You Need To Breathe

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.”

  

 To me, music is one of life's greatest art forms. Music can carry so much power. It has the power to unite people, it has the power to build people up, it also has the power to motivate people. The right kind of music can also have the opposite effect on people. Music is one of life's true beauties. When people listen to music they shouldn't just hear it. Instead, they should really listen to it. This has become one of my favorite things to do, listing to music and trying to interpret what the artist is trying to say. Many artists say some truly great things. It has been said that music is the highest form of worship, and the angels in heaven just sing forever.

   

“In the Mass, music that blends both spiritual and artistic excellence is liturgical – it is sacred. Such music has the ability to cultivate, strengthen, and deepen the spiritual experience of those gathered for worship. The musical tradition of the Church is a treasure of immeasurable value.”

(I am not going to talk about liturgical here)

Music is very important and is very powerful. Last semester, I was able to attend a few concerts with some friends and going to concerts just made me love the artists and the music even more. Although I went to a few concerts, the best by far was NEEDTOBREATHE! They had Mat Kearney open for them and he was amazing. His songs, the lights, and the show in general were all so amazing. It is hard to put it into words. Then NEEDTOBREATHE came on and they were a hundred times better! I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it. I was there with a friend, and it was one of those moments where you want to say something about it but there weren't words so you just sit there in awe. We didn't want it to end.

   

I listened to NEEDTOBREATHE plenty before that and loved them, but after seeing the show my appreciation for them just grew and grew. I started listening to just them for a while, both their new and old albums. I probably listened to some of their songs close to a hundred times. And every time I heard something new in each song. Their newest album “Hard Love” shows me that these guys really understand love and how to do it. For example, the song “Be Here Long,” is about the loss of one of the member’s grandmother. He says “I gave you the best of me. Loved you more than anything.” This is about his grandmother, not his wife, or his daughter. “I gave you the best of me.” Loving, NO matter who it is you’re loving, requires you to give all you have in that relationship. Obviously, that means different things depending on the relationship. (Read: “Never Stop” for more of my thoughts on Loving like this.) This is one example that tells me that NEEDTOBREATHE knows what going on.

   

Even the band’s name is meaningful. It is about seeking and needing God in the same way that we need to breathe. When asked about the name this is what was said: “We kicked around a bunch of dumb names but finally settled on this one. It’s a story that our drummer, Joe Stillwell heard when he was younger. It’s about Socrates, that he was teaching students along the water. One of his kids asked, ‘how will I know if I am really seeking after God?’ Rather than answering, they’re down in the water, he dunked the kid’s head in the water and wouldn’t let him up. When he did, gasping for air, Socrates said, ‘When you want God as much as you need to breathe, you’ll know you’re really seeking after God. It beats all the other stupid names that we came up with.” If that doesn't convince you to listen to NEEDTOBREATHE then maybe this will. I am going to write the series of posts about some of their songs, and give you my interpretation of what the band meant when writing it.

Just my thoughts

Go with God.