"have you a mirror?"

My wife Jennifer and I we're invited to a World vision event a couple of years ago. The focus of the evening was to raise awarness about the AIDS epidemic there. We sat through just two hours of presentation and dialolg, which I honestly could have spent in the movie theater on this rare occasion that Jen and I get to go out together. And by the end of the evening we were trying to figure out how we could budget the financial support of an entire villiage for a year...eeeek!

Anyway, I was moved. And convicted. But also confused at why it took a multi-thousand dollar banquet to move me...

the next day I sat down with my guitar and a simple song began to pour out:

Have you a mirror?
That holds your gaze?
It's shiny eyes stare back at you
And make you feel unsafe.

(This was a quick song writing experience. Rarely do I write a song in one sitting.)
The Mirror is of course not just the "shiny" kind but anything that we use so that we can better see, or define, ourselves. I am a very competative person and I naturally use other things and people to relfect back to me my place in my world - (this song is definately my own confession)
The idea of bettering ourselves for its own sake is an incredibly hard thing for me as an christian- american- white male with a wife, two kids, a dog, and a house in the suburbs.

I have seen it in your face
And felt its cold embrace
And question why we live this way.

Are you lonely and unfamiliar
With different lands out there?
Who are your enemies?
I'll bet they're unaware.

This fear that I have about uknown things has greatly diminished as I see more diversity come closer. I see many, even in my own family, that feel threatend by it.
I think it is out of ignorance.

Oh, you can build a wall around you
and try to make them change,
But I won't believe that's the way...

I thought that contrary to the idea of starting with the man in the mirrror I might as well try to forget about the me in the mirror and participate in the creation of anything but. The reality is still that we need our own perspectives and passions to get anything done. So maybe forgeting the "me" is more about the result not being about me.

To hold a baby,
Provide a need,
Plant a garden right.
Turn around that mirror.
And draw upon its back

Some things that I hope for:

All you ever wanted
All that's good and right
Everything that's holy and pleasing in His sight.
And Prayers that have been answered.
Mothers treated right.
Fathers hold their children
And we'll make through the night.

It's about being a blessing, renewal, calling each other out of ourselves and into creative action.

Hollow Song Unmasked

Hey, Cory here. I thought I would go ahead and give some background on my songwriting and discuss one of my songs. People frequently ask what comes first, the music or the lyrics and I would have to say that much of the time for me it is the music. It seems that sounds, chord progressions, rhythms dictate certain lyrical content as well as specific words. They just end up "sounding better" than other words and you stumble upon something that works. I use stumble quite intentionally as much of what I write is sort of a guess and check. I try things out and see how they sound and if I can play them several times over and don't want to throw up, I keep it. Even so new songs that have not been revealed to anyone other than the creator are scary.

I wrote "Hollow Song" not knowing what to expect. The song seemed to be about more than just one thing and didn't know if I was writing two different songs. To help explain, here are the lyrics:

Sometimes I feel that the world is full of broken hearts
Sometimes I see that the world is full of broken hearts
Sometimes I beg for peace to find its place
Sometimes I hope for the wrong to make a mistake
But it seems that I'm not outside of my own observations
And it seems that I'm not the only one to make a mistake.

I've got a broken heart, I know I've broken hearts
The pain's the same either way
I want a better way, not listening to what you say
You're bringing me nothin' but worthless pay.

You're singin' a hollow song,
You think that it's hallowed
Cuz everyone's followin' it
It's matter of right or wrong
And only just politics
And everyone's cashin' in on it.

Definitely, you're makin' a statement
You're searchin' for a dollar in the dimes of our lives
Definitely, you're poundin' the pavement,
It's only just a moment 'till you slip past our eyes.

Tell me somethin'
To make this a little sweeter
Tell me a lie to make this a lot less like me.
Well isn't love just a weakened condition
An apparition in the shallows of our loneliness.

Sometimes songs are quite autobiographical, for example at the time this song was written I was broken hearted and I did feel it was just as hard to be on the other side of things. But this song though inspired by romantic heart break is actually a heart break for the world. I have become increasingly disenchanted with philosophies of life that say, "take what is yours", "get all you can", "win at all costs", "more money means more blessing". And there is a "you" that is being accused in the song. That "you" is a metephorical personification of those types of philosophies particularly present in the circles of corporate America that I have encountered. This is not by any means an anti-America song, nor is it even an anti-capitalist song. It is a song of mourning for a loss of perspective that I myself have been guilty of. Money and material happiness can take the place of real love, real time, real sincerity of heart, real vulnerability with one another. The need for others, for help, for counsel is often seen as a sign of weakness or illness. It is reserved for the "special" wounded individual and not as a basic strength of all people. From a business perspective, business to me, seems to be too much about what you can get from people rather than being an avenue of connection, of relationship building, of community. This song is not a call to give up our country and our businesses and live in a commune somewhere. It is a reaction of a writer. It is a call for a different perspective. (this song is on our new EP)

...it started out a common conversation... Thanks for taking the time to check out our new blog. First off we want to let people know about our band called Olivia.Olivia has been in existence for the last two years and we've recently finished our E.P. that you are welcome to download at http://homepage.mac.com/lookoutdesign/olivia. This is a temporary download site until we get a functioning website. You can go to our existing website www.oliviamusic.com, but don't expect much. This blog will afford Ben and Cory (the songwriters) the opportunity to write about the lyrics of existing songs and those that we do not speak of. It will also give Dustin a chance to explain the reason for his incessant use of the G chord. We have also been exploring and discussing the role of music in society and the church and we would like to continue that conversation on a grander scale. Feel free to enter into this conversation with us. We are all from Minneapolis and in addition to Olivia we contribute to the music at Solomon's Porch Church. We see music not merely as entertainment but as something that breathes, inspires, challenges, compels, evokes, and speaks to us when words fall short. There's more to come.