Monday, September 01, 2003
(6:34 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
Shine 89.7
One unfortunate biproduct of my recent trip to New York was the loss of my radio antenna. I usually listen to Chicago Public Radio in the car, but without the antenna, virtually the only thing that comes in is Olivet's radio station, Shine 89.7 (in an interesting Freudian slip, I first typed "Shit" and had to correct it to "Shine"). I have listened to it for approximately two days now, and I can't take it. The smugness is overwhelming. There's an Eminem sound-alike in the Christian world now, and he has a song directed toward "the real Slim Shady," preaching to him about how he has to quit being so offensive and accept Jesus into his heart. Eminem Jr. does appreciate Eminem Sr.'s love for his daughter -- that's ground where the Holy Spirit can begin building in his life, I suppose. There are songs that mention the momentous choice between heaven and hell, the importance of strong moral values, the need to put racial divisions behind us, and all manner of positive messages.
The thing that's missing in all this is any kind of sensuality. The music, even if it can be creative or clever, is never pleasurable in any direct way. The instrumentation as well as the vocals are almost invariably sterile -- too perfect, too nice. The only thing that makes the ultra-polished mainstream pop music tolerable is the sexual edge, and Christians are apparently not allowed to have that, at all. In so doing, however, they almost completely miss the point of popular music. Rock music is about sex. Rap music is about power and sex. Pop music is about approachable sex. According to my observations, Christian music is ultimately about not-sex. The most that mainstream Christian moral teaching can offer, beyond simple "common sense" niceness, is restrictions on sex. That is an understandable position to take on many levels. Restrictions on sexual passion are always going to be necessary due to the intense emotional charge that sex carries with it. Christians are often correct in pointing out that there are some people who advocate a complete sexual free-for-all, naively believing that if we would just stop repressing things, the planets would align and all would be right with the world. The mainstream Christian teaching on sexual morality is not completely stupid and worthless, but it definitely makes for some shitty, boring music.
(I must give credit to Robb, who, in a personal conversation many months ago, pointed out the lack of sexual edge in Christian music.)
