A 2 Part Series – Part 1

The Internet, especially when it comes to music, is an ever-changing world. Watchfire Music, in order to be a leader in the Inspirational category, must also be an ever-changing company.

Lately, and once again, we’ve been putting this “Inspirational” term under the microscope and studying and discussing how its definition might evolve. Once again, we’ve been asking ourselves, “Just what is Inspirational music?”

And once again we’re secure in a reshaping of that definition to include within our borders a widening of the umbrella.

The impulse came to me in many different ways because of my day to day dealings and discussions with artists and their new music. Here are some of the reasons why we have widened the umbrella.

In looking back over my own life in music I asked myself what were some of my most inspirational moments. I’ll never forget rushing one day on the way out the door late to an important meeting and being frozen to the floor by the DJ’s announcement of a new Beatles’ single and then standing helplessly before my radio as it played “Hey Jude” knowing full well that I was going to miss the meeting deadline, but not caring. The song was that overpowering, the moment just that riveting. Then, instead of rushing off to the meeting, I rushed to the record store to buy the single.

I was totally blown away by this song whose lyrics sang:

Hey Jude, don’t make it bad.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.

Hey Jude, don’t be afraid.
You were made to go out and get her.
The minute you let her under your skin,
Then you begin to make it better.

And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain,
Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders.
For well you know that it’s a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Na na na na na na na

Not exactly the world’s greatest lyric or even a particularly Inspirational lyric. So what inspired me? What just blew me away?  It was the music, of course. After all, who was this Jude guy? We didn’t know and we didn’t care. And what did all those “Na na na na nas” mean? Haven’t got a clue, but the music they rode on swept up a nation in its wake.

The Beatles were the most inspiring musical act of my life. Some of their songs were lyrically Inspirational – “Let It Be” comes to mind, but others were just musically inspirational, and we were all fine with that.

It was twenty years ago today,
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They’ve been going in and out of style
But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile.
So may I introduce to you
The act you’ve known for all these years,
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,
We hope you will enjoy the show,
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,
Sit back and let the evening go.

Again, not exactly an Inspirational lyric, but it’s still down there in my bones today. I was shopping in a store the other day and it was playing over the store sound system and I had to just stop there in the aisle and listen. I was inspired all over again.

These two instances got me to thinking. Also several submissions from fine new artists who you’ll be hearing from very soon here at Watchfire stimulated the change and prompted us to re-investigate the definition. These new artists were writing more about the human condition than the spiritual condition and yet their music reflected such a high caliber of musicianship that it was truly inspiring.

Take Jenny Burton’s new CD, Released, as a case in point. (Release will be up on Jenny Burton’s inspirational artist page next week available for purchase and download.) On it she sings a song that comes out against cheating in relationships.

Two shadows in a doorway
Sweet temptation on a Tuesday night
Hot love in a hotel room
In the middle of the afternoon

Nasty rumors gonna haunt me
Secret rendezvous are all we’ve known
Feelin’ so guilty ’bout the sneakin’ around
And the whispering on the phone

And I’m so tired of livin’ this way

Why must we be so indiscreet
We never face it but the truth is we cheat
The lies we fabricate
Tryin’ to keep our stories straight
Just don’t make sense

It’s just lies lies and more lies
Pounding hearts and hungry eyes
In all honesty
I don’t know what’s become of me
Livin’ like a tramp on the street
Why must we be so indiscreet
So indiscreet
So totally indiscreet

This song puts the problem that haunts millions of marriages right out on the table and then calls a spade a spade. It is what we call an Issue Song. It raises the human consciousness by putting the issue out there before us and then telling the truth about it. These lyrics are suggestive without being offensive, but do deal with the problem of infidelity head-on. They are not sensual for sensuality’s sake, but evocative to make a point.

So we ask, “Is this an Inspirational song?” Does it inspire you to rethink your marriage, your office flirtation? Does it remind you of who you are, who you’d rather be? We hope so. We want our music to inspire better lives above all.

More on this same subject tomorrow…
(You can now read part 2 of this article here.)

For more inspirational music and thoughts from Peter Link, please visit Watchfire Music.