Monday, November 19, 2012

you're on my mind like a song on the radio












Desert racers have a term called "clean air," or "running clean," which means they are out front, with no one else's dust to eat. And they can not only see ahead, but behind them, and any cloud of dust approaching them is another racer making time on them. On our recent road trip in the car, I was reminded of clean air, or rather the lack of it, going through LA and points north. I don't mean the smog, but the clean air, or lack of it on the radio. When in a car I like to listen to local stations, who tend to play different songs not based on any preset format. Clean air let's call it, whatever mood the DJ is in, we can either rejoice in it, suffer through it, or change the station. And with so many so-called Classic Rock stations to choose from, they all sound the same. Until coming home through Santa Barbara, and we hooked into a small station for a while. Playing non-formatted music, Sgt. Pepper to be exact. And not just LSD, or A Day in the Life, but played three songs of side one-for you old album types, Fixing A Hole, Getting Better, and She's Leaving Home. To me some of the best on the album. And it took me back, to a time when FM was young, and so was I....
WABC was the hot station in New York, Cousin Brucie, Scott Morrow, and HOA lit up the dial. But a new style was forming called FM, and in the late sixties WNEW-FM became the first station to have no format. You heard groups like Chicago Transit Authority, before they became CTA, and now just Chicago. You heard the album cut of Light My Fire, not the gelded AM version. Quicksilver Messenger Service now just Quicksilver, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Lighthouse, Gordon Lightfoot before he could read your mind, and Hendrix Band of Gypsies. Music like Ten Wheel Drive that got you moving, all classics before the term went mainstream. I remember the night they played Abbey Road, both sides, non-stop, the day it was released. And we all were amazed, truly the Beatles good-by album was the best. Never gonna see that again. We listened as we heard music, not just songs on the radio. We were mesmerized by In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, and Whipping Post by the Allman Bros., and amazed at the harmonies of Poco. We heard horn sections, brass, and drums making melodies, with the sound of a leslie induced organ filling my soul. Whoever would have heard of LOVE, their Forever Changes album every bit as creative and exciting as Sgt. Pepper? We learned bass lines could be rhythmic, that Ringo perhaps was the most under rated drummer, and songs could flow one into another-it was music, and it was musical. And these three songs on this nameless station, while driving in a car opened up the floodgate of memories. If music be the sound of love-play on!
But not all stations play music, some are just bad, reminding us of how far music has fallen. I still wish I could buy a filter to keep both country and western from my radio. Or how I am reminded of trips across the Midwest, and listening to 5000 watt stations, with advertisements telling us that Louise's Get Gas and Eat Here will be closing at 7pm for her niece's birthday, but will open again at 6am as always. I miss the old ads that were so bad they had a charm of their own, and after a few hours of hearing about the sale at Briscoe's, you almost felt bad you couldn't make it. Two ends of radio, but both moving the soul. Making the foot bounce, the heart sing, or just becoming a new friend to a new town. Somehow although only listening, you were a part of it. No strangers here, just old friends we haven't met yet. With the best music yet to come, although it has been here before.
I find many times the Holy Spirit works like this. I keep looking for answers, and seeking up and down the dial of life. When the whole time God's still and small voice has been coming through. A familiar voice, a song I know, but sometimes seeking a song that I haven't heard before. Or one giving me a different alternative, one that is easier, but not as rewarding. But He is always broadcasting, long before we're up, and long after we go to bed. We are never out of range from His signal, yet it can be cluttered up by dirty air-stronger stations making a louder sound, but not producing the music only Jesus can. Sometimes a good beat, but when the song ends the feeling does too. It is only the spirit of God that can keep us going, who can make our hearts sing, and sing along with Him. It is only in the spirit that all the other noises are cancelled out, and we hear the voice of God purely, His master board using every range within our hearing, and some we have never heard before. It is only through God we can go places, see things, and hear things not available to the untrained or unsaved ear-it is only God who can stir the soul, taking us much deeper than any emotion. It takes Jesus, and a relationship with Him, and looking forward to hearing Him and from Him. Classic God if you will-not some prepackaged CD sold to anyone who will buy into it, but fresh and new every time you hear Him. The songs He plays are just for you, until you get together with other believers, and find out again, they are just for you-all of you.
God was for clean air long before smog became a problem. Or dust clogged your throat, or AM radio clogged your mind. Set your dial on Jesus, and let the good times roll. Hear the drums, dig on the harp, and the harpsichord. Groove with a bass line you never heard, and find yourself in a harmony with the one who created music. No 45rpm version, or AM version-you get the whole song uncut. You get truth it the way it was written, and the way it should be played and lived. You get Jesus!
I still like the classics, just not someone else's idea of what I should like. God knows, and has a whole set written just for you. Tune in, sit back, and enjoy the music. Switch off the TV, sit with Jesus and hear it all. And later gather with friends and groove on His love. Like the DJ once said, "put it in the first groove and let it wail!" Never knew Jesus was so groovy, huh? Classic love-24/7. Playing in hearts everywhere-set a preset for Him today in your heart. You will not be disappointed.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com