Evil song: So Long Self
I was coming home from some shopping (mainly trying (vainly) to find fabric for a dress, at Jo-Ann’s) and had a local Christian radio station on. I’m not terribly fond of the genre — there’s lots of mediocre music and words out there — but sometimes there’s something good, and it’s good to be reminded of the Gospel in any ways and times.
I was listening to one song but not really paying attention, and then realized it sounded like a break-up song — “I’ve found somebody else” — but it took me a while to figure out who the singer was saying goodbye to.
Then I realized he was saying “so long, self.”
How vile.
It’s one thing to recognize when self is trying to run the show, to its own detriment and that of others — but to even want to stop having a self is, well, evil.
God gave us selves. He did not, does not intend for us to give them up, to become empty clones or robots. When he comes into our lives, when we are regenerated, when we receive the Holy Spirit, it is not like being possessed, it’s not like being obliterated, becoming merely a puppet animated entirely by him. It is the adoption as sons and daughters — it is relationship, and relationship requires more than one person, more than one self.
Humph to Mercy Me for this ugly song.
This idea gives me lots of thoughts always~and leaves me confuzzled! I don’t know what I believe on this issue anymore. ~sigh~ So I’m just trying to find my way again, I guess.
Thanks for your encouragement on my cob house dreams! I needed the support of a voice that didn’t think I had lost my mind…. (((((HUGS))))) sandi
Comment by titus2woman — January 21, 2008 @ 5:23 pm
I used to listen to Christian radio a lot but seldom do anymore because so many of the songs are questionable theologically or are sometimes just plain stupid, both musically and lyrically. I have nothing against the genre of Christian music, but, imho, something very terrible happened when the Christian music “industry” started up. Now, it seems to be all about marketing, image and business.
I would disagree with the lyrics as well. I am a person who has always tended to lose myself in others, in God, and in relationships. It took a long time for me to understand that it is OK for me to be myself - to have my identity and personality and to assert my “self” at times. I need to submit my “self” to God and dwell in Him, but I am still “me” and that is OK. Dying to self and making God the center of my universe is right and Biblical, but that doesn’t mean that my “self” goes away or I become some kind of puppet or slave. For people like me who struggle with self-esteem issues, these kinds of songs are very dangerous in their implications.
Comment by Larry — January 21, 2008 @ 8:38 pm
Jesus spoke of dying to self, and I believe it was meant in the contex in which you spoke of it: of dying to the need to be selfish, controlling, etc. (Rather than simply being puppets, which clearly God does not intend us to be or he wouldn’t have given us free will.) And perhaps this is what was meant in the lyrics of this song? We must lose our lives to save them, die to live, etc.
Comment by Beauty — January 23, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
Beauty,
As you can guess, those words of Jesus have been difficult for me; I think you must be right. And likely the songwriter was aiming for something humorous but along the same lines — I just wish people would be more careful about how they phrase such things. I suppose it’s just one of my issues, but I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Comment by Marcy — January 23, 2008 @ 3:09 pm