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Christianity Today Reviews Letters to the Editor, Vol. 1

Christianity Today did a great review of Andy’s new record Letters to the Editor, Vol. 1. I know a lot of Andylanders emailed the magazine, and some actually called, and let them know about the record so that a possible review could be written. Just proves to show how affective this type of music production is. Well done, fans, for spreading the word, and well done, Andy, for putting out such great tunes.

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Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates

So here we are at the last of the song reviews for Letters to the Editor, Vol. 1. I have enjoyed writing my half of the ‘reviews’ and have definitely enjoyed reading Chris’ half. It has been pretty exciting as we have seen more readers make their way over here to the AO.net world and we hope that the frequent posts have been helpful and fruitful enough to keep you coming back! So now here is my last review for this record:

Swing Wide The Glimmering Gates

From the comment on Andy’s blog [here] about how great it would be to have a song with the line, “Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates,” it struck a major chord with Andy. He picked a melody for the chorus and had it stuck in his head and sang it around the house for two days, driving his wife nuts (You’ll hear Andy admit it tomorrow on the interview Chris had with him ). It stuck with him. “Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates.” It’s an action packed statement. I’ll admit, when I first read the comment I thought it was nothing too special. It did make me stop and think, putting a beautiful picture of Heaven in my mind, seeing the gates swing open wide inviting me to eternity of Joy in Christ. But I moved right on to the next comment to see what others had to say.

And when I read the tracklist for the first time and noticed that familiar line, “Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates,” I smiled. And really, for me (and, what seems to be, most others), its my favorite song on the record. It grabs me. It speaks my language. I can relate to the words and can keep listening to the tune. It hits the heart of my struggle on earth to keep and contain love. The times we feel so empty and alone are the times that will make Heaven all the more unbelievably incredible.

I think we get caught up in the snare of believing in Jesus because we’ve been told to over and over again. And we hear all the time about the faith of children. It’s so simple. So unencumbered. And we ache to believe like that again, so as to not make our faith another checklist in our busy, American life-style.

[And I feel it, I taste it
This longing to be free
Oh, the joy of believing like a child
So you, you there listening
Will you send up a prayer
For me
To help me find the light]

[Swing wide the glimmering gates]

The song speaks of hope in what is to come and how we ache for it. One day our eyes will be made wide open and we will see the glory of God. We will see what we have been aching for and what our adult minds can tend to wrap rules around. We will believe like children again.

[One day I believe
I will open up my eyes
To see the good work that was begun
And I'll be the only thing I've ever wanted to be
And I'll know that I belong]

How awesome. I am constantly encouraged by this song and I know that it will have an impact on the way I hear music for years to come. And one of the best parts about this song is that Andy had his readers record the ending background vocals, lovingly referred to as Webground Vocals®. He ties the bow on his record written with help by his readers, with the voices of his readers. Being included in something like this is very special to me, and I know it grabs the hearts of his other fans as well. Thanks for including us, Andy. We look forward to seeing what you’ve got coming up in the future .

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I caught myself
Looking in the mirror
Wishing I was someone else
Cause I was born
With a bleeding heart
And veins of loneliness

And I know it, I’ve seen it,
I’ve held it in my arms
But love can’t seem to break me down

And I’ve pleaded, I’ve begged
And I’ve bloodied my eyes
Just to feel it
To believe it will stick around

Swing wide the glimmering gates

I told myself
The habits and secrets
Were just to get me through
To get me through the nights
But I got lost
In a world of angles
In a city of greys and lies

And I feel it, I taste it
This longing to be free
Oh, the joy of believing like a child

So you, you there listening
Will you send up a prayer
For me
To help me find the light

Swing wide the glimmering gates
Leave your pride and pain
Swing wide the glimmering gates
And be innocent again

One day I believe
I will open up my eyes
To see the good work that was begun
And I’ll be the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be
And I’ll know that I belong

Swing wide the glimmering gates
Leave your pride and pain
Swing wide the glimmering gates
And be innocent again

–Song url is from a google account set up for the Square Peg Alliance Virb site–

The Blessing Curse

Back to something more serious after yesterday’s Anna and the Aliens. Andy starts out The Blessing Curse with some of the layered vocals that are such a hallmark of this album. He layers them up through all the interludes in the song, showing quite a vocal range. Oh yeah, and then he starts to sing.

I got robbed today
He put a gun up to my chest
And would not go away
Til’ he had everything
But he did not leave with everything
Cause I’ve got things you cannot steal

This story of being robbed while on the job came from one of Andy’s blog readers. And here we come to the heart of this song: that there are things that can be had that cannot be taken away.

Her brother’s coming home
It’s been too long
He fell too far
But mended bones
Do not fix everything
But we can heal, I must believe
That we have things this world can never steal

Here we get a picture of a man coming home, I’m guessing from war. Broken bones can heal, but there are wounds that are deeper. Here he holds out the hope that there is healing even from these deeper wounds, a peace that can be found that will counteract the pain of this world.

Maybe getting what you want is a blessing
Cause you may find that it can sting and it can burn
What if it’s just a hint of all that you are missing?
Getting what you want is both the blessing and the curse

The vocal on this chorus reminds me of some of the vocal stylings of another one of the Square Pegs, Andy Gullahorn. Beautiful.

Folks can’t believe my job
But dying never stops
So I keep building boxes to put it in
But the life already said goodbye to grief and sin
And it rose up like a ghost
The love, the joy
The chosen soul still holds the things
That death can never steal

This verse came from a story of a person who builds coffins for a living. What a job, to be constantly reminded of death. But again comes the hope, that the soul holds things that even death cannot steal. The song ends almost abruptly, but I think that serves only to draw more attention to the point. There is hope.

Anna and the Aliens

Having gotten past the first batch of more serious songs on Letters to the Editor, Vol. 1, we arrive at the “fun” song. Anna and the Aliens starts out as a summer-of-love, drive-fast-and-run-away-with-my-girl song.

Anna and I grew up in a small town
She was the prettiest girl for miles around
Well, I fell in love and she followed me down
I knew he’d have my head when her daddy found out

We headed north on 75
Just us and a New York state of mind
The radio said the stars were going to fall tonight
We parked on a hill, laid down on the hood
Things were heating up like we knew they should
Until one of those stars kept falling, nearly took our lives

Andy is admittedly a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, and has said that he was consciously looking for that tone in the lyrics of this song. It feels to me like a feel-good Americana summer rock’n'roll song. Andy also gives us something almost Dylan-esque in the vocals here for a couple of lines. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an Andy vocal quite like this before.

And then everything changes.

The crash was the loudest thing I’d ever heard
A hundred miles away it made a cloud of dirt
There was a glowing green and our hair on end
I walked to the rubble and looked over the edge

You and me, we’re finally getting out of this town
Anna, you and me, we’re finally getting out of this town

The song has to have a twist, and here it is. Hey, there’s more than one way to get out of town. Is it cheesy? You bet. But it’s a lot of fun. Andy shows us a playful side here that we haven’t seen since who knows when. I’m thinking I’d like to see him do this one live. What fun.

You Leave No Shadow

–Day three of the reviews… Chris is making me write two in a row. –

[This may not be your last song
And I hope it finds you well
I hope it lets me find where you have gone
The good became so wrong
I hope it finds its way back home]

“Sometimes we want something so bad we’ll settle for just a small passing reflection of its value. Even if a shadow was found it could not be held. But it’d be better than absolutely nothing.”

You Leave No Shadow is a sad song. I have sat here, listening to it multiple times and have found that it is hard to discern exactly what Andy is trying to say. But there are definite layers of meaning in these lyrics. And I think it speaks to losing someone very loved. Not by death or by other tragedy, but by the loved one willingly choosing to walk away because of something completely unexpected [...Snuck up like a tornado, knocked us over and we watched you go, praying you'd finally slow down, before you got to someone else...]. I have never experienced anything like this before. But I can imagine how hard it would be to see someone you love so much walk away and not know where they ran off to. Hoping they find their way back home. The song might have been inspired by this comment on Andy’s blog.

The song has a very soothing tune. It is a hopeful sounding melody with deep, rich tones. It too is constantly flowing, always moving. In an 8/8 time (I believe), and sliding lyrics, its good music to listen to as you are winding down, though, still sad and thought provoking.

I am impressed with the lyrical structure and still unaware of what the complete and exact story is. Which is good, I think. It leaves the listener playing it again and again, and getting something new out of it with each listen. That is something I appreciate.

Well done, Andy. Well done.