BEHIND THE SONGS OF THE NEW ALBUM JUBILEE

By Lamont Hiebert of Ten Shekel Shirt


Spark
For the most part this song is meant to rock and reveal the joy and freedom found in forgiving. Yet there is still an ache attached to the mood of the song because forgiveness is not meant to be flippant or taken lightly. I like the 2nd verse, “Its good that you get angry and its good you let it go.” We become subhuman if we don’t get angry over injustice and abuse. However, if we linger at the table of anger, smack our lips at the thought of revenge and chew on large portions of blame we will end up devouring ourselves.

Fragile
“It’s my fault.” I have heard this tragic phrase too many times from survivors of child abuse and exploitation. Even children with divorced parents struggle with this lie. In order for people to move forward in the recovery process they need to know otherwise.

There is something powerful about declaring words aloud so as the song climaxes I switch from the third person to the first person repeating the words, “its not my fault.” I have been planning a music video for this song for years but have not been able to afford one yet. If that ever happens there would be an enslaved teen in a brothel writing the words with lipstick on a mirror; “it’s not my fault,” a child soldier etching the words into his gun stock; “it’s not my fault,” a young victim of domestic abuse writing the words with sidewalk chalk outside her suburban home; “it’s not my fault.” At the end of the video I would flip my guitar around revealing those same words displayed on the back of my instrument, signifying my need to declare those words myself.

Wartime Lullaby
This song offers lament and hope for a city and its inhabitants during a time of war. It’s meant to be tender, up-close and somewhat timeless. I envisioned myself as an elderly person exhorting my loved ones to hold onto me and to continue to hope. My publisher, called this song “darkly romantic.” I’m not sure about that but it is the most poetic song I have ever written. Jonny Rodgers (lead guitarist) helped me write some of these haunting melodies and chord changes. He’s so money. This song needs to be in a movie. Maybe even in a black and white movie. Do they still make those?

En Garde
This song is a celebration of intimacy and sex in marriage. Enjoy!

Surprised
I went through a difficult time a few years back. It resulted in a sabbatical and some time alone in the mountains. I’m pretty sure I can think clearer at high elevations and possibly even hear God whisper to my heart on rare occasions. As I was musing over my troubles in life I was surprised and impaled by the following words, “I’m with you.” Whether I made that up and just imagined God was speaking that to me or not, I’ll take it… because either way I believe it’s true.

Love from a lesser god
It dawned on me one day that most of my unhealthy tendencies stem from misplaced desires and affections. The gods of vanity, lust, greed, gluttony and fame are great if you like gulps of salt water as a means of quenching your thirst.


Jubilee
The origin of the word Jubilee has nothing to do with a wedding anniversary or a schmaltzy Las Vegas show. It has everything to do with the emancipation of slaves and the celebration of freedom and justice. When I wrote the title track, Jubilee, I combined that ancient meaning of the word with this true story of a teenage girl rescued from slavery and her first moments in a safehome.

At the tender age of 12, she was sold to a brothel by her stepfather. After 4 years of unspeakable violence, cruelty and shame she was rescued and brought to a safehome our charity (Love146) supports. The first moment she entered the home she noticed a small picture of Jesus on the wall. When she saw it she fell down and wept in utter relief and astonishment. She then explained that while she was in captivity she would often dream of being in a safe place and that in those dreams she would picture that face.

A strange thing happened while I was writing the song. Although I was writing about a safehome I kept feeling like the song had another layer to it, one that was somehow linked to the hereafter. I told the safehome director about this unintended sense I was getting from my own song. She then told me that after a successful, restorative year in the safehome the girl that had inspired the song had died of AIDS. The caregiver said she past away with a peaceful countenance on her face as she expectantly prepared for her ultimate Jubilee.

Its Slavery
This is a hard hitting, slap in the face to those who drive up demand for youth in the sex industry. Society’s tolerance level for this injustice is appalling and must reach a boiling point soon. I think much of the problem can be found in class and gender discrimination. Most of the victims of modern-day slavery are impoverished minority ethnic females. Imagine what the front covers of our newspapers would look like and what radio talk show hosts would be saying if there were two upper-middleclass white males trafficked into slavery every minute. (As is the case with today’s vulnerable females.)

You Rescue
Okay, this is crazy. I sat down one morning and wrote this song in about 15 minutes. Immediately after I was done I received a phone call from a friend of mine who runs an organization that rescues modern-day slaves. Although I hadn’t received a call from him in over a year he felt “compelled” to call me at that moment to tell me something. He said that he just got back from SE Asia where he helped rescue more than 90 slaves; women and children from 7 different countries, all held against their will in a multi-story brothel.” Like a 2x4 from heaven his phone call served as a stark reminder that maybe I was onto something with this song.

Daylight
A guy recently told me that he liked my old songs better. He said the old ones made him feel good while the new songs made him think about others. I took it as a compliment.

Although I cut my teeth in the music industry on “worship music” I believe it is dangerous and unhealthy to be self-absorbed with vertical religion. I often warn faith-based audiences that if we hold our hands in the air for too long we become spiritually constipated. Conversely, if we strive to be about God’s business without His influence of love, forgiveness, justice, mercy, compassion, etc… we soon become burned out and bitter.

So the posture I propose (figuratively) is to live with one hand up towards heaven, seeking God’s pleasure and strength while the other hand is outstretched horizontally to protect, restore and empower our oppressed neighbors in the world. Hopefully this song inspires this kind of living.

Higher Ground
There’s a bunch of stuff in this song. First off, as you can tell by the first verse, I am not a fan of determinism. However, I am a huge fan of redemption, the making of something good out of something bad. Do I know how all things are going to work out? No, the cosmos and eternity are far too complex for me to figure out. I do believe that “all will be set right again” but as the 2nd and 3rd verses of this song remind us we’re not supposed to sit around waiting for better times to magically appear. I’m sure we all want to make the world a better place (even Miss America wants to do that) but there is a catch for those of us who aspire to be followers of Christ.

Throughout human history people of faith have done well when we have aligned ourselves with the upside-down principals of the kingdom of heaven (expressed most accurately through the beatitudes and the cross) as opposed to the times when we have aligned ourselves with the earthly structures of power and pride. Yes, it’s fine to point out the splinter in Caesars left and/or right eye as long as we work to pry out the plank in our own. Living upside down is extremely difficult (I’m not very good at it) but giving up is not an option. Something about this song makes me feed off the camaraderie of the like-minded community around me. Either that or the group vocals at the end just make me happy.