From: gt9730a@prism.gatech.EDU (Bill Standhardt)
Newsgroups: rec.music.christian
Subject: Re: Amy Grant is NOT a dirty word!
Date: 23 Jul 92 01:05:22 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

In article <84100@netnews.upenn.edu>, crawford@ben.dev.upenn.edu (Lauren L. Crawford) writes:
> In article <low-220792102128@l32282.mdc.com> low%ewsvax.decnet@mdcgwy.mdc.com (Jerry Low) writes:

> >I too used to listen to Amy and was a big fan until she started to make the
> >big crossover.  I think the last album I have of hers is "Lead Me One",
> >I've listened to it, maybe twice.  I think most people's criticisms of her
> >(or at least mine) is that her music doesn't reach me anymore.  I don't
> >think it really says anything really (I mean, come on, what's the most
> >profound thing about "Baby, Baby"?).  From a Christian standpoint, I think
> >her best work was "Age to Age" (still a classic), and "Straight Ahead".  I
> >think the problem comes when the artist starts thinking they are bigger
> >than the message (again, my opinion, but did she really have to put those
> >posters and cutesy pictures in the "Straight Ahead" album?)  I know she's
> >trying to appeal to a greater market, but does that mean that an artist
> >must "mass-market" themselves, which means creating some sort of image?

  Which brings up the question, what's more important?  Music for a
  Christian's growth?(for example, the worship type, that's only in
  CCM), Or music that's "watered down" which may have a greater impact
  on the Secular world? Clearly, there's a need for both. But, I think,
  IMHO, that the latter is more important. Whether that's the case 
  (having more of an impact on the world, the former vs. latter) in
  Amy's recent albums, or anyone else's for that matter, it depends
  on the listener's experience. Record sales don't explain what is
  going on in the person's life and how each record affects each
  person's life. Mass-market?, you mean as in becoming all things
  to all people, so that some might be saved? I don't see a problem
  with this as long as it doesn't become idolatry(sp?). 
  
> >As to the message the the "lost" are receiving, what exactly is the
> >message?  From song to song, even on her last album, is there really a
> >clear message that a non-believer can get?

  I don't know if we can truly answer this question fairly, since
  we have a tendency to be biased since we're Christians. How do we
  know how the lost interpret things, other than being lost ourselves?
  Sure, we have our past experiences of being lost, unless you were Baptised
  at an early age, to know what it's like to wonder what do they mean
  by that song? We will probably never know what seeds we plant, and
  what the outcome of each seed is. Since I don't have Amy's last album,
  I can't tell you what it means to me, even if I did have it, I couldn't
  tell what it means to each person, only what it means to me.
  
> >direction (at least not a perceived one).  She's an okay artist, but from a
> >pop standpoint is she any better than Mariah Carey or Debbie Gibson or
> >anyone else?  Would you listen to her even if she wasn't a pop-artist who
> >happens to be a Christian too?

  Yes, just from a lyric quality standpoint, not what it means, but
  just from the issues handled in Lead Me On, I would say it's better
  than the typical pop fluff, like from Mariah Carey's first album.
  She's got a great voice, but I think the music that she sings is just
  a showcase for her vocals. IMHO, Debbie Gibson makes me wanna hurl,
  Wayne's World style. So what would Amy be if she weren't a pop
  artist? Alternative like Sam Phillips? I'd definitely listen to
  her then, it's more my style.

> But I've really been impressed with "Heart In Motion."  It's good pop
> music (which immediately puts it a cut above Debbie Gibson!); that's

  Until recently, I didn't know there was good pop music :)

> clear.  But I was impressed by the maturity of the love songs.  Instead
> of the pap you get from most top-40, i.e. love is gone so I'm leaving,
> or this love is perfect and so are you, there are lines like "That's
> what love is for; to round off the edges, talk us down from the ledges,
> give us strength to try once more."  It's not Shakespeare, but it's
> real.  Love _does_ round off our edges, which is painful and not fun!
> Then there's the song about a friend of hers who suffered sexual abuse
> as a child -- how many artists are covering _that_ topic, Christian
> or otherwise? -- and she asks (and answers!) the question "Where was
> God in the middle of her shame?"  
> 
> And the last song, which repeats the refrain "If there's anything good
> that happens in life, it's from Jesus."  
 
  Now if that's Watered-down, you got me.

> I find it encouraging, even exhilarating, that this album has not been
> ghettoized into the Christian subculture but is instead being listened
> to across the board.  Christian music that leads us Christians to
> worship and praise God is a wonderful thing; Christian music (and art
> of all types) that reaches out to non-Christians is rare.  

  Rare and wonderful, eh - Smaug to Bilbo Baggins.
  
  I believe this is what I tried to explain above, and I am glad 
  that Amy crossed over so that people that didn't hear her before are 
  going to now.

  Bill


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