I am late on this, but I just found out. Derek Webb will be launching FreeDerekWebb.com on Sept. 1st where you will be able to download his album, Mockingbird, for free in its entirety. It is a fantastic album that deals with “many sensitive issues including poverty, war, and the basic ethics by which we live and deal with others.”
Free Derek Webb
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I am the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Fellowship; husband to Jen; Dad to Katherine, Elias, Madeline, and Kilian. If you're in town you can probably find me in the local coffee house or running through the neighborhoods.
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at the risk of being a blog pimp, we’re going to interview him next week for our podcast. and we’ve got some really good questions lined up about his free giveaway, war, justice, yada yada yada.
When I first saw this title I thought, “Man, I didn’t even know Derek had gotten into trouble.”
This is really cool. Thanks Joe.
Speaking as someone who absolutely loved “She Must and Shall Go Free” and “I See Things Upside Down,” I was greatly disappointed with “Mockingbird.” I appreciate that Webb considers social issues an integral part of the gospel, but I found “Mockingbird” to repeatedly be oversimplified thoughts on these issues that too often seem polemical, sarcastic, and even condescending. I have no problem with an artist (especially one who is usually as thoughtful as Webb!) being straightforward with his thoughts on these issues, but I am nervous about the attitude that seems to come through this album. It reminds me of the likes of David Bazaan (of Pedro the Lion) who in his early music sang his frustrations with the church gracefully and humbly (or at least seemed to!) only to end up in his later albums hurling lyrical grenades into the church from outside church walls. Webb does not seem to have yet gone this far, and I only hope that he does not, but the trajectory makes me nervous.
I would love anyone’s feedback. I have only tried to present my honest opinion and in no way mean to bash Webb personally. Let me know what you think.
I think he wants to be disagreed with greatly to get people, the church, to consider global issues that have been given a blind eye. Is it valid to say that there’s a pendulum that exists with the Church, one arm of heavy social justice and the other apathy toward global issues. Where does humility come into play without soap boxing? Is the soap boxing bad? For him to want the church to wake up to felt needs across the globe is one thing but to drag her through the mud in doing so. How then effectively to we address, AIDS, hunger, water for the world?
Would love clarity, insight…
Thankful for the free music nonetheless.
Valid points Brandon – and I think you’re right about the intent of his record.
The problem is that swinging the pendulum is easy. For example, the emergent movement can stand and shout with ease about the need for social justice and being community-minded as a response to modern individualism and the growing postmodern mindset in our culture. Even if they have helpful things to say, neglecting to take a stand on significant doctrinal issues at times makes it hard to listen on occasion. It is striking the balance that is difficult.
I find that on “Mockingbird,” Webb has the same problem. It is not that he has nothing helpful to remind us of, it is that he does so only as a swing of the pendulum, as it were. What we need is for the church to more thoughtful and active about social issues at the same time. Webb would have served people much better with this album if he would have done this. “Peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication” does not cut it: it is neither thoughtful nor balanced.
Again, I hope I do not sound like I am getting personal against Webb, though it is hard to convey tone of voice on the internet.
I dig the album. But then again I do not believe Webb (or any artist) can, or intends to, articulate the fullness of their thoughts and theology in a CD, much less a song. It’s poetry. It’s critical, but in a redemptive way.
I find some young guys trying to develop their thoughts on a subject out of a music project, while others take issue with what isn’t explained in a musicians song. Both are looking for too much in a very limited medium.
I find Derek to be a very thoughtful guy who is speaking to some issues the church has been pretty careless about. Derek was joined by Miller for a pretty good web chat not too long ago. I posted some thoughts about the chat here.
Joe,
Thanks for the response. I am enjoying this conversation a lot because I have had some of these thoughts about “Mockingbird” for quite some time without having too many people who have heard it to talk about it with.
I don’t disagree at all that Webb is thoughtful – that is exactly why I would hold him to a high standard. He is clearly trying to express something serious and thoughtful through his lyrics, and for that I am grateful, especially compared to the bulk of Christian music. Derek Webb won’t get played on Christian radio because he’s not “safe for the whole family.” But then, that’s one of my favorite things about him.
I am not expecting any of his songs to be neatly outlined papers. I am expecting him to be better than simply controversial. Further, if anything, I tend to think that it may be Webb who is trying to do too much with the limited medium if you are going to put it in those terms.
The problem is that good poets and lyricists do not have to fall back on “this isn’t the kind of medium where I can express the fullness of my thoughts.” Instead, they use the medium as they key to accentuating those thoughts. Probably most of us have read poetry that moves us to think seriously about something, yet it does so in a very different way than a book or an essay does. Pardon me for not thinking “My Enemies Are Men Like Me” to be the best poetry I’ve heard/read.
And this is why it is all a problem: because Webb seems to be trying to express his thoughts in an almost thesis-style way, yet he does not have the ability through his songs to back up claims like the one I mentioned in my last post. It’s not that I necessary disagree with him (though I might), it is that he has not challenged me to think any deeper about the subject. He has just made me react. Again, I think this is an easy task.
Still, it is true to say that he has made conversations like this one happen, as well as others that relate more directly to the aforementioned global issues. For that I will always appreciate Derek Webb. For that I will never appreciate most pop Christian music.
I really appreciate your attitude Andrew. I guess I would only say that I hear Webb differently than you do. I find his lyrics better than controversial, and I do not believe he is approaching songwriting in the way you described above (almost thesis-style way). I really believe the problem lies mostly, not entirely, on the part of the listeners.
Those songs that are controversial (and some certainly are) I also find helpful even though they themselves are reactionary. He has helped me to think, and I know he has prompted others to evaluate themselves.
Webb is not the best songwriter out there, nor is his music my favorite. But I do find it stirring and beautiful. Webb is not the answer, but I do think he points out some valid concerns while pointing to a better ideal.
Andrew -
I’d be curious to know what songs in particular you are thinking of. While the socio-political issues are not always straightforward, the gospel is, and I think that’s Webb’s point. Is he really over-simplifying, or is he taking us directly to the core of where the gospel intersects with the issues? I think he’s reminding us that no matter how many shades of gray we find in the issues concerning societ or the Church, the gospel remains black & white.
Chris W
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