Weโ€™ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
Weโ€™ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

about

And now I'm going to go a little apocalyptic on you. In this next song, the narrator looks forward gleefully to a breakdown of society which he perceives to be imminent and the heap of trouble that it will put everyone but him in. He speaks disparagingly of high-heeled shoes and designer jeans, and he gloats condescendingly about how he will be safe and sound in his underground shelter while everyone else is fleeing chaos and danger.

Christians are typically very sincere in their (our) belief and in their desire to help others to live better lives and be happier. I don't mean to disparage that in any way. But thereโ€™s a weird arrogance that goes along with it sometimes. Which is understandable, I suppose. After all, one important lesson of the Book of Mormon is that pride gets the best of anyone every once in a while.

In southern Germany, where I served an LDS mission, we were discouraged from using a local greeting which was perceived by some as taking Godโ€™s name in vain. โ€œGrรผรŸ Gottโ€, which is short for โ€œGrรผsse dich Gottโ€, means โ€˜May God greet theeโ€™. In its shortened form, however, it can be interpreted as a command, โ€œGreet Godโ€.

I remember a humble and very pleasant couple on my mission who were refugees from a German region of Romania after World War II. They welcomed us missionaries into their home every chance they got, and they were always eager to be helpful in any way they could. If it can be said of any person that they are without guile, then that was certainly true of this couple.

And yet I still remember the surprise I felt when this loving sister, with a gleefully devilish look in her eyes, described the sarcastic response to this greeting which she routinely gave people when they used it on her: โ€œDanke, ich richte es ihm heute Abend in meinem Gebet aus,โ€ she would say, which translates approximately to โ€œThanks, I'll pass that on to Him tonight in my prayer.โ€

credits

from Folk Song of the Fringe - ๐™​๐ฌ​๐ฟ ๐​๐ช​๐‘ ๐ฒ๐‘‚ ๐‘„ ๐™​๐‘‰​๐ฎ​๐‘Œ​๐พ, released July 29, 2020

license

all rights reserved

tags

If you like Two For The Show, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now