Viva La Vida Review

Dear readers (if there are still any of you out there),

I want to apologise for the lack of posts on the blog lately. Last minute cramming for the exams has been distracting us from our more important job of blogging! I promise that you will have plenty of posts over the summer, especially in the next few weeks as posts which have languished as ideas in the back of our minds as we've tried to revise will arrive online. Now for something a little different to normal on DMFWS, an album review of Coldplay's latest work by friend of the blog Alistiar Rolleston. Glad to see he's recovered from his slagging because of his hairdryer in the Nantes Report!

Don't Make Friends With Salad

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"Since Coldplay’s last album, X&Y, the Voyager 2 Space probe has travelled 1,481,020,200 kilometres. But since I promised James I wouldn’t fill this article with completely useless information, I’ll start focusing on their new album, the oddly titled "Viva La Vida or Death and all his Friends".

Coldplay fans of old will not be disappointed with this latest outing from the quartet of Chris Martin, Will Champion, Guy Berryman and John Buckland. Fans of the soaring piano melodies of A Rush of Blood to the Head are especially in for a treat, with Chris busily hammering out some new tunes on the piano. "Cemeteries of London" certainly has these aspects of the "old" Coldplay, starting out sounding like a old folk tune, before transforming into something more pop-like with electric guitar and plenty of drums.


But where the album really shines is where Coldplay venture into new, unfamiliar territory. Chris has been reported as saying that there would be a lot of Hispanic influence on this new album, but for me the source of inspiration seems to come straight from Japan, with this new sound no more evident in the song "Lovers in Japan" (funnily enough), a personal favourite of mine, along with its sister track, "Reign of Love", and appearing also in "Lost?" and "Strawberry Swing" (another favourite). The opening track, "life in Technicolor", is a very well written hype track, completely devoid of any form of complex lyrics, and it’s good to hear that the band can still rely on proper musical ability should Chris ever develop laryngitis.



The singles on this album are easy to pick out, but that’s not to say the rest are just plain old fillers. The first single, "Violet Hill", must be commended on its sheer catchiness. The track is vaguely religious in a secular kind of way, and some of the lyrics seem to be pointing to the way money has become the God of this world. The title track, "Viva La Vida" also shows this vaguely religious aspect, with the lines "I hear Jerusalem’s bells are ringing" and "I know Saint Peter will call my name". But the star of that song is the drummer, Will Champion, playing not the usual kit, but only a floor tom, with a kettle drum (timp for those in the know), and what can only be assumed to be a very, very large bell. The inspired use of strings at the start of the track will certainly make it stand out on the radio and get people listening.

Chris Martin’s lyrics are as usual something that can be easily sung along to, and I guarantee that within hours of buying this album you’ll be singing along to your personal favourites like the songs themselves are old friends.

With the future of EMI basically pinned on the success of this hour of music, Coldplay really had to produce something exceptional. It’s not quite up there with the epics of "The Joshua tree" or "Absolution", but I think it’s safe to say that that’s not out of Coldplay’s grasp in the future.

Watch this space people. Watch this space."

Alistair Rolleston



Coldplay's gig at BBC

Homeward Bound

"Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound."

These are the words of Simon and Garfunkel in their song "Homeward Bound". The longing to return home is an emotion we all experience at some stage. The desire to be with those who care for us and to be where we feel safe. This is not however the current experience of the songwriter as he sings "Everday's an endless stream" and "each town looks the same to me". This song reminded me of the difference there is between being a Christian and a non-Christian. Life is often described as a journey, for the non-Christian it is a journey into apparant nothingness with no real meaning but for the Christian it is a journey homeward towards heaven. Whilst the non-Christian may have an earthly home which may bring temporal happiness it will not fully satisfy unlike the eternal resting place awaiting those who have placed their trust in Christ. This confidence should set us apart from non-believers around us as we have a hope and a future whilst their lives have nothing of eternal significance in them. Thomas Manton describes the "best estate" of man as "vanity" whilst "a Christian's worst is happiness".

Homeward Bound is not however a unique title. It also forms part of a title for a Disney movie entitled "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey". If you haven't see the movie a brief plot summary can be found here. The incredible journey of Shadow (the Golden Retriever), Chance (the American Bulldog) and Sassy (the cat) involves passing through great mountain ranges to reach home. On our journey homeward as Christians we face many challenges and trials. There is one moment in which the characters climb the first mountain and believe they will see home on the other side. Instead they saw a great mountain range spanning as far as the eye could see. Often as Christians we feel like we face and endless range of trials yet unlike the animals in this movie we can rely on someone far greater than each other, Jesus Christ the Son of God, "who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy" (Jude 1:24), will be looking after us the entire Homeward Bound journey.

Glory Days Are Still Ahead

The summer has sadly come to an end. As you reflect over the past few months maybe you wonder if there'll ever be another summer quite like it or perhaps the endless rain left you disappointed and you felt this summer was a bit of an anti-climax. This sense of reminiscing times past appears in of the much music that we listen to whether it is the Lost Prophets' song "Last Summer", Bryan Adam's "Summer of '69" in which the line "Those were the best days of my life" is repeated or a personal favourite Bruce Springsteen's Glory Days in which he expresses his view that:

"Glory days, well they'll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye"

Whilst these songs can be great for remember good times, for example "Last Summer" always reminds me of Termonfeckin 2006 as it was the last track on the CD our tent produced for the week, I can often find myself despondant and wishing to be back in the same place and time with friends or family. The thing is, as Christian we don't need to be dreaming of the past because we have an amazing future ahead, in this life and in the life to come. God has a plan for our lives:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

Our usefulness to God will not end at 30,40,50,65,100. Every minute we spend on this Earth God has a purpose for. Every day that passes he is changing us through his Holy Spirit. The best days are yet ahead. This is true ultamitely in heaven where we will glorify and enjoy God perfectly.

If you're a non-Christian reading this you do not have this assurance. You may never have it this good again. In fact you probably won't. If your life is based around pleasure rather than God you are on a downhill slope towards destruction rather than a climb upwards. Turn to him who can save you from hell now. Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then "Glory Days" will never "pass you by" and you'll spend true glory days with your Saviour for all eternity.

Carrying Empty Guitar Cases

I love adverts that make me laugh. Infact I think there should be a law passed declaring that an advert cannot be published in any form unless it is funny! The last advertisement which made me laugh out loud is a poster advertising Sprite in Lisburn. Sadly due to the internet's ability to let you find anything except the one thing you want I can't find a picture of it online. Anyway, the advert says "Girls love musicians, carry an empty guitar case around with you". Despite neither me nor Ali needing an empty guitar case, I did laugh as I wondered how effective it would be!
The sad truth is that as you look carefully people really are carrying empty guitar cases. Every world religion apart from true Christianity is based on carrying empty. Doing outward good works but it doesn't change the inward reality, we are born sinful and cannot do anything to change ourselves, we are rotten at the core. "There is no one righteous, not even one;" Romans 3:10 (NIV)

Maybe you're a nice person and don't do anything to hurt others but if you haven't trusted in Christ for salvation you are trying to get to heaven by your own good works, you are carrying an empty guitar case. Undoubtedly if someone were to carry an empty guitar case around long enough they could convince themselves and others that they were a musician. Similarly you may be able to fool yourself and those around you as to where you will spend eternity. The truth is you won't be able to fool God.
You may be thinking "I'm not trying to impress anyone, I don't believe God exists". Well the truth is you are doing something even more ridiculous than carrying an empty guitar case, you've put it over your own head denying that God exists, ignoring the stunning evidence all around you. "But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water" 2Peter3:5 (NIV)

Finally as true believers we can also be guilty of carrying empty guitar cases. Wanting people to think that we are better than we really are, making a show of our faith or knowledge and allowing sinful pride to contaminate our service of Christ.

James McCullough

P.S. This will be my last post for a while as i'm away to sunny Cornwall!

Complete Contrast at Heart

What the Bible says and what the world says is incredibly different. Often this is obvious as the actions of the world are in complete contrast to Scripture but sometimes it is more subtle and can slip in our lives and thinking as Christians. This happens in many ways but the way I noticed recently was through the lyrics of songs. I'm not talking about blatently blasphemous or immoral lyrics but that they show us the world's thinking, which is different to what God says, and the world's thoughts and opinions can sneak under our radar contradicting scripture. This is apparent in what lyrics of popular songs and the Bible say about the heart. The world tells us to trust our hearts, for example

• "Follow your heart"- Robbie Williams "Ben's Brother"


• "Don't think so much/Let your heart decide" - Raven-Symone "True to your Heart" (Disney Ella Enchanted Soundtrack)


• "Don't think so much/Let your heart decide" - Raven-Symone "True to your Heart" (Disney Ella Enchanted Soundtrack)


• "Trust your Heart/Let fate decide" - Phils Collins- "Two Worlds" (Disney Tarzan Soundtrack)


• "Follow your heart/ Let love lead" - Celine Dion - "I believe in you"

This is what Christ said:

For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' " Mark7:21-23 (NIV)

Bit of a difference don't you think? Even things we regard as "safe" are filled with the world's philosphy contradicting Scripture. The world says that we should trust in ourselves but God tells us that we are to trust and rely upon him and not to trust our own sinful hearts. I'm not saying you should now go and throw out any of your music which reflects the world's ideas and listen solely to Psalms on your mp3 (though it probably would have its benefits!) we just need to be aware of what songs are saying and not let it subconciously sneak into our thinking. Its interesting too the way some of the songs listed up there are from Disney so these thoughts could be going towards younger children as well, I know you can't beat a Disney Classic but maybe we all have to think of the message we're putting out some times and who will be listening.

James