Transcendence…and Chevelle.
Transcendence …it’s a pretty big word. According to the Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary is attributed as follows…
Transcendence
Tran*scend”ence\ (-ens), Transcendency \Tran*scend”en*cy\ (-en*s[y^]), [Cf. L. transcendentia, F. transcendance.]
- 1. The quality or state of being transcendent; superior excellence; supereminence.
“The Augustinian theology rests upon the transcendence of Deity at its controlling principle.” –A. V. G. Allen. - 2. Elevation above truth; exaggeration. [Obs.] “Where transcendencies are more allowed.” -Bacon.
Now you’re thinking…”What the ^%#$ is Tony on a tangent about?”
Simple. We begin our journey here in a place of wonder…mystery…adventure. In addition to what we discover of our own volition, we are steeped…no…drowned in other’s spiritual agenda.
While some are content or even convinced of their own foundation, there are those of us with the countenance curiosity ambition and fortitude to acknowledge that by the same right everyone in here is afforded their own beliefs, we are also afforded the responsibility of questioning why, educating ourselves, and finding a moral and spiritual foundation we are more than comfortable with…we should be strong in it. When a thousand people gather every week to listen to a couple hours of common sense, attributed through the writings of hundreds of authors in a truly magnificent book, it’s philosophy…a weekly lesson in ethics that impact thousands of others as people try to live in accordance with a moral path virtually impossible to abide by…just out of reach for some, but horribly unattainable by most…yet the goal still lingers in the back of our heads…one more thing we can do to better ourselves and our world.
In my eyes…there is absolutely nothing wrong with the above scenario…provided this determination is by choice, rather than the exclusion of all other options or worse, fearful or aggressive persuasion. Here in the states, a majority of us are in fact Christian, claiming to hold in common not similar moral fiber, comparable piety, or even related spiritual education…but Faith in one supreme being…The world would be one hell of a safer place if we we found common ground on those tangible morals, and ethical inclinations rather than on interpreting words thousands of year old, assembled to accommodate a growing desire by the masses to fall closer in the bosom of their own gods good graces. Instead…through deed or action, so many denominations have fallen into a pit of their own device. Recruitment not through similar moral character, gracious virtue, or theoretical/spiritual interest…but by educating people in fear. OF course there are plenty of people legitimately brought into the fold…but the good doesn’t outweigh the use of fear and terror to take hold of a person railroad them spiritually.
While virtually all religions bear the burden of some version of an apocalypse or other world-ending event, all of these are so easily attributed to events around the world already having occurred that it is far easier to say quite simply that those events have in fact been true and were correct. This would be easier. It would release us spiritually to make out own journey. Why? Because not one of these faith profess a path following death with anything remotely sounding like what I’d consider ascension. If anything, I reflect on all these gloomy and sometimes utterly vicious tales of hell or torture in the after-life as little more than tools used by organizations in levying a modicum of self-recrimination…i.e. – control of the masses. I see the purpose in it. It’s actually logical. However saying someone’s soul is in jeopardy only for finding their moment(s) of Kundalini in the loving embrace of someone that hasn’t gone through the rigors of instating a contract with the local government and religious body affirming their union.
As the title implies…we all start off…somewhere. Chevelle, one of my favorite bands ever…was initially signed to a Christian label. i.e. – A recording and production company that will only deal with Christian groups. Now this isn’t about WHY. We all start off…somewhere. But the crux of it that over the span of four albums, the band went from staying under the mainstream radar but within the warm and fuzzy boundaries of Christian societal approval, to a far more profound scope of expression. They grew. Rather than cast off their spiritual umbrella, the band stopped censuring itself. I don’t need to drop lyrics in to prove or disprove. Get the album Vena Sera, listen to it, make your own decision. Then…read this:
Samuel Van Eerden said in Chevelle taints their Christian testimony with “Vena Sera”
Now, three years after that album, Chevelle has released their latest: Vena Sera. Hitting shelves on April 3, vocalist Pete Loeffler has said the title means “Vein Liquid,” to represent “the blood of the band and the work we put into the album.” The result of all this “blood” and “work” is being called the band’s best-crafted musical output yet. 44 minutes of fine-tuned guitar licks and passionate lyricism. It just goes to show then, that “Vena Sera” is the farthest removed (spiritually speaking) of all their albums to date.
Spiritually speaking? …to quote a far of friend…the term “nutter” reverberates within me when I read this.
I feel like this is yet another hardliner looking to make a name for himself with a similar demographic by targeting not those who may truly deserve some spiritual ridicule, but by singling out a group of guys who in no manner deceive who they are, what they do, or more importantly the subject and intent of their music and expression. Yeah Chevelle…here is your slap-on-the-hand by the Christian community…or…rather…one of them 😉 In actuality, this gentleman is actually telling the Christian community to stop making the mistake of putting bands on righteous pedestal, since the fame inevitably moves those “paragons” quickly outside the boundaries of what must be some non-optional moral boundary allowing them to be “Christians in high standing.” Unfortunately, I have to cite the foundation for the author’s argument as fallacious. The title denotes the album Vena Sera as a deliberate move by Chevelle outside the aforementioned warm and fuzzy circle of comfort into the dreaded realm of uncensored expression unburdened by the stigma of popular Christian approval. Citing the blogs and actions of the band off-stage doesn’t speak for the music…it speaks for the individual. This is the same utterly biased slippery slope that teaches people that a President cant be good at his job if he isn’t good at his marriage, or good with his kids. Title the page to portray another installment of “Entertainers betray their roots.” Then cite only one or two instances related to the music and support it with some heavy hitting lifestyle choices that have zilch to do with the music…then…later…cite a scrap or two of lyric that does the exact opposite of the opinion of the offer and proves irrefutably only that they’ve found more allegory to immerse their expression in, how this makes the move a deliberate jump away from my favorite place to bitch about(that warm and fuzzy place I mentioned earlier.)
Sorry people…it just doesn’t fit. You fail. Try to argue all you want, but the generations coming into their own are outgrowing the burden of expecting a president to be the epitome of moral fiber, and fully expecting him to make decisions costing the lives of hundreds of thousands of his term. There is no statistical analysis that supports capability is inherent in morality…it’s often quite the opposite…anyhow…back on track…Chevelle has cast off its shroud and gag, not it’s halo. The remain people, subject to both moral and amoral action and deed…the change remains only that a medium of expression far more enticing has been achieved in the newest album.
My point is, condemning the music because the it’s originator has a lifestyle not fitting into the archetypal in no way properly represents the music. By the same logic, Mozart should have been hung, DaVinci far more than excommunicated, and Liberace imprisoned. Utter foolishness.
umm..in short…you’re wrong…Chevelle rocks…and as usual Christian music production fails to recognize that Christian censorship doesn’t have a gray area for music. Transcendence to me is most exemplified in the evolution of an artists work over time, a path of (oft-self) discovery that brings you to a precipice that a lifetime of persuasive meandering will likely never lead you.
😉 Hope everyone enjoyed the read!
…and for those of you who managed to make it to the end of this…non perfectus!!!…I changed my mind. Here are the lyrics to one of my favorites!
Straight Jacket Fashion
Don’t stand around
So far, it’s empty
Just pull close these witnesses
That follow, so trusting
There they go
By the way
We last because we’re colorful
And as for fools, just play the opposite
Cause quietly, you’re overrated anyhow
And currently, you’ve spread yourself so thin
Climb up your pedestal
To hang yourself from it
“A cold day in hell’s” the phrase
I used when I never ever meant to change
Scab
By the way
We last because we’re colorful
And as for fools, just play the opposite
Cause quietly, you’re overrated anyhow
And currently, you’ve spread yourself so thin
Spread yourself so thin
His straight jacket fashion
Can’t believe he could
But I’d crawl a mile
To say that he should
This straight jacket fashion
I can’t believe he could
Starve ourselves just to say
You know that you should
By the way
We last because we’re colorful
And as for fools, just play the opposite
Quietly, you’re overrated anyhow
Currently, you’ve spread yourself so thin
Quietly, you’re overrated anyhow
And currently, you’ve spread yourself so thin
Spread yourself so thin
Spread yourself so thin
Spread yourself so thin
