David Bazan is the main songwriter of Pedro The Lion and for years he was the only permanent member of the band. He is the most honest and open artist both in his lyrics and interviews that I have ever heard. I have struggled with whether or not to write about him on this blog because most of his songs are dark and depressing without any moral point to them. They just are what they are. There are some, mainly from his earlier albums that are spiritual in nature and easily relatable. Because he is so open and honest in his writing it is easy to think of him on a more personal level, like a friend. That is why it saddens me that a couple of years ago he formed an agnostic view of faith. This concerns me not because I think now suddenly he is a bad person, and not even because I am worried about his future in eternity because that has already been settled. It concerns me because he has been an inspiration to seek God through hard times and now he is not sure that God is there. I just hope that he gets past whatever he is going through and finds peace and God again.
This song was written several years ago when he still believed in God. It is about frustrations with organized religion as well as personal trials of faith. And it is pretty self explanatory. I heard this song while I was driving today and I decided to write about it after thinking about how it related to comments on my last post.
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Secret Of The Easy Yoke - written by David Bazan for the album It's Hard To Find A Friend (1998)
I could hear the church bells ringing
they pealed aloud Your praise
the member's faces were smiling
with their hands outstretched to shake
it's true they did not move me
my heart was hard and tired
their perfect fire annoyed me
I could not find You anywhere
could someone please tell me the story
of sinners ransomed from the fall
I still have never seen You, and somedays
I don't love You at all
the devoted were wearing bracelets
to remind them why they came
some concrete motivation
when the abstract could not do the same
but if all that's left is duty, I'm falling on my sword
at least then, I would not serve an unseen distant Lord
could someone please tell me the story
of sinners ransomed from the fall
I still have never seen You, and somedays
I don't love You at all
if this only a test
I hope that I'm passing, 'cause I'm losing steam
but I still want to trust You
Peace, be still (x3)
they pealed aloud Your praise
the member's faces were smiling
with their hands outstretched to shake
it's true they did not move me
my heart was hard and tired
their perfect fire annoyed me
I could not find You anywhere
could someone please tell me the story
of sinners ransomed from the fall
I still have never seen You, and somedays
I don't love You at all
the devoted were wearing bracelets
to remind them why they came
some concrete motivation
when the abstract could not do the same
but if all that's left is duty, I'm falling on my sword
at least then, I would not serve an unseen distant Lord
could someone please tell me the story
of sinners ransomed from the fall
I still have never seen You, and somedays
I don't love You at all
if this only a test
I hope that I'm passing, 'cause I'm losing steam
but I still want to trust You
Peace, be still (x3)
1 comment:
Yay, Pedro the Lion!
"...it saddens me that a couple of years ago he formed an agnostic view of faith..." I agree; I had never heard of Pedro the Lion before until Jamie (founder of TWLOHA) referenced the band in his story of Renee and when I finally looked them up about a year ago, I was kinda bummed to read that he had that agnostic view.
Clearly, had he contrasted with the overall story that Jamie was writing back in 2005/2006, I doubt that he would have mentioned them. And even then, he was apparently on the brink of changing views.
I really like the ending of this song especially with how it all ends with "peace be still."
Nice post.
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