In youth ministry, one of my favorite “lessons” I’ve enjoyed doing from time-to-time has been what I’ve called “Sound Advice”. We listen to a song that’s getting air time on the radio or television and dissect its lyrics for deeper meaning and then discuss the Biblical truth that relates to the theme of the song or lyric-segment.
I listened to The Roots new song, “Dear God 2.0” this afternoon and I couldn’t pass up sharing the lyrics and video with the stevansheets.com faithful.
The song asks some great questions and the imagery in the video is thought-provoking as well. What do you think?
Lyrics after the video:
Dear God, I’m trying hard to reach you
Dear God, I see your face in all I do
Sometimes, it’s so hard to believe it…
But God, I know you have your reasons
(Uh huh)
[Verse 1]
They said he’s busy hold the line please
Call me crazy, I thought maybe he could mind read
Who does the blind lead?
Show me a sign please
If everything is made in China, are we Chinese?
And why do haters separate us like we siamese?
Technology turning the planet into zombies
Everybody all in everybody’s dirty laundry
Acid rain, earthquakes, hurricane, tsunamis
Terrorist, crime sprees, assaults, and robberies
Cops yellin’ stop, freeze
Shoot him before he try to leave
Air quality so foul, I gotta try to breath
Endangered species
And we runnin’ out of trees
If I could hold the world in the palm of these
Hands, I would probably do away with these anomalies
Everybody checkin’ for the new award nominee
Wars and atrocities
Look at all the poverty
Ignoring the prophecies
More beef than broccoli
Corporate monopoly
Weak world economy
Stock market topplin’
Mad marijuana oxycotton and klonopin
Everybody out of it?
[Hook]
Well I’ve been thinkin’ about
And I’ve been breakin’ it down
Without an answer
I know I’m thinking out loud
But if you’re lost and around
Why do we suffer?
Why do we suffer?
(Uh huh)
[Verse 2]
Yeah… It’s still me, one of your biggest fans
I get off work
Right back to work again
I probably need to go ahead and have my head exam
Look at how they got me on the Def Jam payment plan
Well, I’m in the world of entertainment and
Trying to keep a singing man sane for the paying fans
If I don’t make it through the night, slight change of plans
Harp strings, angel wings, and praying hands
Lord, forgive me for my shortcomings
For going on tour and ignoring the court summons
All I’m trying to do is live life to the fullest
They sent my daddy to you in a barrage of bullets
Why is the world ugly when you made it in your image?
And why is livin’ life such a fight to the finish?
For this high percentage
When the sky’s the limit
A second is a minute, every hour’s infinite
[Outro]
Dear God, I’m trying hard to reach you
Dear God, I see your face in all I do
Sometimes, it’s so hard to believe it..
(lyrics courtesy of 99problems.org)
Buy the track here for $.99 on Amazon.com.
Update: I finally found the LIVE performance of this track with The Roots and Monsters of Folk on Fallon:
