Thursday, June 21, 2007

we need some more honest & devastating Christian music.. "Make it a Double"

The original studio recording of the song "Double".... by genius Michael Knott

(who , like here, sometimes records under monikers like LSU) 

is devastating,
           prophetic,
                                       stunning...

complete with trash can lids played as drums. by Steve Hindalong

The juxtaposition of the Saturday night and Sunday morning realities..
                          too honest for church?

          That's precisely while we'll play it Sunday.

It's from a brilliant (half punk and half ballad) worship CD, "Grace Shaker"...

and the song makes complete sense (not common sense) in the context of a "worship"album...much in the same way "Eleanor Rigby" counterintuitively belongs on The Violet Burning's classic "Strength".



Double

and you're sittin' there wondering why is it like this
and the whole world's crazy and the earth is sick
and someone's yelling from the bathroom door
the toilet's overflowing on the floor
and the one by the phone says i cannot hear
while the one by the jukebox spills his beer
and the man on the pinball hits sixteen mil
someone ducks behind the counter to pop a pill
and you reach in your pocket to see if there's more
and the biggest bill falls so you're left with four
and you're too gone to look but you still try
then you see it in the hand of a great big guy
who looks just like he'd kill you fast
and you think for a minute
you let it pass

and the stool falls over when you set back down
it bumps a mean pool shooter from across the town
he misses his shot - it's all on you
and with your last four bucks you know what you'll do
sorry man can i buy you a drink
and he shakes his head and says, make it a double

the next thing you know you wake up at home
and the little one there won't leave you alone
she's awake and hungry
she needs some potty help
and you remember what happened last time she tried it by herself
and your wife says hurry, we're late for church
and you can barely see
and your head still hurts
and the preacher starts preaching
and you feel remorse
he's got five little kids and a big divorce
and your wife looks down and says she don't know how
he's been her guiding light for ten years now
and his marriage is over, it's barely alive
and how in the world will ours ever survive?

and the stool falls over when you set back down
it bumps a mean pool shooter from across the town
he misses his shot - it's all on you
and with your last four bucks you know what you'll do
sorry man can i buy you a drink
and he shakes his head and says, make it a double

Studio version:



"Double" live (note Michael's apologetic comment at the end, he knows it's devastating):


Here, he laughs abut how it's "depressing...but it's not in A minor, though.  So it could've been worse":

"Double" live, by Knott/LSU in a very small club with a rocked up version:

 This version below, close to the original, does includes one word change:
"How in the world.." becomes "how in the hell...".
It's by his "secular" band and on a "secular" label, because we all know only "secular" people talk like that (:
---

--
In other songs in Knottland, "Grace" live:




Grace

striving for the answer
in fighting for the streets of gold
hope you're not forgotten
you wonder if you've killed your soul
i've heard the words of judgment
but not from the one i know

it falls down on me
it falls down on you
grace falls free
the proud feel the need to work the loom
yet grace falls free

holding up to heaven
the winnings of your plow
look into the poor man
show him what he must do now
you've got all the answers
but he's got a book that shows him how

it falls down on me...

think about the river
how it always flows
they're still digging in the desert
but that's not where this river goes
it's filled with all the living
and quenches every wantin' soul

it falls down on me...

3 comments:

  1. How cool. Three years after my post above, someone FINALLY uploaded the studio version of the song to YouTube, so i just added it.

    Bonus: the video has scrolling lyrics, so it's ready for sing-along in church!! (:

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  2. Thank you for the awesome live video and the comments on this awesome song! Mike Knott is the unknown genius of the rock world--thank you for shining a little light.

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  3. you're welcome, Matthew..you never know how the word gets out

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Hey, thanks for engaging the conversation!