In my other life I am a guitar player, so here are a few contributions to pop music.
Purely for fun, but we all end up listening to the radio as well…
To download the original tracks, just right click and save the file.
All music Copyright 2016 Brett Jenkins. All rights reserved.
“Not all that glitters is gold.” Our culture’s current confusion about love is in large part its inability to make distinctions regarding it, an inability predicted by the paucity of our language regarding love. Not all languages share this deficiency, but for those whose native tongue is English, a musical offering…
The universal longing that our culture’s jaded and ironic timbre seeks ignore or proclaim untrue. Mostly written by my daughter’s godfather Kevin Brown, and found on his album Six Years and a Few Guitars, this track is the concept recording from 1999, and I handle the production as well as soloing duties on both guitar and sax.
Waltz Through the Evening with You
Written for my wife on our 5th anniversary. One of the greatest privileges I have had as a pastor has been presiding at the renewal of vows for couples celebrating their 50th, 55th, and even 60th anniversaries. Our culture likes to focus on love as a seedling. Perhaps we will grow wise when we learn to celebrate it in its final fruit…
Written after counseling a teen who was struggling in the wake of the abortion her parents paid for, drove her to the clinic for, then kicked her out of the house for having. The story of our lives is written in the usually unremarkable moments of our deepest choices. “Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become.” – Bp. Brooke Foss Westcott
Hopelessly outdated now, but perhaps a piece for historical reflection for younger people; can you imagine a time when a guy had to at least feign sincere affection for a girl before she would sleep with him? Feminist Louise Perry believes it would be good for women if such a time returned…
Pure stupid fun. I was working on another, deeply mournful project when I woke up in the middle of the night with this tune fully formed in my head, lyrics and all. Wrote everything down than fell back to sleep. Weird. In my mind I always hear Garth Brooks at the height of his powers singing this…
Written in honor of my late mother and as part of my struggle to come to grips with her complicated legacy in our family. As near as I can tell, she died sad, angry, and dissatisfied with herself and the world… but I believe that under all she was sincerely looking for something true and beautiful.