Yesterdays

Recently I was watching a TV show where the people were asked to figure out what a love song looks like to them. They all came up with songs that weren’t anything special, all written about happy love (y’know, the sappy Hollywood version of love). So I began to think about what songs I know that bring love to mind whenever I listen to them. After some thought, I landed on Yesterdays (believe it or not, I wasn’t just looking at Switchfoot songs, it just happened to come to this one). This may be an unlikely choice for a love song, but I feel it has more to say about love than say that silly song from the Parent Trap when they spell out l.o.v.e. and assign mildly appropriate words to each letter.

           

Ever heard that talk is cheap? Well it is. The problem is when you actually believe the words coming out of your mouth; it’s hard to show your feelings because you could easily just be flapping your gums. Ever hear someone say, “I love you” and think to yourself, based on the way they said it, “that sounds like a formality”. They may truly love the person, but they could just be throwing it out there in the same way you’re supposed to quickly respond with “no” when asked by a woman if something makes them look fat (regardless of how they actually look). Talk is so cheap in fact, I’ll bet that there are a number of love songs out there that were written based on a simple, shallow crush. I’ll go further and say that some popular songs out there were probably just formulated and not actually felt at all. So what the heck separates the heartfelt love songs from the fake ones!?

           

The reason I feel this song embodies a love song is because it’s sad, it’s a lamentation. It’s easy to sing about happy love but when something goes wrong, “if it doesn’t break your heart it isn’t love” (Yet by Switchfoot). Sure Nsync’s Tearin up my heart has the line “It’s tearin up my heart when I’m with you. And when we are apart I feel it too”, but seriously? If you’ve ever heard that song, you know that it’s not really different from their other poppy songs. I love Yesterdays because it actually makes me feel (that’s a feat). It’s so passionate and heart wrenching. It’s about death, yet the only feeling that I can pick up on is love. “Every lament is a love song” (Yesterdays).

If the words don’t do it for you, the music should. The bass and guitar(s) work together beautifully in the verses to create a feeling of sadness, of loneliness, of drifting through life in a big grey blur. And in the bridge, everything cries out (especially the vocals) with so much feeling that simply can’t be held back. While it’s sad, it’s simple, clear love.

Don’t get me wrong, love has plenty of ups. If it didn’t I’d question if it’s worth it to love at all. But in the midst of all the phony love songs out there, to me, this one shines through. What does a love song look like to you? Does it sounds like, “baby, baby, baby, oh”, or does it sounds like, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound”? Think about it.

Let Your Love Be Strong/Your Love is Strong/Your Love is a Song

Everybody loves a good trilogy. As Jon has talked about, these songs sort of play off of each other. The first, Let Your Love Be Strong (LYLBS from now on) was on Oh! Gravity and was released first. Then came Your Love is Strong (YLIS) on his Spring EP solo album. Most recently is Your Love is a Song (YLIAS) on Hello Hurricane. These are all beautiful songs so I don’t mean to give them less credit by mashing them together, but rather to describe the entire story they tell.

To me these songs describe a progression. It’s a progression of thoughts, realizations, and ways of thinking. In the first song, LYLBS, the lyrics describe a want, a longing. Notice the way he uses the words “maybe” and “let” in the verses. “Maybe I’m just a little misinformed”, “Let the wars begin, let my strength wear thing”. If you haven’t picked it up yet, the “You” in all the song titles is God. The way Jon uses “maybe” and “let” gives me a feeling like he’s disconnected. He wants to see the awesomeness of God’s love do its thing. Jon knows it’s all you need. He is willing to sacrifice what he has for it. “Let the wars begin, let my strength wear thin. Let my fingers crack let my world fall apart”. I feel as though the writer is viewing God’s love from an outside perspective looking in. If these words I’m using aren’t accurately describing the way the writer is thinking/feeling, listen to the song, the music does a fantastic job of setting the proper mood.

Next comes YLIS. While LYLBS was written from the outside looking in, I believe this song is written from the inside. Rife with biblical terms such as “kingdom” and “heavens”, plus the Lord’s prayer at the end, adds up to a close look at God. It’s written by someone who feels close to God and understands that you don’t need to worry if God is on your side (or rather, if you’re on God’s side). The transition between these first two songs is a state of wondering and hoping to a state of joy. It’s an awakening to beauty of God’s love. He changes from sounding distant and a little sad to sounding alive, joyous, and even overwhelmed.

While the first song was from the outside looking in, and the next from the inside, I believe YLIAS is from the inside looking out. What I mean is that after experiencing the wonder and magnitude of pure love, he sees its effect on everything; it’s everywhere. He’s looking at life as a wonderful symphony of nature, people, everything. In the verses, he describes the things he’s experiencing. After this, he goes into the chorus of bringing it all back to what he’s really looking at. He sees everything different now, everything’s/everyone is connected through a beautiful melody (anyone else reminded of We Are One Tonight?).

When talking about God, words have a tendency to fall short (hence the beauty of the name “I Am”). Because of this, anything I write won’t do a justice. While it’s also true that nothing Jon writes will fully do a justice either, having music really helps. What I’m trying to say is try listening to these songs while reading this, it will really help portray the feeling, emotion, and passion behind the words.