Alright folks, this one won't be for everybody. But just to keep things interesting, this week's song is All Creatures by the up and coming singer/songwriter Josh Garrels (click either link to visit his site, and the song will play automatically).
Garrels has a funky quality to his voice that's instantly attention-grabbing, and this song's groove is just so cool and refreshing that I loved it immediately (it kicks in at about 0:45).
Lyrically, it's quite different than the stuff I usually recommend. Garrels begins with a catchy chorus that borrows the first verse of the familiar hymn, "All Creatures of Our God and King." Then he quickly launches into a fast-paced hip-hop flow about the marvels of creation, God's masterful design in it, and its deep groaning for restoration. I admit: I don't necessarily "get" all of his lyrics, but those themes stand out for sure. Ultimately, it's just a cool, unusual song that calls on all of creation to praise the Creator.
Hope you enjoy. If not, come back next week.
(click here if you're interested in purchasing his music)
All Creatures
by Josh Garrels
all creatures of our God and King
lift up your voice and let us sing
o praise him, o praise him, alleluia
creation sent to me the centipede
to witness the complexity of 100 legs
that were moving unexpectedly
ironically just as they were meant to be
they’re fearfully and wonderfully made
an organism praising, circadian rhythms
sun will rise and then the sun will set
and then the sun will rise again
so lift up your head, this is life
not a static object preserved and displayed
like a relic of the dead
you are not a fruitless tree with a rootless disease
growing in a bucket in a rich man’s home
next to the tv, tamed and alone
learning to lust for the things you don’t own
like an armchair warrior who’s been dethroned
declawed and fixed, fighting for your life
with unattended slit wrists
don’t let your name get intermingled with the number
cause it’s time to awaken from the devilish slumber
to freely follow the forerunner to the fatherland
and rally 'round the renaissance man
and the wisdom of his ways and all the work of his hands
catch come as catch can
concentrating on the good words of the Son of Man
the plan is to withstand
the demands of a confused oppressor
a wolf in sheep’s clothes with monotonous lectures
and questionable gestures, unequal measures,
cultural pressures and synthetic textures
force-fed instead of the most beautiful architecture
of our long lost forgotten origins
birds see fiber in the blood of my kin
and that old rock where we confessed our sins
o my God, fellow man, in this great land
they all cry out for full restoration
and this’ll take patience
and this’ll take the tribes and the tongues of all the nations
and all of creation groans in anticipation
waiting for the Son of God to be manifest
i can feel it burning in my chest
the liberation for the oppressed
and it’s beautiful like the feet that bring good news
beautiful like this freedom tomb
beautiful like the power to choose to change
beautiful like the long awaited rain
beautiful like the healing pains
beautiful like the holy flames, coming down
all creatures of our God and King
lift up your voice and let us sing
o praise him, o praise him, alleluia
