Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Lifehouse skit, and cigarettes on sale at Berean Christian Store

I wonder what Lifehouse thinks about the amazing phenomenon
of 9, 620 returns for a google search of the terms 'lifehouse' and 'everything.'
( here):
the first several pages of returns seem not to be the expected music video, or mp3, ringtone, and lyrics sites....

but skits done in churches all over the world.

I mean, this is, after all, by a popular group on a mainstream label.

But is there a church, ministry, Bible school, or youth group that has not yet performed a version of this drama set to the tune of LIfehouse's "Everything?"

Could someone searching for a music video, or a clip of Lifehouse doing this song in concert. even find it?

What's really cool about this song is the band did it at the Winter Olympics (watch)
and allowed it to be used in theWB network drama "Smallville." (here).
That's where the hunger is.
This is a band of Christ-followers who have followed Christ...into the world.

The catch is this is a six-year old song from their first album that now suddenly explodes in churches set to a skit.
How do they feel?
Do they receive royalties?
Even though the band has decidedly Christian roots, they have never tried to be a "Christian band."

But in fact they are the only "secular band of Christians" I have ever heard on our local Christian station (I actually saw a note under the 'L' section of our local Christian book/music store that Lifehouse CDs were available, but behind the counter...isn't that hilarious? Maybe there were condoms and pornography back there, too.)

I am thrilled they are on the Christian station.

As long as all this press about their song being used in churches doesn't leak so much they get banned from mainstream radio..where I am even more thrilled they are to be found (:

And have the Christian stations done their homework? How did Lifehouse get approved?
Did they read this interview with drummer Rick Woolstenhulme (in which he drops the "S" word..
I guess that's not the cardinal sin that was Evansence's F-bomb, which was dropped in their famous/infamous interview....and got the immediatelt dropped from Christian stores).

Are there any misconceptions you'd like to clear up?

Definitely. (laughs) From day one, we got pigeonholed into being a Christian band or a religious band. We still get that, but at the end of the day, it’s definitely not a Christian band. We are just a full-on rock band that makes records, that tries to make the best albums we can. We’re not in any kind of genre or pigeonholed into any kind of… we don’t have any title, entitlement or anything. We’re not a religious band, we’re just a rock band.

PS LATER NOTE:
If the wikipedia article on the song
is accurate, it may be that the early band itself may be behind the skit:
The song has become known for its Christian skit, most widely known as the "Lifehouse Everything Skit", which was created during the band's early youth group days.
Although their lyrics contain some Christian themes, Lifehouse prefers not to be labeled as a Christian band and this allows them to reach a broader audience. While Lifehouse is not a Christian rock band, Jason Wade says that his songs are open to interpretation and that the lyrics he creates have different meanings to different people. The song ultimately became a fan favorite.
link
This CBN article traces the origin of the skit to a 2006 idea of Tom Houston of Mission Baltimore, a more likely scenario.
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The last time I remember seeing a U2 record in a Christian store was so long ago that it WAS literally a record (the "Wide in America" EP, an import version), and the price tag was strategically placed over the cigarette hanging out of Adam’s mouth! What a picture of the church’s sincere but sincerely wrong strategy. And of course, you may have guessed by now that the record was buried...in the cut-out rack..the comparable "ghetto" of the Christian stores! About the same time era, I remember having to bribe a Christian store employee (thankfully, it was my wife!) ..to sneak me a contraband copy of a 77s record that was conveniently stocked for all customers to see (not!)…in the storage room!! And the church is not yet over that disease, I see, having noted recently at that same store... under "L" section, Lifehouse was indeed available…behind the counter!….I assume alongside the cigarettes and condoms.
-"Is there such a thing as Christian music?"


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