Setzer on religion

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/beard200401070909.asp


An interesting read from a few years ago. In the article they fail to mention Brian's previous mention of his faith in "Three Guys" on "The Knife Feels Like Justice"

"Father son and the holy ghost
They're three guys that I like the most
Everybody say a prayer each day
A word for Jesus lights the way"

Very interesting, thanks for posting

Thanks for posting that, Andi. I remember reading it a few years ago - I even stored it on my hard drive so I'd always have it.

I think it must have been the Christmas season of 2005. I'd heard the BSO was going to be on the Conan O'Brian show. Too late for me to stay awake, so I taped it and watched it while on the treadmill the following morning. They played "Angels We Have Heard On High", which I absolutely was not expecting. To be honest, I was kind of offended at first. I'm pretty serious about my faith, and my initial feeling about the performance was that it wasn't very respectful. But I watched it again, several times, and I prayed about it. And I came around to this: it's a joyful noise unto the LORD, which is exactly what He wants us to make!

Read the Bible: David offended some people with the way he praised God. But God Himself says that David was a man after His own heart. So if God's not offended, what does that say about the people who were offended?

Well, anyway, I wish there were more artists out there who profess their faith, but keep on rockin'. The two things shouldn't be mutually exclusive! Admire Setzer, but don't worship him - save that for the One who is truly worthy!

Bear85 wrote:

Well, anyway, I wish there were more artists out there who profess their faith, but keep on rockin'. The two things shouldn't be mutually exclusive! Admire Setzer, but don't worship him - save that for the One who is truly worthy!

Wise words! Couldn't have said it better myself. Keeping everything in perspective can be difficult for us all to achieve. You sound very grounded, and you're heart's in the right place.
Happy Holidays!

Bear85 wrote:

They played "Angels We Have Heard On High", which I absolutely was not expecting. To be honest, I was kind of offended at first. I'm pretty serious about my faith, and my initial feeling about the performance was that it wasn't very respectful. But I watched it again, several times, and I prayed about it. And I came around to this: it's a joyful noise unto the LORD, which is exactly what He wants us to make!

Just curious, Bear, why did you initially feel their rendition of it was disrespectful, and had you not heard it before on the cd?

Good question - I had to ask it myself to come around to the way I feel about it now. I had not heard any part of the CD up to that point. My knowledge of the BSO was only that they'd had a hit a few years earlier - I was familiar with Setzer, of course, but I didn't own any Stray Cats or BSO recordings at the time. That Conan appearance is what made me a fan.

My love of Jesus Christ and my love of rock 'n' roll occupied two parts of my heart that were pretty much separate. The knowledge that I had eternal life in Jesus filled me with joy; rock'n'roll was just fun. I'd gotten into the habit of joy without fun as regards my spiritual life. When I saw the BSO performing "Angels", I wasn't ready for the fun, to put it simply. The galloping beat sounded more like "Peggy Sue" than a hymn, and the guitar, the horns, and of course the vixens, were just a little more than I could assimilate into my way of thinking about worship at the time.

My goal as a leader in my church is to strive to get the idea across that worship and fun are not mutually exclusive! Unfortunately, a lot of people (not just in my church) have it in their head that if they're sitting in church they should be acting like they're at a funeral.

Bear85 wrote:

My goal as a leader in my church is to strive to get the idea across that worship and fun are not mutually exclusive! Unfortunately, a lot of people (not just in my church) have it in their head that if they're sitting in church they should be acting like they're at a funeral.

Thanks for taking the time to answer, bear. I completely agree, that worship does
not need to be somber to be reverent.

Ok, here goes, I know I'm gonna go againest the grain as I don't follow any organized religions for various reasons. As far as I'm concerned, my daughters are the be all and end all of my existence. I'd do anything for them.
I still don't say Merry Christmas/Happy Easter etc, rather Happy Holidays as that means to me enjoy time with your family. And I don't mean any disrespect. Having said that, I still think that if you follow any organized religion, and it works for you, that's great. I respect people on their beliefs and admire them for it. I just have had so many things happen in my life that it makes me wonder if there is a God, why me?
Anyways, I remember seeing a vid clip with the Cats playing Bring It Back and on Brian's Ted jacket he had a painting of Christ on the Cross. Does anyone else remember seeing that? Funny story associated with how I remember that clip. but I'll save it for another place.
Hope I didn't offend anyone, it's just my view.
Happy Holidays, Pete.

It's all about respect, folks. And I am so glad that people respect each other here. (We don't always agree, but we do respect one another). It makes for interesting conversation and builds stronger relationships when people can speak their mind. Life in a "yes, man" world...kinda boring!

Bear...keep pressing forward with your goals at your church. You'd be surprised how many people enjoy upbeat worship music, but are afraid to express it in church. Sometimes, when we grow up in that environment (solemn and still) it's hard to break out of it, even though we "want" to.

Pete, Thanks for speaking your mind.


I remember hearing "Angels we Have Heard on High" live at one of the last BSO shows I went to. It gave me goose bumps and shivers. Sung and performed with feeling and sincerity...I loved it.


Merry Christmas,
hrg

Hot Rod Girl wrote:

You'd be surprised how many people enjoy upbeat worship music

Indeed, that's why I find gospel choirs to be a thing of absolute beauty.
I think being able to praise and give thanks to your faith & beliefs through the power of music is simply magnificent

if you look at some of early pics of Brian with or without the Cats, he is wearing a Catholic Cross, so maybe religion was always important to him?

Thanks for posting, Andi. I think I read that a couple of years ago.

I agree with Bear, it took a minute or two to get used to hymns being included on a Rockabilly album; not because of the Rockabilly side of it, but because, like Bear, I thought that a degree of respect might be missing. Now I absolutely love Brian's version of O Holy Night. He seems to sing it from the depths of his soul; it's quite touching and meaningful.

The song (or at least part of it) "Three Guys" was written in tribute to Brian's friend Pete Farndon, the original bass player for The Pretenders. Pete died of a drug overdose in 1983. "Tribute" is probably the wrong word. Brian has dedicated the song to Pete, and mentioned him in interviews about the album. Essentially, the tragic loss of Pete (and Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott a few months before Pete) to drug use put Brian in an introspective frame of mind. At that time, Brian said he viewed drugs as "a waste of money" and judging by the chorus Andi posted, it appears Brian felt there was a different answer available in one's faith. Here's the lyric about Pete:

Hey little Pete what you go and do
I should have knocked some sense into you
Came in swingin' and you went out hidin'
Twenty four hours of horse back ridin'
Well this is just a make believe world
One two three kick one two three jump
There's one thing I'll always remember
I'll love you much more than just a pretender

I don't know why, but I thought I read where Brian said he was also paying tribute to James Honeyman-Scott, the Pretenders' lead guitarist who also OD'd the year before. And yet in reviewing the lyrics (on the Hoodoovoodoo Lounge Lyrics Page - yes, it's more than just a message board) I couldn't find a specific reference to James. And when the question was asked on a Trivia Contest in 2005 via the Unstoppable, Untoppable former version of the official site, only Pete Farndon was mentioned.

I love the Pretenders, I love Stray Cats, and it's fun to imagine how cool it must have been for those two bands to be hanging out in London back in 1980-81.

Brass In Pocket-billy

Bear85 wrote:

My goal as a leader in my church is to strive to get the idea across that worship and fun are not mutually exclusive! Unfortunately, a lot of people (not just in my church) have it in their head that if they're sitting in church they should be acting like they're at a funeral.

That's a cool thing man!!
Church can be a lot of fun, when I had my confirmation we played "Everybody needs Somebody" by the Blues Brothers to open it.

Bear85 wrote:

Well, anyway, I wish there were more artists out there who profess their faith, but keep on rockin'. !

Professing your faith, hmmm by having tattoos of pin-ups, and playing songs with lyrics that would not be sung in church? It's a big pet peeve of mine when people "profess" their faith when it's to their advantage, but still live like they dont once they leave church grounds. Like the "I'd like to thank God" parts of speeches on awards shows.

Hmmm - guess Ill be banned from this forum now too.

PPK,

I understand your point, and I agree. I've given a lot of thought to why people turn against organized religion, and it seems to me that the main reason boils down to what is perceived as hypocrisy on the part of Christians. When a Christian is living in some kind of sin, and that becomes known, it's used as evidence that something's wrong with Christianity. The thing to remember, though, is that Jesus doesn't make His believers perfect - He just makes them forgiven. So the sinner repents, asks for the help of the Holy Spirit to overcome their temptation to sin, and goes on striving to live a life that's pleasing to God.

But all that's not to say that real hypocrisy doesn't exist in Christianity. If entertainers or athletes or whatever other kind of celebrity spend a lot of their time making public statements about their faith, and are living their lives in a way that is totally oppisite what they've been saying, that's hypocrisy. The fault of that doesn't lie with God, though; the fault lies on the shoulders of the hypocrite! So then we're back in the first paragraph...the sinner repents, and prays for the help they need to do better. But in the meantime, Satan has used this sin to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of everyone who see what's going on. (Of course, there's a whole other realm that shoots past hypocrisy and lands squarely in the middle of evil - clergy who abuse thier positions of trust to take financial or sexual advantage of their parishioners...but that's not what we're talking about here.)

I can't judge Brian Setzer's heart; I can only take him at his word. Does he say he follows Jesus? OK, then he follows Jesus. Has he done things in his life that didn't follow God's will as written for us in the Bible? Of course he has...but then again, so have I! I'm not friends with him. I have no idea how he treats the people in his life; I have no idea what he does in private. But he's like any other believer - God will judge him based on how he lives his life, not just on the words that came out of his mouth. That's also in Scripture: Jesus said that not everybody who says "Lord, Lord!" will enter into the kingdom of heaven.

As an aside, I just want to thank you guys for your posts on this thread - I hope Andi doesn't feel I've hijacked it to badly. This is quite a little discussion we're having here, isn't it!

Merry Christmas, and God Bless Us, Everyone!

Bear, I agree with everything you've said; and said very well. When someone complains that the church is full of hypocrites as their reason for not attending, it's probably a good thing to remind them that they buy their groceries from hypocrites, service their cars with hypocrites, and do a myriad of other things with hypocrites in addition to probably being guilty of a little hypocrisy themselves (my too...). That is not a sufficient reason to reject Christ because there "might" be hypocrites in the church; there will be hypocrites in the church - guaranteed!

Well, politics and religion are two topics that are usually bound to stir up trouble when conversing with other people. However, being that most all of ye here are reasonable people, and since it is Christmas time, I will offer ye some words of wisdom on both topics.

First to politics. Well, to me, it's real simple, as the naval form of government is thus:

The Captain is in command. If he is found unworthy of command by the crew, he may be subject to mutiny, and be removed from his post. Checks and balances, right there. However, I happen to agree with Capt. Jack, as the deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers.

Which brings us to the second topic of religion. This is more complicated, but perhaps the thing to remember is: Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged Yourself, which fits into everyone's talk of respect. I have no qualms whatsoever with an artist expressing or being inspired by their faith through song, as Setzer has done several times with St. Jude, 3 Guys, Angels We Have Heard On High, O Holy Night, etc. which have already been mentioned, as well as on Love is Repaid By Love Alone, which hasn't yet been mentioned. In fact, I pretty much agree with the point he is making, especially on St. Jude, although again, to each his/her own. On the other hand, I don't have any respect for those who use/exploit religion solely to satisfy their own purposes without regard for others among the living, dead, and/or a higher power(s). At the end of the day, week, month, year, lifetime, it's not just about living forever, but living with yourself in how you lived forever.

Again, those be my thoughts, hopefully I haven't offended any of ye with them. Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays and/or Yo, Ho, Ho! to all of ye.

Capt. Jones

Guys please stay away from religion because one mans religion
is another mans poison sooner or later some daftie will say
something here they will reggret
ha ha hope its not me

Actually the amount of respect that everyone seems to have for all of the various views on this touchy subject is impressive and heart warming; especially at this time of year.

You guys must all be catholics, since you see nothing wrong with being part of this forum.

matt wrote:

Guys please stay away from religion because one mans religion
is another mans poison sooner or later some daftie will say
something here they will reggret
ha ha hope its not me

+1

Any post that has Religion in the subject line is bound to end up in a sh*t fight.

Bear - who ever said I was against organized religion, you just assumed that.

But yeah - those 2 subjects will only get you into trouble - almost as much as the gravy verses tomato sauce on meatloaf!

people use gravy on meatloaf? I thought it was always tomato

Pinkpiratekitty wrote:

Bear85 wrote:

Well, anyway, I wish there were more artists out there who profess their faith, but keep on rockin'. !

Professing your faith, hmmm by having tattoos of pin-ups, and playing songs with lyrics that would not be sung in church? It's a big pet peeve of mine when people "profess" their faith when it's to their advantage, but still live like they dont once they leave church grounds. Like the "I'd like to thank God" parts of speeches on awards shows.

Hmmm - guess Ill be banned from this forum now too.

Music is a-moral, but it is a key to the heart..
If the heart is not in the music, its insincere in any form.

Setzer's music/Art is sincere.

I am one to testify of being a follower of Jesus' teachings, on and off the stage.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=48957129