Last year (February 2010) Michael Gungor had a concert here in Grand Rapids
One night, I decided to go the the local coffee shop and lo and behold, Michael pulls up in his car to use the wi-fi. I just had to say “hi” as I hadn’t talked with him in awhile. I gently knocked on his window, and his startled look quickly turned to a wide smile on his face. “Hey Bruce, how ya doin!” I told him things were fine, but I was more interested in what God was doing through his music. I had already heard “Beautiful Things” and fell in love with it. I simply told him one thing that I felt was from God. I said: “Michael, I believe your music is ‘durable.’” He seemed to receive it and we parted with blessings.
Then the light went on. I need to buy that domain name and call it durablemusic.com. I quickly went back to my desk, searched for it on godaddy.com and sure enough, it was available!
When I say “durable,” I mean music that lasts. When you think of the hymns that were produced hundreds of years ago, they are still standing the test of time. I think “could I write something that would last that long?” Maybe. You just never know.
Some of the music written today is for the moment. For “our times” so to speak. But could it be that we are called to write more durable songs -songs that last? In pop culture, that is not so easy. I look at some of Bob Dylan’s music that was created in the early 60’s and guess what – many kids today are in love with his stuff! Many things can point to his success, such as his masterful lyrics. But Dylan did what he wanted to do, not what the culture dictated.
Is the music you listen to durable?
