WEBVTT 00:00:09.250 --> 00:00:12.369 Hey, welcome back to the semi seminarian where 00:00:12.369 --> 00:00:15.910 we don't just break bread We break down the lyrics 00:00:15.910 --> 00:00:19.730 This is another pit stop on our back roads revival 00:00:19.730 --> 00:00:23.510 known as theology in three chords Or folk songs 00:00:23.510 --> 00:00:26.670 and red dirt laments sit side by side with old 00:00:26.670 --> 00:00:30.710 stories Campfire myths and outlaw dreams like 00:00:30.710 --> 00:00:34.789 they've always belonged there some folks crack 00:00:34.789 --> 00:00:37.990 open a hymnal to hear from God and I do too, 00:00:38.049 --> 00:00:43.689 but I also am willing to listen to a fiddle through 00:00:43.689 --> 00:00:47.070 a bus to damp on a dim lit stage in Ada because 00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:49.310 you know what that's where the sacred stuff hides 00:00:49.310 --> 00:00:54.210 in the static in the half -forgotten in the picking 00:00:54.210 --> 00:00:57.710 and the whale and the long silences in between 00:00:57.710 --> 00:01:01.770 you ever hear a song that made your bones remember 00:01:01.770 --> 00:01:06.109 something your mind never learned That's how 00:01:06.109 --> 00:01:12.689 Randy Crouch writes, not not hits, homings, songs 00:01:12.689 --> 00:01:16.129 that call you back to the dirt and then sling 00:01:16.129 --> 00:01:20.549 you into orbit. He's not just a songwriter, he's 00:01:20.549 --> 00:01:23.290 a time traveler with a telecaster in a fiddly 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:27.569 mystique in cowboy boots, a man who makes the 00:01:27.569 --> 00:01:31.569 cosmic feel contrified and the divine sound like 00:01:31.569 --> 00:01:35.459 it came from a pawn shop and. And understanding 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:37.760 his lyrics aren't easy. They're elliptical. They're 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:41.219 cracked open like old Bibles and ashtrays. You 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:44.680 don't sing along with Randy. You fall into him. 00:01:45.340 --> 00:01:47.859 And he pulls you through wormholes with a chorus. 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:50.400 And when you come out on the other side, you're 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:53.920 not entirely sure what changed, but something 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:59.260 did. And today, saints and sinners, we're talking 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:01.879 about a song that's as wild as Revelation, as 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:05.980 cryptic as Ezekiel. And as beautiful as Isaiah's 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:09.020 coal -fired vision the song where theology gets 00:02:09.020 --> 00:02:12.580 abducted fed mushrooms Handed a telecaster and 00:02:12.580 --> 00:02:17.680 told go play something honest This one is part 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.240 parable part fever dream Cosmic Western where 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:27.319 the campfire turns into a launch pad Today we're 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:31.639 diving into Randy Crouch's masterpiece the epic 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:37.120 and At least I hope I'll see you on the other 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:47.460 side Well the Cowboys were out picking around 00:02:47.460 --> 00:02:49.680 the range when they thought they heard something 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.120 sound real strange and they looked up to see 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:56.979 a spaceship Coming down to land It starts like 00:02:56.979 --> 00:02:59.800 this a bunch of Cowboys out on the range plucking 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:02.819 strings binding their own When they hear something 00:03:02.819 --> 00:03:05.340 strange, something not from around here, they 00:03:05.340 --> 00:03:07.460 look up, and sure enough, there's a spaceship 00:03:07.460 --> 00:03:10.580 coming in hot, landing right there in the middle 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:13.900 of the dust. The aliens step out cool as you 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:18.379 please. They say they caught wind of a music 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:21.060 from way out yonder. They said they had to drop 00:03:21.060 --> 00:03:26.080 by and get in on this jam. Trail Boss doesn't 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.280 blink. Just waves them in, pours some whiskey, 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:32.960 and says, There's beans in the pot. Let's see 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:37.699 what y 'all got and they play and Lord do they 00:03:37.699 --> 00:03:42.139 play These visitors with trout skin shimmer and 00:03:42.139 --> 00:03:44.479 three blinking eyes don't stop to tune They just 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:47.280 cross their eyes grip their axes and let the 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:51.219 sound rip loose across the plains Cowboys and 00:03:51.219 --> 00:03:54.219 cosmic pickers passing a bottle trading solos 00:03:54.219 --> 00:03:57.120 around the fire that crackles like the edge of 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:01.599 creation And they get drunker They get higher. 00:04:02.460 --> 00:04:04.620 The fire don't die and neither does the groove. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:09.939 Then one of the aliens leans in close. Here's 00:04:09.939 --> 00:04:13.020 a cowboy swing just right and says, we know a 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:18.379 place where all the horses have wings. And that 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:20.500 line hits different. It should. That's not a 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:24.199 joke. Not in Randy's song. That's not a metaphor. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:31.060 To Randy, that's an invitation. We know a place 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:33.860 where all the horses have wings Billy Bob looked 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:36.980 up at that star got his bedroll packed his guitar 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:41.519 and said You got it trout face How long will 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:44.740 we be gone Billy Bob doesn't waste a moment? 00:04:44.939 --> 00:04:47.339 He looks up at that star the alien pointed to 00:04:47.339 --> 00:04:49.720 rolls up his bedroll sings his guitar over his 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:55.160 shoulder and says you got it, buddy He don't 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:57.939 ask where they're headed He does wonder how long 00:04:57.939 --> 00:05:00.740 they've been gone, but he just gets told we'll 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:04.319 pass those time warps on the way, and we just 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:09.079 may make it back here by the break of dawn. That's 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:11.500 kind of calling you won't get in a Sunday school. 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:14.519 The kind of faith that's half stardust, half 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:19.639 honky tonk and all heart. Billy Bob doesn't hesitate. 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:22.259 He's not running from anything. He's running 00:05:22.259 --> 00:05:26.569 to something. to a place where songs don't end 00:05:26.569 --> 00:05:31.310 and the horses ain't bound by gravity. And the 00:05:31.310 --> 00:05:33.649 thing about Billy Bob, he's not special in the 00:05:33.649 --> 00:05:35.689 Sunday best sense. He's got a limp in his step, 00:05:35.810 --> 00:05:39.009 a cigarette burn in his songbook. He's just got 00:05:39.009 --> 00:05:41.790 ears to hear and that's, that's all the aliens 00:05:41.790 --> 00:05:46.730 needed. The folks in the audience never knew 00:05:46.730 --> 00:05:49.910 that that third eye wasn't put on with glue and 00:05:49.910 --> 00:05:53.550 they said it wasn't anything new in the Rolling 00:05:53.550 --> 00:05:58.959 Stone. Earth didn't seem like home anymore So 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.040 they got two friends and they left to explore 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:06.540 They come back eventually Sun burnt and spaced 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:10.800 out Smiling like men who's seen something holy 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:15.220 and what happens? The Rolling Stone says it's 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:18.839 all a gimmick says the third eyes just a stunt 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:22.959 Says this space country blend is just another 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:27.579 try -hard act clawing for relevance. It wasn't 00:06:27.579 --> 00:06:30.800 Anything new in the Rolling Stone that line right 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:34.779 there is heartbreak wrapped in satire It's the 00:06:34.779 --> 00:06:37.720 shrug of the establishment towards anything raw 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:44.899 real authentic but unmarketable Because when 00:06:44.899 --> 00:06:47.920 the sacred gets strange polite folks will often 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:53.779 call it nonsense When the music gets too true, 00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:59.560 they'll write it off as noise. So the band doesn't 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:04.220 argue, doesn't explain. They just nod, call their 00:07:04.220 --> 00:07:08.220 friends, head back out to the stars. They form 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:12.120 a band, a swinging science fiction country western 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:15.300 band beaming through the systems from what they 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:19.790 now call the promised land. They play wherever 00:07:19.790 --> 00:07:22.569 they're welcome planets moons orbiting bars where 00:07:22.569 --> 00:07:25.569 time folds in on itself As long as there's a 00:07:25.569 --> 00:07:27.910 mic and a place to get a drink. They're good 00:07:27.910 --> 00:07:31.949 to go Granddad said get on out of here Billy 00:07:31.949 --> 00:07:35.990 Bob go play your tunes Chase those flying horses 00:07:35.990 --> 00:07:39.009 across the sky with seven noon's and play for 00:07:39.009 --> 00:07:43.029 every creature that you can They're not chasing 00:07:43.029 --> 00:07:48.800 fame They're chasing the jam building a universe 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:51.819 out of broken cords and perfect imperfections 00:07:51.819 --> 00:07:56.860 and Everybody's blasted on an everlasting high 00:07:56.860 --> 00:08:02.600 because now Everyone's got their own horse to 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:11.540 fly So what do we make of it all maybe this Holy 00:08:11.540 --> 00:08:13.980 doesn't always look holy. Sometimes it's barefooted, 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:16.220 bearded, and blasting off with a telecaster and 00:08:16.220 --> 00:08:18.879 a fiddle in the same song. And maybe grace is 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:21.139 just the willingness to say yes to the strange. 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:25.980 Maybe the most spiritual thing you can do is 00:08:25.980 --> 00:08:28.279 join the jam, even if you don't know the chords. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:32.080 Randy Crouch didn't write a hymn, he wrote a 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:36.820 homecoming. A home for the weirdos, the wanderers. 00:08:37.049 --> 00:08:39.470 and the winged -horsed riders who never felt 00:08:39.470 --> 00:08:42.529 quite at home on earth. And you know what? That's 00:08:42.529 --> 00:08:47.490 good news. And maybe, maybe just maybe, that 00:08:47.490 --> 00:08:49.750 place with winged horses and never -ending sound 00:08:49.750 --> 00:08:56.250 waves, maybe that is the promised land. Not paved 00:08:56.250 --> 00:08:59.309 in gold, but ringing with reverb. A bar with 00:08:59.309 --> 00:09:03.029 no last call. A band that never runs out of songs. 00:09:05.389 --> 00:09:10.000 So, If you hear something tonight, something 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.539 strange, some echo from the stars, some fiddle 00:09:13.539 --> 00:09:16.340 lick that don't sound quite human, don't ignore 00:09:16.340 --> 00:09:21.080 it. That's your invitation. Pack up your guitar, 00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:25.960 saddle up. There's a stage in the sky. And you 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:41.889 know what? It's got your name on it. And somewhere 00:09:41.889 --> 00:09:45.549 out there past the Pleiades between Pickup Note 00:09:45.549 --> 00:09:48.889 and the Punchline, the UFO touches down. Maybe 00:09:48.889 --> 00:09:51.529 not in a blaze of glory, maybe just quiet like. 00:09:52.149 --> 00:09:55.830 Like a beer can clicking on a tailgate. That's 00:09:55.830 --> 00:09:57.549 the thing about the good news, it doesn't always 00:09:57.549 --> 00:10:01.129 arrive with trumpets. Sometimes it drifts down 00:10:01.129 --> 00:10:06.330 in a crazy fiddle riff. Sometimes it smells like 00:10:06.330 --> 00:10:10.539 sweat and cedar smoke. Sometimes it sounds like 00:10:10.539 --> 00:10:12.299 an alien voice saying, y 'all mind if we sit 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:17.659 in for a tune? So let's leave this tale where 00:10:17.659 --> 00:10:22.820 it belongs. Not framed, not finished. It's still 00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:26.720 out there playing on some outlaw frequency, still 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:29.379 calling out to anyone who's ever felt too weird 00:10:29.379 --> 00:10:35.120 for Sunday morning, too real for the radio. But 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:38.740 remember, the jam goes on. Fire's still warm. 00:10:38.980 --> 00:10:41.799 There's still beans in the pot. And the horses? 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:47.360 Well, they've all got wings now. I'll see you 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:47.940 next time.