I love the serendipity of finding new artists that I enjoy, but particularly when their music aligns with one of my other interests. One of my sources for discovery is Dave Trout’s Under the Radar podcast. Dave “highlights some of the best undiscovered and under-appreciated tunes from Christian artists.” I regularly find new tracks and artists that I add to my playlists. When looking for new tracks for my Resurrection playlist this year, I found Dave’s Favorite Easter Song of 2014. It quickly found a place in the playlist.
Wake Up
Caroline Cobb’s “Wake Up” is based on 1 Corinthians 15, the most extensive exposition of resurrection theology in the Bible. The music and the lyrics blend together to create a dynamic reflection on resurrection power. Dave Trout interviewed Caroline about the story behind the song:
If the resurrection didn’t happen, if Jesus was still in the grave, it would be pathetic for us to “play church” and “follow the rules”. But if He lives (and He does!), if He is truly risen (and He is!), then everything changes. We have a hope that can’t be shaken. Death will die, sin will be abolished, Satan will be vanquished, and we will be changed.
From the chorus:
Wake up, wake up
And listen for the trumpet sound
For a dead man rose up from the ground
Rise up, rise up
You dry bones in the dirt
For the Son of God has risen up first
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Bonus Track: The Passover Song
Caroline incorporates bits of the hymn, “Nothing But the Blood”, into a haunting composition that evokes some of what I imagine the Israelites must have felt as they daubed blood on their doorways on the first Passover:
There’s a promise in our veins
But it’s faded by all these years in chains
Send a prophet, send the plagues
That by sunrise we will no more be slavesTake the lamb, take the blood
And paint it on our doorways
At night death will come but pass us by
Then there’s the move to the hope of something much greater [3:00]:
And the Lamb that will come
His cross will be our doorway
And the red of His blood ill make us white
And daughters and sons
Rejoice in resurrection
And death swallowed up in endless life
I missed this one earlier, but added it to my playlist yesterday. Maybe you will too.
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Photo: CC BY 2.0 Wake Up by Takashi .M