Da Capo Press, 2006, 291 pp.,
$16.95, perseusbooks.com
Once upon a time, pop music was little more than escapist entertainment. The Beatles helped change all that in the 1960s, the tumultuous decade that also spawned the Jesus movement and its novel folk- and rock-based music. Now a veteran Christian writer explores the spirituality of the Fab Four, while a non-Christian rock journalist examines today’s Christian music scene.
England’s Steve Turner is a great and prolific writer who does a masterful job of describing the four Beatles’ long and winding spiritual journeys. John, Paul, George and Ringo not only stretched rock’s musical and lyrical boundaries, but also served as guides to millions of young people seeking transcendence in an increasingly post-Christian world.
“There were no precedents for Western pop singers as prophets, priests, or teachers,” writes Turner, who tells how the Beatles declared themselves more popular than Jesus, smoked pot with Bob Dylan, popped LSD, saw visions and hung out with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi before breaking up and moving on.
Andrew Beaujon covered bands like P.O.D. for Spin magazine before tackling this book project (the title comes from a T-shirt he saw at a Christian festival). He has also visited the Cornerstone festival, Calvin College’s Festival of Faith and Music and the Gospel Music Association’s annual gathering in Nashville. He interviewed tobyMac, David Crowder, Switchfoot’s Jonathan Foreman and the Tooth & Nail label’s founder, Brandon Ebel.
Beaujon succeeds at describing the parallel universe of Christian music, even though he does not share the musicians’ faith. And while he can’t stand most contemporary worship music (which he says sounds like “Christian pop scrubbed of any remaining hint of menace”), he admires most of the people he meets and praises edgy artists who wrestle with both their faith and their art — such as Dave Bazan of Pedro the Lion.
His central question is simple: whether or not “Christian music can figure out how to transform itself from being simply a lifestyle accessory to becoming an enduring part of American culture.” But it’s one question that remains unanswered in this intriguing book.
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Review by: Steve Rabey, editor, YOUTHWORKER JOURNAL.
