Do you ever feel that this entire world is backwards and upside down? That’s because, according to Steve Taylor, we’re living in Escher’s World.

M. C. Escher has been my favorite artist since I was about eight years old when I first saw one of his drawings, and so was thrilled when Steve Taylor came out with his song, “Escher’s World.” Escher’s art and this song both encapsulate everything I think and feel about this world, and about life in general. Everything appears normal, but on closer inspection, up is down, down is out, out is in, stairways circle back to where you’ve been.

But thankfully, this is the way we are supposed to feel about this world. Things are not right. All is not as it should be. And as I pointed out in Steve Taylor’s songs about “Baby Doe” and “Lifeboat” evil is declared good and good as evil. This world is upside down! But, as Steve Taylor says here, the remake is on it’s way.

By the way, this piece is one of those performed while Steve Taylor was part of the band, Chagall Guevara, which is the “band” he mentions in “Sock Heaven.”

Lyrics:

Through the passing strange I fell,
To the wide-eyed opposite.
My agenda was hidden well,
Now I don’t know where I left it.

I woke up in Escher’s World today.
My mother said it was okay.

Up’s down, down is out, out is in.
Stairways circle back to where you’ve been.
Time falls, water crawls, are you listening?

Did you ever chase your tail
Through a maze of exit doors?
I have seen the light my braille.
I have blazed the road before us.

We’re walking in Escher’s World again,
Rise up you nimble-minded men.

Birds roar, lions soar, sheep are cruel,
Snails pace, papers chase, midgets rule,
Stuffed shirts, status hurts, we ain’t fooling.

Let the sequels have their day,
The remake’s on its way.

We’re living in Escher’s world it seems,
We’re wide awake within our dreams.

Socks hop, lemons drop, butter flies,
Tough wimps, sadoshrimps, mojos rise,
Pips squeak, widows peek, are you surprised?

Ah, living in Escher’s world.

We’re living in Escher’s world it seems,
We’re wide awake within our dreams.

Birds roar, lions soar, sheep are cruel,
Snails pace, papers chase, midgets rule,
Stuffed shirts, Ethel Mertz, we ain’t fooling.

Socks hop, lemons drop, butter flies,
Tough wimps, sadoshrimps, mojos rise,
Pips squeak, widows peek, are you surprised?

Up’s down, down is out, out is in.
Time falls, water crawls, are you listenin’?
Stairways circle back to where you’ve been.
Stairways circle back to where you’ve been.
Stairways circle back to where you’ve been.

Like Steve Taylor’s song “Baby Doe,” the song “Lifeboat” was written and performed in the 1980’s, and prophetically warns us about the direction our culture was headed. In the case of “Lifeboat” he calls out the warning about something that was being taught to many of our grade school children in public schools around the country, namely, values clarification.

It goes by other terms as well, such as situational ethics, or moral relativism. Such ideas are still being taught, but primarily at the college and university  level. The idea is to take something we all know to be wrong, and then put it in another context where it does not appear to be wrong at all. The exercise is supposed to teach us tolerance and respect for the values and practices of other people and cultures, and also to see that sometimes, bad thigns must be done for the good of everybody else.

But when taken to extreme, such ideas lead to disastrous results.

In “Lifeboat” Steve Taylor uses the powerful prophetic tool of satire too point out the danger of values clarification.

Also, don’t forget that this song is from the 80’s, and the video quality reflect that. Furthermore, this is one of Steve Taylor’s “songs” that he speaks, rather than sings. It is a unique style, but helps make the point.

Oh, and doesn’t Steve look good in a dress?

Lyrics:

Good morning, class.
Good morning, Mrs. Aryan.
Today we’re going to play a game.

Yay!

This game is called lifeboat, all together.

Lifeboat.

Good. Lifeboat is a lesson in values clarification.
Can you say values clarification?

Noooo.

Values clarification is where your little minds decide
Which lives are worth living and which lives are worth, …not living.
Now here’s how we play:
A big ship just sank.
There are five people on the lifeboat,
But the lifeboat is only made for two.

I’ll list the five people on the chalkboard,
And you, class, will decide
Which three will be thrown overboard, are we ready?

Yes, Mrs. Aryan.

Good, first, there’s an old, old crippled grandfather.
Second, there’s a mentally handicapped person in a wheelchair.

What’s mentally handicapped?

It means they can never be a productive members of society.

Third, there’s an overweight woman on welfare,
With a sniffling, whimpering baby.

Is the baby on welfare, too?

Let’s not push Mrs. Aryan.

Who else is in the boat?

A young, white doctor with blue eyes and perfect teeth and Joan Collins.

Now, class, take five minutes to make your decision.

Times up! Well, class?

Throw over grandpa ’cause he’s getting pretty old.
Throw out the baby or we’ll all be catching it’s cold.
Throw over fatty and we’ll see if she can float.
Throw out the retard and they won’t be rockin’ the boat.

Very good! That was fun, wasn’t it?

Yes, Mrs. Aryan.

For our next lesson, we’re going to do an experiment.

Yay!

We’re going to test the law of gravity, just like Galileo.
By dropping two objects out the window,
One heavy and one light,
To test which one hits the sidewalk first.

Now what shall we use for the lighter object?
I’m thinking of something small and square.

An eraser?

Good, and what shall we use for the heavy object?
I’m thinking of something round and bouncy.

Tommy, I haven’t given you permission to leave your seat.
Class, class the bell has not rung.
What are you? Class! Put me down! Class, put me down this instant!
What? What are you?

Throw over teacher and we’ll see if she can bounce.
We’ve learned our lesson, teacher says perfection’s what counts.
She’s getting old and gray and wears an ugly coat.
Throw over teacher and we’ll play another game of lifeboat!

Throw over grandpa ’cause he’s getting pretty old.
Throw out the baby or we’ll all be catching it’s cold.
Throw over fatty and we’ll see if she can float.
Throw out the retard and they won’t be rockin’ the boat. Yay!

Some of us may still remember when in 1982, the courts of Indiana allowed a mother and father to let their baby boy die from starvation because he was born with Down’s Syndrome.

What kind of a world do we live in where such things are not only allowed to happen, but are declared “legal” by the law-courts? And as part of the system, we followers of Jesus are partly to blame.

This is the message of Steve Taylor’s heart-wrenching song, “Baby Doe.” As in many of his songs, Steve Taylor prophetically calls our nation back to God and away from our tendency to justify great injustice and evil.

He reminds us that as part of American society, we also are guilty for Baby Doe. And not only that, but also the mass murder of millions of infants through abortion, the exploitation of millions of young girls and women through pornography and sex slavery, corporate robbery from the poor, and numerous other sins.

In light of such horrors, we must all seek God’s face in prayer, asking along with Steve Taylor:

I bear the blame.
Believers are few,
And what am I to do?
I share the shame.

Lyrics:

Unfolding today,
A miracle play,
This Indiana morn.
The father–he sighs,
She opens her eyes,
Their baby boy is born.

“We don’t understand.
He’s not like we planned”
The doctor shakes his head.
“Abnormal!” they cry.
And so they decide,
This child is better dead.

I bear the blame.
Believers are few,
And what am I to do?
I share the shame.
The cradle’s below,
And where is Baby Doe?

A hearing is sought.
The lawyers are bought.
The court won’t let him eat.
The papers applaud,
When judges play God.
This child is getting weak.

They’re drawing a bead.
Reciting their creed:
“Respect A Woman’s Choice.”
I’ve heard that before.
How can you ignore
This baby has a voice?

I bear the blame.
Believers are few,
And what am I to do?
I share the shame.
The cradle’s below,
And where is Baby Doe?

Where will it end?
Oh,
No,
No.

It’s over and done.
The presses have run.
Some call the parents brave.
Behind your disguise your rhetoric lies,
You watched a baby starve.

I bear the blame.
The cradle’s below,
And where is Baby?

Have you ever felt like you didn’t quite “fit” in life? That you were missing something which everyone else seemed to know or have? That somehow you had been “left out” of a secret which everyone else seems to know?

Or maybe it is the other way around? Maybe you know something they don’t, and you wonder why nobody else seems to see it?

Steve Taylor’s song “Sock Heaven” is for you.

If you know much about Steve Taylor’s story, I believe this song is autobiographical for him. He was always misunderstood, misrepresented, maligned, slandered, and sometimes cheated by those who didn’t like his lyrics or his style. He never “fit” into the Christian music mold. He sang with creativity and passion, but also with a prophetic voice. And when you challenge the powers that be, they crush you, as they did to him.

I experienced some of this, which is why the song is also biographical for me. But two of his songs which are most biographical, and which always bring me to tears are “Hero” and “Finish Line.” I could not find videos for either one on YouTube, so will not be posting them. But if you get a chance to listen to them, please do. They are great songs, and I feel as if Steve Taylor peered right into my soul when he wrote them.

So listen to the song below (follow along with the lyrics underneath), and see if “Sock Heaven” represents your own feelings of not quite fitting in to the religious clubs, the political agendas, or the consumeristic mentality of our day.

Also, as you listen, note the creativity in the music. Like many other of his other songs, the music matches the imagery and lyrics. If you close your eyes, the music “sounds” like the tumble cycle of a clothes dryer.

Lyrics:

Out of the wringer, into the dryer,
Spins the clothes higher,
Squeezing out static and shocks.
Little stockings tumbling ’round together,
Couldn’t cling forever,
Now I’m missing one of my socks.

Lord, where do they go?

CHORUS:
One pile waits with their god in a box.
The other pile nervously mocks heaven.
Misfits lost in the dryer, take heart,
Maybe there’s a place up in sock heaven.

Out of the wringer, into the dryer,
Couldn’t just retire,
Had to try tempting the fates.
One little band spinning ’round together,
Couldn’t cling forever,
God, I think I’m losing my mates.

Seven good years, followed by a feeling I’d hit the glass ceiling,
Maybe I’d best disappear.
Pick any market.
Pick a straitjacket,
If you can’t act it,
Misfit, you don’t belong here.

Lord, where do we go?

(CHORUS)

Didn’t want a platform to build a new church.
Didn’t want a mansion in rock heaven.
Didn’t want more than to be understood.
Maybe there’s a place up in sock heaven.

Lord, where do we go?

We’re gathered here to ask the Lord’s blessing,
Maybe not his blessing,
Maybe we’re not asking at all.
Out of the box with every good intention,
Did you fail to mention,
This time we were destined to crawl?

And every day that we died just a little more,
I was sure you were sovereignly watching us dangle.
I don’t get it now,
But I’ll get it when
In sock heaven I see it all from your angle.

(CHORUS)

God’s got his saints up in sock heaven.

We live in a materialistic society, and most of us have been swayed by the siren song of “stuff.” Steve Taylor’s song, “Cash Cow” is a warning to us all that chasing cash is a form of idolatry that began way back in the Sinai desert.

One of the things I love about this song is the way it starts out slow, and then become more and more frantic and noisy as the song progresses. This is one of the things that makes Steve Taylor’s music so compelling. He doesn’t just sing words; the music itself is often a work of art, telling the story along with the words. As we fall into the trap of the Cash Cow, it always starts small. We just want a small pay raise, or a nicer phone. And before we know it, we have been hypnotized into chasing every new fad and fashion that comes along.

And churches are not immune. Do we really need the gilded handbells, the silk-lined robes, and the glistening bell tower? Or do we buy such things because we are listening to the whispers of the Cash Cow? No matter how many times I listen to the song, the closing words always get me:

I, too, was hypnotized
By those big cow eyes
The last time I uttered
Those three little words
“I deserve better!”

Oh, and by the way, Cash Cow is not really “sung.” It is more “spoken.” Steve Taylor performed numerous songs this way, some of which are “Drive, he said” and “Lifeboat.” Watch the video below and you will see what I mean. As far as I know, this form of music is unique to Steve Taylor, which is another reason I enjoy his music so much.

Lyrics:

[Read more…]

I previously wrote about how Steve Taylor is one of my formative theologians. I think I may have gotten a lot of my foundational theology from his music.

Below is a song he wrote called “What is the Measure of Your Success?”

It is a question that has plagued my life for several decades now, and only recently am I beginning to see that my answer the question is the same answer that Steve Taylor hints at in this video.

How do you define success? What is the cost to yourself, to your family, and to others to achieve it?

As you watch the video, be reminded that Steve Taylor recorded and performed in the 1980’s. Yes, he has the 80’s hair, and the 80’s clothes. But the ideas are still true today.

Lyrics:

In this city I confess,
I am driven to possess.
Answer no one, let them guess.
Are you someone I impress?

I am a big boss with a short fuse,
I have a nylon carpet and rubber shoes.
And when I shake hands, you’ll get a big shock.
You’ll be begging for mercy when the champ is through.
You better believe I’ll put my clamps on you.

In this city, be assured,
Some will rise above the herd.
Feed the fatted, leave the rest.
This is how we won the west.

I am a safebox,
I am the inner sanctum.
When the door locks I hold the passkey.
You say you can’t take it with you?
We’ll see about that, won’t we?

Push….push….push!

In the city, I confess,
God is mammon, more is less.
Off like lemmings at the gun,
I know better, still I run.

I am an old man,
And the word came.
But you can’t buy time or a good name.
Now when the heirs come around
Like buzzards on a kill,
I see my reflection in their envious eyes,
I’d watch it all burn to buy another sunrise.

Some men find the fire escape.
Old men learn it all too late.
Push….push….push the alarm
Old MacDonald’s bought the farm.