Danny ChaiIt’s interesting reading about what makes other people cry, and how it differs from me. Seems like the “sounds of multitude” is one thing that does it for Ted. You know what makes me cry most consistently? Things involving sacrifice. The scene that gets me to me most in The Shawshank Redemption isn’t the opera scene, which seems to get most people. That is a great scene, it just doesn’t make me cry. The scene I cry most at is when they’re on the rooftop, drinking beers. Heywood offers Andy a beer, and he refuses, saying he doesn’t drink; he just sits there with a bemused smile on his face. He didn’t risk what he did for himself, he did it for the others, and that’s how he felt free. Something about that, his risking himself for others, gets me.
It’s the same thing with the train scene in Spider-Man 2. I’ve seen it 3 or 4 times now and I’m pretty sure I cried every time. Reason being, in that scene, when the people see him without his mask, they realize that he’s just a kid, risking his life, sacrificing for them. Their recognition that, in some senses, he’s just a regular guy, and thereby coming to a greater understanding of his sacrifice, gets me. Even more when they respond by wanting to sacrifice their own safety to protect him from Dr. Octopus. Re-reading that sentence, it sounds ridiculous, but yeah, that scene brings forth waterworks.
So yeah, sacrifice is a big deal to me. Come to think of it, that kind of explains in part the lone song I had on the Baylight CD.
All that to set up that I’m really really digging this Matt Maher song, Lay It Down. You can listen from the imeem widget above (the full song plays if you click on the link and are logged in. SN. I have no idea how imeem is legal, but it’s awesome. You can essentially find anything on it, full songs, free, and legal. For example, here’s Matt Maher’s latest CD. Full! Free! Legal! Makes no sense! The site is so amazing that I don’t expect it to last for long, but I’m enjoying it while I can. You should too). I also really like how he plays it on New Song Cafe.
It’s not lyrically amazing, it’s not even that long a song, but something about it gets to me. The lyrics:
Lay It Down
Brenton Brown, Joanna Babyar, Matthew G. Maher
Everything I am
Everything I long to be
I lay it down at Your feet
I lay it down
I lay it down
I lay it down
At Your feet
Oh pearl of greatest price
No act of sacrifice
Can match the gift of life I find within Your gaze
Oh, what a sweet exchange
I die to rise again
Lifted up from the grave into Your hands of grace
It’s the line “everything I long to be” that hits me. It’s a really simple, short phrase, but it captures so much. It’s easy (or at least easier) to give what we have. But to give up our longings, our desires, things we want to do for ourselves, to give up not just our present, the things we have now, but our future, giving up things we will never have, giving up our ambitions and all we want for ourselves, and to know that it’s worth it: that’s much harder. Or at least it is for me. Giving up the present is much easier than giving up the future.
That element of sacrifice in the song really hits me, and I find myself tearing when listening to the song. It’s a great one.
Incidentally, I really enjoy that Maher CD. It’s held back by the fact that it has the same generic worship sound that all worship CDs have nowadays. But if you like worship music, it’s pretty good, and he does interesting things within those constraints, playing with creative chord progressions, irregular meters, and interesting lyrics. I’ve also been checking out YouTube videos of him, and he seems like a really nice guy. Kind of nerdy, a little self-deprecating, but able to write energetic music. Add up the personality, the strength of lyrics, and the touches of musical creativity, and I’d say he’s the worship artist I’d most like to be like. Except for the Catholic thing. Although, I sat through a lot of painful music in “progressive” masses during high school, and if he can change that, praise God.
Matt Maher. I’m a fan.