More Music Monday

Last night with my youth we did a "learn to discern" exercise with Paramore's "Misery Business." Right now we are doing lots of discussions and talks on "biblical love." We are asking questions like, "What does biblical love look like?" and "Where do you get the power to love like that?" So last nights discussion was mainly about looking for echoes of biblical love in the video and lyrics. None was really found. This is really disturbing for a number of reasons but mainly because the songwriter and lead-singer Hayley Williams says she is a Christian and this is her most honest song. I found out about her confession of her faith because she was apologizing for the line "God, it just feels so good." She was afraid or had been made aware of how offensive this might be to other Christians. What I could find no apology for was her vindictive arrogance in the lyrics. We discussed the fact that she apologized for breaking one of the big 10 but possibly sees no problem with her attitude displayed in the lyrics and music.

Hayley Williams has a remarkable voice which is best seeen below in the acoustic version of the song. She hits some amazing notes and has an infectious "stage presence." At only 18 (and from Meridian, MS.) she has become one of the more recognizable voices in altenative music.

Paramore is not some fringe band. They were nominated for a grammy and they have two songs in the "top 100 songs" downloaded on itunes.

Below is the music video for "Misery Business which has been watched over 22 million times on itunes. Below is an acoustic version of the same song which really shows of Williams' chops.