Don't Wait For the Movie (Sparrow, 1986) changed my life. Thirty seconds into the first song represents a pivot point in my youth. Any time I look back on that first experience of rock music that happened to be specifically characterized by a Whiteheart tune, I remain convinced that it was somehow the vehicle through which I first began the journey of finding myself, and later began the journey of knowing God.
Being barely into two digits as far as my years went, I knew nothing about the music industry. I didn't know about record companies, concerts, band dynamics, songwriting, any of the financial, logistical, legal, or artistic aspects of what made a band like Whiteheart exist. So when another Whiteheart album was released the following year, I had no idea it was coming.
I had become a regular visitor to our local Christian bookstore, and was constantly raiding the music section. During one of those jaunts, I happened to see a poster of Whiteheart's Emergency Broadcast on the wall.
Hey, cool, I thought, a new Whiteheart album. And I hadn't quite worn out the last one yet.
I don't recall whether or not it was on the shelves yet, or just being promoted as a coming attraction. I do remember having to have it as soon as possible, though. Most likely, I badgered my family about it and hinted all over the place that I needed a tape of that new album intriguingly titled Emergency Broadcast.
Months went by, and when I opened a particular package on Christmas morning I was stunned to find the very album I was looking for. CDs were just becoming The Next Big Thing, and the long thin box I pulled out from the torn wrapping paper looked like a lot of the CD packaging at the time. I was thrilled to the point of nearly screaming. Was this a Whiteheart CD? Was the next package I would open be a CD player for it? I was so excited, you would think I'd won a free trip to Europe.
My disappointment was real, but minor, upon learning that no, it was not a CD waiting for me inside that box. It was just another tape. I kind of resented that stupid box, but it still looked cool. I liked all the color on it. Bright and vivid pastels against a black background. I liked the look of the box that had deceived me so much I got my picture taken with it as well as the cassette tape itself.
I played it every bit as often as Don't Wait for the Movie. I knew from my trips to the Christian bookstore that there were other bands and artists out there, but I didn't care. I only wanted Whiteheart tapes. Somehow, Emergency Broadcast sounded a bit heavier and more aggressive than Don't Wait for the Movie.
There was, of course, a slow but haunting ballad played on Christian radio around the time of that album's release, 'Montana Sky'. I had no idea, understanding, or connection with the music in terms of lyrics beyond the explicit and recognizable references to Jesus, God's love, etc. But this one sounded fantastic, even if it was a slow one. I was annoyed with the radio station because they only ever played Whiteheart's ballads—'Fly Eagle Fly', 'How Many Times', and 'Montana Sky' being the ones featured most. Didn't those radio jerks know this band had way cooler tunes like 'Read the Book', 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Christian', or 'Speed of Sound' and 'Fashion Fades'?
Emergency Broadcast did not mark as pivotal a moment as Don't Wait for the Movie, but I loved that album every bit as much. I still think it's under-rated, and seem to remember reading somewhere long ago that apparently even the band kind of didn't like that one. Gersh's playing on 'Key To Our Survival' is just ridiculously awesome, and the way the song suddenly slows then bursts out in an explosive climax toward the end still sends chills up my spine. 'Speed of Sound' and 'Fashion Fades' are still favorites.
At the time, though, it was mainly the music—the sound—that turned me on so much. All I knew about the lyrics was that Mom and Dad could hear the music and not forbid me to have any more Whiteheart tapes. Years later, though, it is songs like 'Montana Sky', 'No Taboo', 'Fashion Fades', 'Somewhere in Between', and 'Edge of the Dream' that have the most meaning for me when it comes to what they communicate.
'Montana Sky' speaks of the endless, mysterious love of God against the background of senseless tragedy:
We don't know why
But when the world is lost in shadow
There is a light that will remain
The love he gave, that cared enough to die
Is as endless as a Montana sky
'No Taboo' is a creative, unusual, and fun tune, and what crowdpleaser when performed live! I had a hard time not laughing every time I'd lower my pre-adolescent voice and chant, 'Ooooooh-whoaaa, oooooooh-whoaa ... NO TABOO!' I'd laugh not because it sounded silly, but because I just had that much fun singing along with it.
Later, I found justification and release in the lyrics. Yes, there's a cost to discipleship. There's sacrifice. There's sadness, struggle, and wrestling with God. There's the need for discipline and restraint. But being a Christian is not all frowns, guilt, and repression of basic human impulses with the threat of eternal damnation hanging over all of it. Some of that same exuberance, joy, and freedom characterizing rock music itself can be found in the very character of God and the life He makes possible for us if we dare to take Him up on it.
We've got a Lord that is alive
Why would we want to just survive?
'Somewhere in Between' was just another slow song, even if Rick Florian's voice was as polished and operatic as I've ever heard it. I tended to 'fast-forward' (remember having to do that, and how frustrating it could be to wait and then end up at the wrong place?) straight to 'Speed of Sound'. Yeah, the good stuff.
But there's such gravity in this tune that a young and single Rick Florian belts out with power and pathos. We often wonder what we might say to our younger selves, but this tune now sounds as though he's actually speaking to his older self on opposite sides of his own personal experience. Gersh wrote and sang similar words years later in an equally heart-rending ballad called 'Breakdown'. Divorce, even for public figures, is a very private matter; but I'm grateful that the deeply personal thoughts in these songs were given public voice for others in pain.
Somehow, in His arms of peace
You will find your release
The hope for tomorrow
Somewhere in the depths of your soul
The river will flow
When your heart is somewhere in between
I'm surprised I didn't connect with the lyrics in 'Fashion Fades' far earlier. The song is so explicit and gloriously joyful in its total rejection of what is 'cool' at any given moment. It is also prophetic (in the truth-telling sense) for the way it expresses the ability to see right through the lie that what is Now is all that really matters. Everything changes, even what we value most today will be forgotten somewhere in the middle of a rubbish heap tomorrow—whether it be styles that are no longer 'in' or ideas and values that later seem like silly indulgence.
I love the fact that the lyrics are still so true and relevant, even while the musical style in which these lyrics are present now itself sounds a bit dated. I also enjoy the irony in the line 'pastels are past tense' with those bright pastel colors all over the album cover.
Fashion fades
Things will change
But something stronger will remain
The love of Jesus stays the same
So where will you be when the
Fashion Fades
I could go on with just about every song on this album. There's spiritual meat and poetry in the lyrics, which remain surprisingly relevant after nearly 40 years. I've gone back time and again to this album with the experience and understanding of someone a fair bit older than nine or ten, and the meaning was there all along. These are more than just catchy tunes and lovely ballads from a specific period of time when tastes and styles were a lot different. These songs are still worth hearing, still worth listening to. These songs still have much to say.
I don't normally think too deeply about album titles, but if I were to ponder what the 'emergency broadcast' message is here then I would go back to 'Montana Sky' or 'Somewhere in Between' to point out the juxtaposition of pain with healing and guilt with redemption. It's so bizarre that a message so desperately needed is the one answer to all our problems and suffering that we are determined to reject utterly. Still, the 'emergency broadcast' continues and it is more urgent now than ever.
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