up to their mixing with the likes of Rancid (hardcore punk band), and so I put them in the same bracket as Busted, the type of band who pretend to be punk because it was cool at the time but really they’re just pop. I have been assured that this album was a low-pop-point for the band and that their other albums are more punk!
Their latest album, Good Morning Revival, was released in March this year and has already had the single, Keep Your Hands Off My Girl, released from it. The album itself is full of songs that are sprinkled with despair. The song, Misery, is rife with it, with lines such as “Yeah I heard, that misery was looking for me; Happiness is a face that don’t look good on me”. Then there’s A Beautiful Place with lines such as “Father, can we start over?…I wanna feel the way I did back then; Before my heart grew cold.” And
there’s Something Else with the lines “We all want something; We all want something we can’t have.”
In the midst of the sprinkled despair comes the song The River, (out today) a song of despair that is also reaching out in hope. I was working away a few weeks ago in front of the TV with MTV2 on and on came this single, and it really caught my attention. Have a look at this live version below:
I’ve always said when sharing my faith in a Grill a Christian type event or some similar setting, that I’m always going to keep coming back to ‘the Bible says this’ rather than this is what I think. Why? Because if it’s just what I think then why should anyone care? There have been stupider people than me…a lot actually. There gave been cleverer people than me…a lot actually. There have been people who could articulate themselves better or worse than me…a lot actually.
At the end of the day, ‘if I’m just adding to the noise’ then why bother listening. I don’t want people to hear my thoughts on a subject, after all who am I? Why on Earth should my opinion or arguments effect them? What I desire is people to find out what God has said, with regards the gospel and salvation, but also on all manner of subjects touched upon in His glorious word.
Question: “What do you think about….?”
Answer: “Well the Bible says…. and I’m inclined to agree.”