| Music Review - Chris Rice |
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Run the Earth...Watch the Sky
review by Joanne Brokaw
Chris Rice "Run the Earth...Watch the Sky"
(Rocketown Records)
Listening
to the latest release from Chris Rice, Run
the Earth…Watch the Sky (Rocketown
Records), is like sitting on the porch on
a warm summer evening, fireflies twinkling
in the dark, icy sweat rolling down cold
glasses of lemonade, rocking in the porch
swing with your head tilted back and eyes
closed, listening to Chris muse about everything
from worship in a cathedral of trees to junior high.
I don’t know how he manages to do
it, but Chris has once again compiled 11
thought-provoking yet lighthearted songs
that are a breath of fresh air in a market
that’s often filled with tired, cliché songs.
With almost no effort, he’s able
to bring faith to its most basic elements,
and make you want to experience it with
him.
In “Nonny Nonny”, Chris evokes
warm images of innocent childhood (“Popsicle
red on my chin/bikes and plastic army men/and
no sign of September”) as he talks
about the Biographer of Life, and I love
how he captures the adventurous heart of
adolescence with a reference to The Chronicles
of Narnia: “My adolescent 70’s/reads
just like the Pevensies Adventures/’Cause
every perfect now and then/I caught a glimpse
of Aslan’s mane/and I longed for
His treasure”.
While I’ve always imagined that
the angels stand around heaven with their
hands politely folded, singing solemn hymns,
in “Circle Up” Chris suggests
that, amidst the thunder of unfolding wings,
the angels and saints have grabbed hands
and are twirling with delight around the
throne in worship. What an awesome picture!
His humility shines through on “The
Other Side of the Radio” (currently
receiving radio airplay), when he asks: “Here
I am on the other side of the radio/wondering
why I’m here and why anybody cares
what I say”. He turns the tables
on listeners as he imagines what we’re
doing while we listen to him sing (“I
imagine you on the other side of the radio/doing
your homework, or driving with the windows
down on the freeway”), and offers
the thought that maybe there are millions
of other people singing along with us.
Cool - crank up the volume and sing out
loud!
And while not as quirky as Smell the
Color Nine, Chris still manages to make us smile
with warmhearted memories of junior high
in “8th Grade”: late for class;
missing the question in geometry because
he’s flustered with puppy love; corndogs
in the cafeteria; and hey, wasn’t
life grand then?
Like his earlier releases, Run the Earth…Watch
the Sky once again couples Chris’s
humility with his deep spiritual longing
to know God and experience all that He
has to offer. Pull up a chair, and join
Chris as he ponders his favorite things:
life, love, laughter and Jesus.
© 2003 Joanne Brokaw All rights reserved.
Joanne
Brokaw is a freelance writer from Western
NY who covers Christian music and current
events affecting the Christian community.
Her articles have appeared in dozens of newspapers
in the US and Canada. For permission to reprint
this column, please contact the author at
jbrokaw@frontiernet.net or visit her online
at www.frontiernet.net/~jbrokaw
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Scripture
taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of
International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for the offering
of goods or services requires the prior written consent of International
Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All rights
reserved.
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